Will Power's Indy road course dominance starts with this relationship

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

Will Power enters Saturday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix (4:30 p.m. ET on FOX) with more wins in that race than any other driver as he has won five of the 16 events on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

His engineer, David Faustino, was with him for all of them. Just as he has been for 36 of Power’s 42 victories in INDYCAR, including the 2018 Indianapolis 500.

The Power-Faustino pairing, at 16 years, is the longest of any driver-engineer in the garage by far. Granted, the only other full-time drivers in the series that were around for their first full season together in 2011 were Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal.

While something could be said about moving engineers around and pairing them with different drivers, it’s hard to argue with the overall success of the Power-Faustino relationship. They have two titles and three dozen victories together.

“It’s been a good partnership,” Power said. “It’s got very streamlined. There’s no BS-ing. It’s very business-like. There’s no sort of small talk. It’s just straight to business, no time wasted. Pretty efficient.”

Power currently sits ninth in the INDYCAR standings heading into the race Saturday at the Indianapolis road course, primarily thanks to a first-lap accident in the season opener at St. Petersburg.

Through the ups and the downs, the two-time series champion has felt comfortable having Faustino determine the car setups. How have they worked together so long?

“I like to keep things the same,” Power said. “We’ve worked well together. And I don’t know [why it’s better]. I haven’t worked with anyone else, I couldn’t tell you.

“Obviously, I see other drivers and sort of have a little bit of insight into how they work. … Dave’s very business-like, and that’s how we started. I was the same, very business-like, I didn’t need any fluffing up or anything. Just tell me where I’m slow.”

Power has the confidence that when he shows up at the racetrack, Faustino will have a good car ready for him. Power called Faustino a “grinder” who needs to be told to take time off to spend with his family.

While Power and Faustino will occasionally go bike riding together, they keep their relationship mostly business.

“We’ve had some success, so it’s easy to continue when you have success,” Faustino said. “But that also makes it hard when you have troublesome times because you’re used to winning all the time and used to having success.

“So getting past the downs and just keeping our heads down and working towards improving when we are down is really the key.”

And, like any relationship, communication is vital.

“It’s a good relationship — being honest with each other, just talking things out if they come up, if we disagree on anything, talking through it, that’s really it,” Faustino said. “And just honestly try and always do the best we can and have a good work ethic.”

That is where Power thrives, Faustino said. While Power is a veteran of the series, he doesn’t demand the car feel a certain way. That is key in the new hybrid era, where the cars have an extra 100 pounds of rear weight thanks to the new engine configuration.

“He’s always looking to do whatever it takes, whether that’s from a driving technique or a setup technique aspect — he is not one of those guys that says, ‘Set the car up for my style’ all the time,” Faustino said.

“And he’s willing to learn from other drivers and just try to put the entire piece together, regardless of what the requirement is to change his driving or to change the car. He studies that stuff a lot.”

As far as this weekend, Power hopes he can earn his first win at the track since 2021. The 14-turn, 2.439-mile course features parts of the famed oval as well as a series of turns through the infield.

“It’s definitely a track I love,” Power said. “I love the flow of it, the technicality of it, because there is a lot of give and take. You’ve got corners leading into other corners, so what you do on the first part affects the second and third part.

“There ae just nice little technical sectors to get right. Some tracks just suit you. And I have to say that hasn’t been every single year. But it is a track that I enjoy a lot.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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