Ahead of the inaugural IndyCar Arlington GP, Will Power spoke to the media, including Pit Debrief, and the conversation quickly turned to the incident that defined the closing stages of the Phoenix race and ultimately cost him a shot at victory.
Power and Christian Rasmussen had been the two standout performers at Phoenix. The Ed Carpenter Racing driver had carved his way through the field from deep in the order, and in the final stint the two found themselves fighting for the lead. When Rasmussen attempted to pass around the outside, Power held his line and the two made contact. Rasmussen hit the wall and cut Power’s tyre, bringing out a caution that reshuffled the order and handed the initiative to Josef Newgarden, who went on to win.
In the days that followed, the two drivers found themselves in an unlikely setting to clear the air. “I just was taking a piss, and I look over, and there’s Rasmussen right there,” Power said. “And I was like, ‘hey, what’s up?’ So we had a good conversation, both saying, ‘yeah, we’re both racing for a win’.”
Power spoke candidly about the fine margins involved in the decision he made at that moment. Earlier in the race he had let Rasmussen through without a fight, reasoning that there was still time to respond. That calculation changed when the lead was on the line.
“The stint before he came up to me, I just let him go because I was in second, and there’s still a stint to go, but that one was we’re fighting for a win. And, you know, I obviously didn’t want to let it go easy, as he was also wanting to get by.”
WILL POWER AND CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN COLLIDE FOR THE LEAD! ???? pic.twitter.com/W1dirFCwMR
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) March 7, 2026
Power and Rasmussen acknowledge mistakes
Both drivers, he said, left the conversation acknowledging they could have handled it differently. “We both agree we could have done something different, both of us. Yeah, but we’re all good. We’re all good.”
The Australian veteran was philosophical about the outcome, but the what-ifs have clearly stayed with him. “At the end of the day, you know, if I just made it real easy on him, I would have sat back, ‘oh man, I could have won that race’. And, you know, I’m sitting here going, ‘man, why didn’t I just, you know, do this different’?”
“We both would have finished and would have been, you know, probably in the top three, maybe two, maybe I would have got him back, you don’t know. So, yeah, I think about it a million different ways, but at the end of the day, that’s the tightrope that you walk in racing.”
Rasmussen unmoved by reputation
At a previous media session attended by Pit Debrief, the Dane was asked about a pre-season poll in which fellow drivers named him the driver they least trusted in wheel-to-wheel combat. His response was straightforward.
“It doesn’t change anything, no. At the end of the day, yeah, people can think what they’re going to think. I’m not going to change that. What we’re doing is working, especially on the oval, so we’ll continue down that road.”
He went further, suggesting that his reputation has started to work in his favour on track. “I noticed a lot this weekend that some of the passes were made easier. If people are going to pull up because of what they think I’m going to do, hey, let them do that. Just makes it an easier job for me.”
It is a mindset that will do little to ease the concerns of the drivers around him, and with the Arlington street circuit expected to produce close and chaotic racing, the question of how Rasmussen’s rivals approach wheel-to-wheel situations with him is one that could shape the outcome of the race.
For Power, the focus now turns to the IndyCar Arlington GP and the opportunity to put Phoenix behind him. The championship remains tight, and for a driver of his experience, converting pace into points will be the priority as the season develops.
