INDIANAPOLIS — Will Power had a milestone victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday during the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix.
Power earned his 40th career IndyCar win. This victory broke a tie between Power and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser and put Power fifth on IndyCar's all-time win list.
He took the lead early Saturday, then watched it shrink over the final half of the race before holding on to win another Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The Australian, who started second, beat Romain Grosjean to the yard of bricks by 1.1142 seconds for his first win of the season.
It was his sixth victory at IMS, including the 2018 Indianapolis 500, and his fifth win on Indy's 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. Only NASCAR star Kyle Busch, with two Brickyard 400 wins and four Xfinity Series wins on the oval, has as many major race victories at the Racing Capital of the World.
It was also Team Penske's second win of the IndyCar season.
“We needed that as a group,” Power said. “I can’t tell you how good these guys have been all year. Flawless on pit stops. They’ve given me the car, and we’ve had some bad luck. I’ve made some mistakes, as well."
The race was turned on its head when championship leader Alex Palou dropped out in the 68th lap of the 85 lap race due to mechanical problems. He placed 27th out of 28.
Power led 56 of 85 laps. Grosjean had his best race yet in the IndyCar series and finished second to Power.
Colton Herta rebounded from his disappointing late-race crash last Sunday in Nashville to finish third
