Will Power struggles on birthday as he begins INDYCAR season seeking extension

Will Power had a rough 44th birthday Saturday when he lost power in his car, brushed the wall during practice and had his hybrid engine changed before qualifying for INDYCAR’s season-opening race.

Then he failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying while teammates Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden both did move on.

Power will start 13th, while McLaughlin won the pole for Sunday’s race on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.

“Can’t leave anything on the table in this series,” said Power, who slammed his head-and-neck restraint down when he got out of his car. “Maybe it’s a good thing and we can win on strategy.”

Power is the final year of his contract at Team Penske, where he’s driven since 2009 and won two INDYCAR championships and the Indianapolis 500. The Australian is determined to continue his career — he hired Fernando Alonso’s management agency and is represented in negotiations by former INDYCAR driver Oriol Servia — but talks apparently haven’t even started with Penske. So it was interesting when McLaughlin announced before the first practice of the season that he had received an extension.

“We’re LIVE and ready for a big 2025!” McLaughlin posted on social media. “Signed a long-term extension in the off-season with Team Penske and have been absolutely 100% focused on prep for this year. Let’s kick this season off right! STRAIGHT. TO. THE. MOON.”

McLaughlin, from New Zealand, is starting his fifth full season with the team and joins reigning two-time defending Indy 500 winner Newgarden as drivers under long-term contracts for Roger Penske.

Power said he has known of McLaughlin’s extension for several months and didn’t feel slighted by the signing.

“He’s young, obviously a younger guy, it didn’t bother me, not at all,” Power said of his 31-year-old teammate.

But Power reiterated that he wants to remain in INDYCAR and is disappointed that after winning three races last year and battling Alex Palou for the championship he doesn’t have a new contract yet.

“I want to keep going as long as I’m competitive as I am,” Power said. “Like, if you win three races in a season, you definitely should be up in INDYCAR. I mean, as fast as I was last year — I’d say any other driver in the series would probably be signed by now.”

So why hasn’t he been signed?

“I haven’t been told anything,” Power said.

He does know that Penske team president Tim Cindric doesn’t want to discuss Power’s contract until May at the earliest, which Power said he will embrace and use as a motivator for his performance. He said it has been a “pattern over my career” of performing at his best when his future is uncertain.

“I like it not being done, it’s good pressure and the sort of thing I enjoy. As the season unfolds, we’ll see what becomes available,” Power said. “As much as you like the comfort of being signed, it is a comfort. I feel really good.”

McLaughlin, meanwhile, drove for Penske in Australian V8 SuperCars and made the move to INDYCAR in 2021. He finished third in last year’s season standings, highest of the Penske drivers. He and his wife welcomed their first child, a daughter, during the offseason and he wanted to get his extension handled to tighten up the next few years of his life.

“I just didn’t want to have any questions, move forward and get on with it,” McLaughlin said. “I love the team being here and it just was just nice to get some security, especially now being a dad. Once I got my feet on the ground, I love it here and see being here for the rest of my career. I’m applying for my citizenship in the United States and hope to be here for a long time.”

Penske has permitted McLaughlin to do some sports car racing the last two years.

“I’ve always trusted the process,” McLaughlin said. “They’ve done everything they can for me for my career, and I’m in a great spot right now. A spot where I never thought I would be, and that’s all because I’ve sort of just trusted where they put me. I trusted that INDYCAR would be right for me, and they put me here.”

He said he has joked with Penske about racing countryman Shane van Gisbergen in NASCAR, “but it’s all fun stuff now. I’m sure you know, if I keep doing the results here, maybe the opportunity will happen one day.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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