Deadline Looms for Power, Team Penske
Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
By Dennis Krause
First it was months.
Then it was weeks.
Now, it’s come down to days and hours for Will Power as he waits to find out from team owner Roger Penske whether he’ll return for an 18th season with Team Penske in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES - or have to find a new employer.
Ahead of Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250, Power commented on the August 31st deadline.
“Well, it doesn't, you know, it doesn't really matter. I mean, at the end of the day, yes, what is it a week left, basically close to a week. Now, Roger called me after Portland, and he just said, let's talk about it, after Sunday, and, you know, see where everything stands. I mean, I keep getting asked the same question. Nothing has changed, you know. And he did tell me that, after Detroit.
“Yeah,” Power added, “I think it'll be pretty quick. I mean, I think it'll be obvious at that point what's gonna happen.”
James Black/Penske Entertainment
Getting his first win of the season - indeed Team Penske’s first win of 2025 - recently at Portland International Raceway, didn’t hurt his chances of staying with the team, either.
“Yeah. I mean, he (Penske) sent me a text after Portland, and said, obviously helps the situation. So, you know, we just need to wait.
“To do that for the team, though, in such a difficult year to kind of get away from the contract talk. That was hugely important for Team Penske.
“It's the most I've seen the team, whole team, celebrate in a long time,” Power noted. “I think the dry spell sort of brought us all back to reality, that this is a tough sport and you need to really celebrate wins. So that's the first time I've walked back the truck and the whole team sort of clapped and cheered. That hasn't happened before. Gave me a bit of goose bumps. I's pretty cool. Even on the plane, I think when we landed, the team party and everyone sort of cheered. So that was awesome that we as a group were able to get back together. I was happy for the whole team, everyone you know, both teammates, came to victory lane.
“Yeah. Very nice, very nice and very nice for me, considering where I've been at.”
The Milwaukee Mile is special to Power as he scored one of his first oval victories at the track in 2014 on the way to his first INDYCAR series championship. Despite the tough season Team Penske has had in 2025, Power believes it’s possible the team could finish 1-2-3 in Sunday’s 250-miler - or, just as easily, bring up the rear of the field.
“I felt like we struggled a bit in the first race (last year), big improvement for second race, but then made a mistake on a restart. So yeah, I could see Team Penske, 1-2-3, just for the year that we've had. Could totally see 1-2-3, here, you know? But it's IndyCar, so who knows. We could also be 25th, sixth and seventh.”
Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
Power is INDYCAR’s all-time pole winner with 71. While qualifying is important, Power did win at Iowa Speedway last year, after starting 22nd.
“You want to start up towards the front, but yeah, more so focus on everything,” said Power.
“I guess you can totally go backwards big time if you don't get the race set up, you can also help your strategy a ton, just being at the front, getting that lead, clean air. If you pit early, you don't, you know, go two laps down. So, yeah, that's the balance you gotta sort of weigh up.
“You know, save some tires, because that's another big deal, right? Like, there's so much deg, you gotta try to save tires, but you also gotta get some practice. And, yeah, you gotta weigh them all up. They all matter. They do.
“Sometimes, yes, you can just through strategy, win from way back. But ultimately, if it's a bit of a straightforward race, it does really matter. That’s big gains on the undercut, but also big losses if it goes yellow and it's more likely to go yellow through a cycle, because you've got big variances and speeds of the cars. That's what you got to weigh up.
“It's probably that in our situation, probably most people's situation, it's (the championship) all over. A lot of people will be taking the big swings for a win in strategy, I'd say.”
Fourth on the all-time wins list with 45, the two-time series champion (2014, 2022) realizes the situation he’s in, and is blocking out all the noise about his contract situation as best he can.
“It's just reality, right? People want to know, I want to know what's going to happen. I've been fine with this. Honestly, hasn't really changed my approach. Would like to have known what I was doing a long time ago, but that's just my situation at this point in my career. So, now I've only got a week, and then I could really start understanding what's going to happen.”
Another win at Milwaukee, Sunday, could go a long way in determining whether the 44-year-old Power remains with Penske in 2026 - or not.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.