IndyCar Pocono: Will Power closes on points lead with victory
Will Power left it late to secure his fourth IndyCar win of the season at Pocono and closed to within 20 points of title leader Simon Pagenaud after the Frenchman's late crash

Power started eighth at the 'Tricky Triangle,' but early on struggled to match the pace of the leading Honda-powered cars.
It took several tweaks to downforce levels in the first two pit windows for Power to match the leading cars, soon joining the front battle between polesitter Mikhail Aleshin, Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
In the last quarter of the race, Power finally made his move for the lead and just minutes later his cause was boosted by Pagenaud's retirement.
His title rival, who led by 58 points coming into the weekend, bottomed out on the exit of Turn 1 and collided with the wall before retiring.
Power then battled to victory ahead of Aleshin, with the top two cars running in a duel of their own in the final laps.
Aleshin had held the early lead, before he was dragged into a thrilling battle with Hunter-Reay.

The Andretti Autosport man started at the back of the grid after his practice shunt prevented him from qualifying.
It took just 49 laps for him to take the lead, before then conserving fuel to ensure he matched the strategy of top two Aleshin and Newgarden.
It looked to be a masterstroke until an engine problem put him a lap down as he put his Andretti car through a power cycle, but a caution period after a winglet of Tony Kanaan's car landed on the racing line enabled him to make another charge.
Hunter-Reay made up ground from a lap down to take third at the flag as he pipped Newgarden to the podium.
Sebastien Bourdais took fifth after starting down in 18th place. The ex-Formula 1 driver's gamble to not change tyres for the final stint proved successful, as he made up five places in the pits.
Despite his tyre wear, he was able to hold off the sixth placed car of Scott Dixon.
Seventh fell to Carlos Munoz ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya, despite Munoz running with the lead pack early on, who struggled to find pace early on, but improved as the race went on to ensure he finished eighth ahead of Kanaan and James Hinchcliffe.
In the first 500-mile race since Indianapolis, Alexander Rossi was unable to turn his early top three running into a result after a pit-lane collision.
After leaving his pit box, Rossi made contact with Charlie Kimball as he approached his stop, launching Rossi's car over Helio Castroneves and almost hitting the Brazilian's head, and led to Rossi's retirement.
RESULT - 200 LAPS
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 2h46m28.9856s |
2 | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 1.1459s |
3 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 5.9076s |
4 | Josef Newgarden | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 7.0750s |
5 | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 7.5285s |
6 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 7.8896s |
7 | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 11.5938s |
8 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 13.4345s |
9 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 13.7988s |
10 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 14.2235s |
11 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 14.3471s |
12 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 16.3334s |
13 | Max Chilton | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 17.1907s |
14 | Jack Hawksworth | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 18.5585s |
15 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1 Lap |
16 | Conor Daly | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 2 Laps |
17 | Pippa Mann | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 3 Laps |
18 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | Contact |
19 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | Contact |
20 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | Contact |
21 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | Mechanical |
22 | Takuma Sato | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | Contact |

Pocono IndyCar pole highlights Russian Aleshin's rise in America
Helio Castroneves unhurt in Pocono IndyCar pitlane crash

Latest news
Williams: Vowles can help "finish off the journey" in F1 turnaround
Incoming Williams Formula 1 boss James Vowles can provide long-term stability and help "finish off the journey" in taking the team forward, according to sporting chief Sven Smeets.
WRC Rally Sweden: Everything you need to know
The World Rally Championship heads to the snow covered roads of Sweden for the second round of the season this weekend. Here's everything you need to know.
How the last Sauber-built Alfa offers F1 2023 evolution clues
Alfa Romeo has become the first Formula 1 team to reveal a new car for 2023, in addition to a fresh livery. This offered a first look at some of the understated changes produced by the revised regulations, along with points of convergence in the second year of the ground effect rules
Alfa Romeo hopes new C43 F1 car is "an all-rounder"
In 2023 the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team starts a three-year transition to its new Audi identity, with just this season to be run in the colours of the Italian manufacturer.
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
It’s 30 years since Mansell won the Formula 1 world title and then headed off to do battle in America. Here are his best races – and the Briton’s memories of them
How Ericsson achieved Indy immortality as Ganassi's main man stumbled
Chip Ganassi Racing team was strong again in the Indianapolis 500, with poleman Scott Dixon and reigning champion Alex Palou leading almost three quarters of the race between them. But when dominator Dixon was penalised for pitlane speeding, ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson stepped up to score the biggest win of his career and seize the IndyCar points lead
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
In an enthralling 2021 IndyCar campaign, the series bounced back from its COVID-19 truncated year prior and Alex Palou defeated both the established order and his fellow young guns to clinch a maiden title. It capped a remarkable season with plenty of standout performers
How F1's other IndyCar exile finally unlocked his potential
Romain Grosjean's swashbuckling rookie year in IndyCar captured the imagination of many in 2021. But another ex-Formula 1 driver whose potential was masked by five years of toil in, at best, middling machinery also enjoyed a breakout year in 2021 - winning twice and finishing sixth in points. Here's how Marcus Ericsson finally delivered on his promise
How Ganassi's relentless new champion outfoxed IndyCar's best
IndyCar sophomore Alex Palou stunned by overcoming team-mate Scott Dixon and the rest of a white-hot field in 2021. He was consistently fast and crucially showed a level head, rebounding well from setbacks to put himself in a near unassailable position entering the final round
Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCar’s next winning match-up?
Despite appearing to have an IndyCar job for life with Meyer Shank Racing, Jack Harvey’s departure and move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing sparked plenty of debate. However, Harvey's and RLL's combined strengths could prove to be a winning combination - if they get the balance right
Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing IndyCar win
Saturday 16 October marks the 10th anniversary of Dan Wheldon’s death. David Malsher-Lopez pays tribute, then asks Wheldon’s race engineer from 2011, Todd Malloy, to recall that magical second victory at the Indianapolis 500
Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting
Kyle Kirkwood, the record-setting junior formula driver, sealed the Indy Lights championship last weekend. But despite an absurdly strong junior career and scholarship money, his next move is far from clear
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.