Will Power is thick in the IndyCar championship fight

Will Power, soaked in victory champagne and still buzzing from a win that kept him in the IndyCar championship fight, leaned in to do a microphone check in a most unusual way.

The 43-year-old Australian sang a verse of “Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi to test the sound level on his news conference microphone in a fitting post-win tribute. His victory yesterday [Macau time] at Portland International Raceway cut into points leader Alex Palou’s margin and made the title fight a two-driver competition with three races remaining.

“If he had finished ahead of us, it would be over,” Power said of beating Palou. “This just kept it alive.”

When he won his second IndyCar title in 2022, Power was rewarded in early 2023 by Team Penske with a two-year contract extension. That deal runs through next season, but with Power still at the top of his game, he used Portland to emphasize he’s not planning to leave IndyCar anytime soon.

“I want to continue. I’m not retiring. I’m not. I’m just simply not retiring,” he said. “I know people probably like to spread that around, rumors or whatever, in the hope that they can take my seat. Yeah, I’m staying here for a while. I get better every year, man. I get better every year. I feel like that.”

He’s shown it this year in a bounce-back season in which he’s won three races for the first time since 2018. Power struggled mentally most of last year as his wife battled a near fatal staph infection that left him distracted at the racetrack.

Now that Liz Power has healed and is back attending races with him, his race craft is back to its 2022 level. And his win at Portland cut Palou’s lead in the championship race from 66 to 54 points.

Although four drivers remain mathematically eligible to win the title, it’s really down to Palou and Power as each is seeking a third IndyCar championship. Palou won at Portland last year to wrap up his second title, but he finished nearly 10 seconds back of Power.

“It’s going to be the same for the rest of the year. You’ve got no choice but to be ahead of him,” Power said of his strategy the remaining three races.

IndyCar closes out the year with a doubleheader next weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, followed by the September season finale at Nashville Superspeedway. Power has raced Nashville once before and has one victory in six previous starts at Milwaukee Mile.

Palou has never won on an oval or even raced at the two remaining venues on the schedule. Power, who has 10 career victories on ovals, is salivating over the opportunity in front of him.

“To win in this series, at this time, it’s so difficult. You get a third championship from a deficit of 54 points at this point, come back from a deficit like that, that would be amazing,” Power said. “To finish on all ovals, as well, kind of going back to my early days, sort of unfinished business there. It’s a tough climb from here, but not impossible.”

Although he wasn’t emotional about it, Power took a moment to reflect on his first opportunity in America when Walker Racing flew him to Portland from Australia in 2005 to test in what was then called the Champ Car Series.

Power impressed the team so much that he got two races that year and a full season in 2006. So he considers Portland his launching pad of sorts, and a fitting spot to ensure he doesn’t let Palou run away with the title.

“It’s the first track I ever drove at in the U.S, first time I ever drove an Indy car,” Power said. “I still remember it, driving down the back straight, I had the thought, ‘Man, I could be paid to do this.’ I remember that day, I do. I remember driving that car. It was good memories. A long time ago.”

It made him reflective and again reiterate that he doesn’t want to retire, he loves his job and racing in IndyCar, and doesn’t have any idea what he’d even do if he walked away at the end of next season.

“I love all the tracks. It would be really tough for me to walk away from this sport. It really would,” Power said. “The feeling of being a part of something, trying to accomplish something with a group of people, I think you’d be pretty lost. If I stopped, I’d be very lost with what to do.

“No way that I thought I would have driven for the best team in the U.S., won on ovals, won the Indy 500. All those things. Won a championship,” he continued. “I worked very hard always, was very determined. It’s something that unfolds very slowly. It’s not a big shock that it happened now. When you reflect on it when you came here all those years ago, it was a dream. What I’ve done, I’ve lived out my dream, absolutely. I’ve just lived it out.” JENNA FRYER PORTLAND (Ore.), MDT/AP