After three extremely disappointing results in the opening three races, Will Power came back fighting in the first oval race of the season, leading 59 laps before being forced to settle for second behind Team Penske team-mate Simon Pagenaud at the Phoenix International Raceway.
The Australian fell behind Pagenaud when the Frenchman lucked in with a lucky caution period, and although he felt he had the strongest car on the day he was unable to do anything about his team-mate at the front of the field in the closing stages, ending 9.1028 seconds behind.
But the main thing Power was happy about was being able to put the disappointments of St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Barber Motorsports Park behind him and return to the podium and properly start his championship charge.
“It was good night considering where we’ve finished the last few races,” said Power. “I’m happy to finish second and get some points.
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a race to be had after that final yellow because there were so many (lapped) cars in between. I think the Verizon Chevrolet was the strongest car.
“I would have liked to have got the win, but I’ll take the points. This was just what we needed for the championship points. We’ve been good everywhere.”
