The first two races of the 2026 IndyCar season for Will Power were anything but easy. The Australian entered the year with Andretti Global — a new team, a new environment, and a new challenge. The transition proved difficult early on, with incidents at both St. Pete and Phoenix disrupting his start to the season.
However, it was during the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington that Power turned his fortune around. The main objective of the weekend was simple: “have a clean weekend” — that objective translated into earning a hard-fought podium at the 2026 IndyCar Arlington GP, marking his first top-three finish of the season.
Will Power’s journey to the podium at the 2026 IndyCar Arlington GP
The No. 26 driver was still reeling from the fact, a milestone he described as “very nice” to Pit Debrief and other media outlets, especially on a track that’s new to the 2026 IndyCar calendar, that meant everyone was on the same level before finding their rhythm.
“Yeah, very nice. Honestly, I just wanted to have a clean weekend after the first two… It’s very nice to get one today.
“Very happy with the new team. Very, very strong. Still improving a lot, too.”
The result reinforced his growing confidence in the Andretti team, with Power going as far as to suggest that Andretti could emerge as the benchmark, the “team to beat” this season. They bagged a 1-3-4 last Sunday.
“I think this will be the team to beat this year actually. I was saying three years it would take us to get everything, but I’m going to say this year. It’s good stuff.”
Power reminisced about his performance in the Good Ranchers 250, his first race with Andretti on an oval where he nearly earned a win. Starting from the 25th position, he fought hard, steadily moving through the pack and even leading for 10 laps.
Unfortunately, his race took a turn when he collided with Christian Rasmussen, ending his race in 16th place.
“Obviously last week we had a shot at the win or at least a podium. It’s very nice to get one today. Very happy with the new team.”
While a clean weekend was the goal for the 2026 IndyCar Arlington GP, Power had a minor on-track incident with Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon during practice at turn 4. But instead of feeling upset, he quickly deemed it an incident that failed to deter him.
“Honestly, I never even thought about it. Didn’t think about it after,” he shared. “It was such a small incident. It wasn’t anything, no. I felt bad for Scott. Lost time and so on. Yeah, no, that never entered my mind, that one.”
Will Power on limitations of two-stop strategy at 2026 IndyCar Arlington GP
Power finished third and secured his 109th career podium (including Champ Car) in a race characterised by discipline, especially in tyre and fuel management. Committing early to a two-stop strategy, the Australian had to focus heavily on conservation throughout all three stints. He ran the softer tyre in the first two.
“We kind of committed to the two-stopper. That was a big fuel save. First two stints were big tyre saves.”
During one of his pit stops, the driver had a near-touch-and-go situation with Lois Foster, prompting him to think and act fast as he hit the brakes. While the incident highlighted his incredible reflexes, Power didn’t hold any grudges when it came to the overall outcome of his race.
“No, no, no, no. I couldn’t have kept these guys [Kirkwood and Palou] behind me with the fuel that I had to save,” he said.
Despite executing what he described as a near-perfect drive, the strategy ultimately limited his chances of fighting for the win.
“I felt like I did a perfect race today. It was not the perfect strategy, obviously. I’m third.”
An electrifying first experience at the 2026 IndyCar Arlington GP for Power
Arlington has been one of the many anticipated tracks on the 2026 IndyCar calendar. Following the success of the first event, Power shared that it set a new “standard” for what each race should look like.
“It was totally, totally full. The track looked amazing. It just looked like a big event. This is setting a new standard of what our events should look like. I can’t thank I think it’s Penske Entertainment, the Cowboys, the Rangers, right, the whole group is just amazing.”
During the final caution of the race, Power shared that while he was “excited” about the restart, he avoided doing anything overly ambitious unless race winner Kyle Kirkwood or Álex Palou made any sort of errors that would open a window of opportunity for him.
“Yeah, no, I was excited about the restart. I definitely wasn’t going to do anything risky. I was going to really try to finish where I was,” he stated.
“Obviously if Álex made a mistake or something, or Álex and Kirkwood got into it, I would have been very happy just finishing where I was considering the beginning of the year, so…”
The restart also helped the Andretti driver realise that the cars themselves are “very good on restarts.”
Andretti’s performance gains after first three races of the 2026 IndyCar season
Andretti’s performance in Arlington, including a 1-3-4 finish, underlined the team’s growing competitiveness — particularly in areas that were previously considered weaknesses.
“It’s kind of what I expected. The weakness of the team was short ovals. I had one of my best short oval cars ever at Phoenix. We know now we’re very strong on short ovals.”
Tyre degradation remained a central focus post-race, with Power pointing to both driver information and continuous team evolution as key factors.
“Yeah, I mean, just the way I managed them in the cockpit, a lot of it was that this time. Yeah, we’re definitely looking at some of the stuff like at St. Pete from Marcus and Kyle there.
“But cement tracks are good for us, for sure. There’s no question. But yeah, looking at everything, everything. Car’s obviously very good, but you cannot rest in this series. Keep pushing hard until we’re winning every race, I guess.”
Power believes Andretti teammate Kirkwood is the “full package”
Looking ahead at Barber, Power struck an optimistic tone about the team’s trajectory, pointing to both immediate potential and long-term growth. A key takeaway from the weekend was Andretti’s evolving competitiveness across disciplines — particularly on short ovals, where the team has historically struggled.
“Looking forward to Barber. I think we can have some good stuff there. Yeah, the thing is with this team, we’ve got so much room to improve. I know we do.
“Some of the stuff… Got an amazing team already, for example, being really good on short ovals now. That was something where last year they would just take what they could get and hope for the best on street courses where they’re strong. Now we’re going to be fighting for wins on short ovals.”
Speaking of his teammate and race winner, Kyle Kirkwood, Power showed great admiration for the young driver and his ability to win no matter where he is, calling him the “real deal”.
“He does his homework. He’s the real deal, man,” he exclaimed. “From go-karting all the way up, he’s won every single championship.”
But on a deeper level, he described his harmonious relationship with the Florida native and the hard work he puts in, which makes him someone the veteran can himself look up to.
“This guy is very good. Very good. Incredible. He doesn’t do it just through natural ability. He works hard. He’s a very good teammate. This guy’s a lot for me to learn off of. Very impressive, yeah.
“I think he’ll be tough to beat this year in the championship. I really do. He definitely is the full package.”
Power shares that driver adaptability is crucial for 2026 IndyCar season
With three different winners across the opening races, the 2026 season is already shaping into a tightly contested championship. Power acknowledged the challenge — and the necessity of versatility.
“Yeah, it’s an incredibly tough series. Very tough… You got to be very versatile. Very hard to win on all disciplines.”
As the series heads into a brief break, Power leaves Arlington with both satisfaction and perspective.
“Yeah, proud to have a podium this weekend. Pretty proud of our performance on the short oval. But definitely need to work on finishing without incidents.”
Balancing the demands of a new team, a new environment, and an intense race schedule, the pause comes at a crucial time.
“I’ll be glad for a rest, to be honest. Been going hard. I’ve never been so busy in my life. Moving to a new team. I have to get a place in a new city, so on and so on. So much to do. It will be nice to sort of catch our breath, come out swinging when we come back.”
