As Will Power stares at year No. 18 behind the wheel of an Indy car, his drive to keep rolling only grows.
The longtime Team Penske driver, who turns 44 in March, is coming off perhaps one of his more impressive seasons behind the wheel of the No. 12 Chevrolet.
Three victories and four runner-up results propelled Power to a fourth-place points effort by season’s end.
However, it very well could’ve been a third championship had the final two races turned out differently.
Following a second-place result in the first of two races at The Milwaukee Mile in Wisconsin, Power was in prime position to threaten points leader Alex Palou.
Palou endured uncharacteristic battery failure prior to the start of the second event, which sidelined the Chip Ganassi Racing driver for the first 28 circuits.
The points situation swung Power’s way momentarily until a spin relegated the driver of the No. 12 to 10th on the grid.
Looking ahead to the finale at Nashville Superspeedway in Tennessee, Power’s title hopes were dashed due to a belt issue early in the event. He’d finish 24th.
While the season could be chalked up as a “what could’ve been” year, Power’s mentally thrown away the negatives and is ready for a fresh slate.
“Based on the performance the second half, really most of the season last year were very strong,” Power said. “A very disappointing end, obviously, there to drop back a couple in the championship standings.
“Yeah, very determined to come back and have a strong 2025. I think we’ll have the car, engine, package to do it, and I think Penske is in a very good spot right now.”
As Penske’s longest-tenured driver in the series, the question of how much longer Power will remain with the team is a recurring question seemingly every year with the rise of teammates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.
Power inked an extension with the team following his second title in 2022.
However, he’s entering a contract year in 2025. Earlier in January, Power signed with Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso’s agency, A14 Management, as Power looks ahead to negotiations.
With high performance a must, especially in the final year of his deal, Power stressed the importance of staying at the pinnacle of his game.
“It’s not just — so about being impressive, it’s like necessary. You’re certainly not sticking around if you’re not doing that,” Power said. “You’d better turn up or else she’s over. That’s just the way it is.
“But I love it. I love the competition. I love the preparation. I love finding new little details and things to be better every year.
“Yeah, it’s kind of funny you get to this point in your career and I feel you’re at your absolute best as far as putting a whole series together, weekend together, races together. You kind of have the same speed that you had but you don’t really build on speed,” Power continued.
“I think it’s just a natural thing that you have. But the whole other package takes a long time to get unless you’re Palou, like some of those guys that just mature, and they work that out very early.”
As far as a timeline of how much longer Power feels he’d be able to compete at a high level, he believes he “could be absolutely competitive for another five years if I wanted.”
“It’s absolutely the goal, yeah, to definitely keep rolling while I’m really competitive,” Power said. “I was like very competitive last year. I won three races and seven podiums. No one else in the field but McLaughlin did that. So I’m still performing really high.
“Yeah, if I wasn’t performing, I wouldn’t want to do it. I’m still learning. It’s crazy, but you’re still learning stuff.”
