Will Power says all-oval IndyCar title run-in holds no fear for him
IndyCar points leader Will Power says he is looking forward to the title fight being decided over two oval races despite speedways having not always been his strong point
Power has less oval racing experience than his championship rival Dario Franchitti and is often regarded as a street and road course specialist.
While Power wrapped up IndyCar's road course title at Motegi last weekend, he is only third in the oval standings - 19 points behind Franchitti and 36 down on leader Scott Dixon.
A victory in one leg of this year's Texas double-header is the only oval win of Power's career so far, and after building a substantial points lead on the road courses in 2010, he was reeled in and pipped by Franchitti during 2010's four-oval title run-in.
Power moved into an 11-point overall championship lead over Franchitti on Sunday when he finished second to Dixon at Motegi, while Franchitti caused a restart collision and was only eighth.
The title fight will now be resolved at the Kentucky and Chicagoland ovals, but Power said he was relishing the chance to prove he could hold his own on the speedways.
"That's what I enjoy the most: mile-and-a-half racing, Chicagoland, Texas this year, even Kentucky last year we were really strong, just didn't end up with the result," he said. "Pretty focused on that this year."
The Australian was 62 points behind Franchitti just four races ago, and said the key to his turnaround had been focusing on maximising each race result rather than worrying about the standings.
"We had the mindset going into the weekend that we weren't really thinking about points," Power said.
"We were just thinking about doing a good job. The things you can't control, it's not worth even worrying about. Just really making sure we execute on the things we could control."
He said his approach now would just be to try and keep beating Franchitti.
"It was a good day for us points-wise in the championship but I'm really not worried about points right now," Power said.
"I just need to keep finishing in front of the #10 car the rest of the way and we'll be fine. We'll keep chipping away like we have been.
"Now, we need to keep going and finish the season strong on the ovals."
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