Arrived as a leader and therefore a favorite for the title, Will Power had paved the way with pole position. The Australian took control and started to deploy his strategy by not putting too much pressure on his tires in the first laps. Behind him, among the other contenders for the title, Josef Newgarden was the most impressive, with the American beginning a surgical comeback from 25th place.
On lap 15, Power stopped in the pits before coming out fourth, just ahead of his teammate at Penske who was on a shifted strategy and was trying to take his set of prime tires (the hardest) as far as possible. The head of the race was then occupied by a Alex Palou whose plan was similar: he will hold his bonuses until the 19th lap, before switching to red tires (the softest) and increasing the pace. Newgarden went through his box on lap 23.
Power then regained the lead but by then it was very clear that the favorite for victory at this stage was Palou, displaying impressive pace. Not really wanting to fight with the Spaniard, Power did not resist too much when the Ganassi driver overtook him on the 27th lap. Five laps later, Palou’s advantage was around ten seconds, while Power was safe from the Arrow McLaren drivers. Meanwhile, Newgarden continued his inevitable comeback, starting ninth following his second stop.
On the 38th lap, the stop at the pit lane exit of Callum Ilott caused the only yellow flag of the event. The peloton was then grouped together and following a rush towards the pits, the whole of the top 10 was on prime tyres, Palou still leading ahead of Power, Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’WardNewgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson, Christian Lundgaard et Scott Dixon. At the restart of the 42nd lap, Palou escaped easily while Power had to resist Rosenqvist.
Will Power
The tightening of the peloton particularly favored Newgarden, who chained overtakings on the Arrow McLaren pilots at the top of the Corkscrew, to find themselves on the heels of a Power in difficulty due to the changes made to his front wing in the pits. It didn’t take long for the Penske teammates to swap positions and Newgarden to fly away without however being able to come back to a Palou clearly above. Then slightly threatened by Grosjean, Power resisted the Frenchman and started to find rhythm.
Newgarden stopped on lap 61 to put on red tyres, with a fourth stop in prospect. He chained the fast laps; taking advantage in particular of the final passage through the pitlane of several of his competitors who cleared the way for him, including Palou and Power. Provisional leader, Newgarden went through his box one last time on lap 73, coming out 21 seconds behind Palou and two seconds ahead of Power. With the Spaniard continuing his impressive march forward and Power having a comfortable lead over the drivers behind him, the outcome of the 2022 title was no longer in doubt, barring a last-minute turnaround.
But that didn’t happen. At the time of crossing the finish line, Palou was 30 seconds ahead of Newgarden, author of an impeccable comeback but fell on much stronger than him, and 33 seconds on Power who might let his joy burst, surprisingly contained, with this second IndyCar title at 41 years old. In a weekend which also saw him break the pole position record held by Mario Andretti, signing his 68th start from first place on the grid, the Australian did not hide following the race that he was particularly stress.
A few times in my career I’ve gotten in the car too relaxed, and it doesn’t work
Will Power, following winning his second IndyCar title
“I mightn’t really take advantage of pole yesterday because I was so focused on the race”said Power, already titled in 2014. “A lot of stress this weekend. I’ve been pretty calm all year. Once I got in the car and we started driving, everything was fine. A bit more difficult in the middle of the race. I dug deep, thinking, ‘I have to give it my all. I can’t lose positions now’, and the car, the tyres… Yeah, that was interesting. Some sets of tires were really good, some not so much.”
“But yeah, mentally exhausted. I mightn’t show the kind of emotions I showed when I won the 500 [Miles d’Indianapolis 2018]. But it’s been like a long adventure over the year. I think it’s pretty fitting that we just had another solid day, just a long-term day like today. This is the story of our year.”
Asked regarding his nervousness when approaching this ordeal, he explained: “Yeah, I woke up at 3 a.m. a couple of times over the weekend, and you can always relax and go back to sleep…but obviously it’s a great day. Everyone did a ton of efforts. And you don’t want to miss this opportunity. That nervousness allows you to reach a high level of performance. I had that nervousness before qualifying. It takes you to another level. That’s what it does. for me.”
“A few times in my career, I’ve gotten in the car too relaxed, and it just doesn’t work. I’ve been there long enough to understand the perfect level of nervousness you have to have. You have to have it…Your subconscious must understand the importance of what you are doing and then you can take yourself to another level.”
Indycar – Laguna Seca