Why life starts at 45 for IndyCar champion Will Power

After 17 years and two IndyCar championships, Will Power thought his future with Team Penske was secure.

At 44, the Australian had no plans of retiring, and he believed he would always have a place within Roger Penske’s organisation – maybe as a driver coach/engineering advisor, like Penske legend Rick Mears had done so successfully for 30 years.

Truth is, Power is a Penske legend himself. Since arriving in a substitute role during Helio Castroneves’s 2009 tax evasion trial, Power won a Penske record 42 races, including the 2018 Indianapolis 500. He also holds the IndyCar record for poles with 71. 

Power’s contract was up for renewal at the end of 2025, and Penske management was clearly having doubts that it wanted to continue with him.

There was recent precedent; at 42, Castroneves, despite wanting to continue full-time in IndyCar, was shifted to Penske’s Acura sportscar programme in the IMSA championship. Helio won his fourth Indy 500 shortly after his 46th birthday in 2021 – driving for Meyer Shank Racing.

Penske’s concern was fuelled by Power’s winless 2023 season, when his wife, Liz, was in a life-threatening situation with a severe staph infection that invaded her spine.

Power said ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to Penske in the wake of his sole victory of 2025 at Portland

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images

Will confessed to friends that he came close to retiring to focus on Liz and their son, Beau. Power’s victory celebration with a still-returning-to-health Liz at Road America in 2024 was therefore especially poignant, and a three-win campaign showed that he was back to his best.

But by then, Penske had apparently already settled on a succession plan by entering a technical partnership with AJ Foyt Racing to field a car in 2025 for 23-year-old American David Malukas.

With no communication about a new deal from Penske, a chill blew into the relationship between Power and his longtime team, exacerbated when the Queensland veteran signed with Fernando Alonso’s A14 management agency. 

Few drivers (or anybody else) resist Roger Penske’s demands, but Power did. For one thing, Team Penske circa 2025 looked nothing like the dominant force it was for decades

Power was vaguely told, ‘We’ll talk after Indy’, and it was strongly hinted that another victory at Roger Penske’s beloved Indy 500 would improve his chances for a multi-year contract renewal. But in June, Penske gave Power permission to talk to other teams.

When Penske finally summoned him to Detroit to talk about his future – in late August, ironically after Will’s only win of the season at Portland – Power politely said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks’. 

Few drivers (or anybody else) resist Roger Penske’s demands, but Power did. For one thing, Team Penske circa 2025 looked nothing like the dominant force it was for decades. It came close to suffering its first winless IndyCar season since 1999 until Power and Josef Newgarden claimed late-season trophies, and only Power finished in the top 10 in the championship.

Power’s wife Liz congratulates her 2018 Indianapolis 500-winning husband

Photo by: Scott R LePage / Motorsport Images

It also helped that throughout the summer he had been talking to Andretti Global about taking over Colton Herta’s car if a plan being formulated to move the Californian to Europe in a role for the Cadillac Formula 1 team fell into place. When Andretti’s IndyCar opening was confirmed, Power and the team wasted no time in coming to terms.

Frankly, Power to Andretti is a far more compelling storyline for IndyCar than what would likely have been a one-year stay of execution at Penske. It’s also a remarkable opportunity for a driver who will turn 45 in March, but shows no sign of slowing down, to refresh and reinvigorate his career.

And it’s a tremendous catch for Honda, which will be able to tap into the technically astute Power’s vast experience over the past 14 years with the Chevrolet engine programme.

The Penske organisation has always been viewed by some as an ‘evil empire’, and the 2024-25 cheating scandal that resulted in the mid-season dismissal of longtime director Tim Cindric and two other managers was met with considerable scorn.

Not surprisingly, public sentiment was 100% on Power’s side as his contract drama unfolded through the summer. It will be fascinating to see whether Power’s veteran leadership can return the Andretti team to the consistent winning form it enjoyed in its glory days with Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon and Dario Franchitti.

Equally intriguing is Penske’s first major shake-up in years, where it will be sink or swim for ‘Little Dave’ Malukas. Suddenly, IndyCar 2026 looks a lot more interesting.

This article is one of many in the monthly Autosport magazine. For more premium content, take a look at the November 2025 issue and subscribe today. 

Glory days: Andretti drivers Tony Kanaan (#11) and Dan Wheldon (#26) finished 1-2 in the 2004 IndyCar championship

Photo by: Michael C Johnson