Will Power arrived at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 7 with a new team, a familiar target and a fresh view of the 2026 Indy 500. The two-time IndyCar champion qualified at 230.279 mph on a four-lap run and will start from the inside of Row 7.
The run leaves Power with work to do, but not a sense of alarm. He said starting farther back can make a strategic gamble more attractive, and added that drivers can still race to the front from there. In his words, there are plenty of chances for mistakes, bad cars and long stints to reshape the order, and a deep start does not rule out a front-running finish.
That outlook fits a season in which Power has not won a race and sits 14th in points. He finished third at Arlington, but the bigger story has been the transition itself: Power signed with Andretti in September 2025 after 17 years with Penske, ending a run that produced IndyCar titles in 2014 and 2022, plus the 2018 Indianapolis 500. He now has 42 wins in Penske history, a number that underlines how much the move meant on both sides.
Power said the talks with Penske stretched on as 2025 moved along, but once he looked at what Andretti had in its ability, resources, people and engineers, the decision became straightforward. He said he is enjoying the process, described the transition as really good and stressed that there is no animosity from where he came from. He also said he remains grateful for the career he built with Roger Penske and the team around him.
There is another layer to the adjustment. Power said learning how Andretti operates alongside Ron Ruzewski has helped him settle in, and Ruzewski is also in his first year with the team after 20 years with Penske. For Power, that means the move is not just about changing garages. It is about reading a new organization, a new rhythm and a new way of preparing for races that can turn on a single decision.
He has also embraced the people already around him. In an interview with 1075 the Fan, Power called Mario Andretti “the epitome of true racing,” a remark that reflects how quickly he has taken to the new environment. The first May since 2008 without Penske has clearly been different, but Power has made it sound less like a rupture than a reset.
The qualifying spot gives him a clear starting point for the next stage of the month. Power will be joined on the track by teammates Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson, and the field ahead of him offers both traffic and opportunity. His own view is simple: from the back half of the grid, the race can still come to you. He has spent enough time at the front to know how quickly Indianapolis can reward patience, and enough time around the sport to know that no starting position guarantees much of anything.
