IndyCar Series

Power shrugs off rain worries for IndyCar Toronto

Published Jul. 13, 2017 6:13 p.m. ET

TORONTO (AP) A little rain at the IndyCar race in Toronto this weekend wouldn't bother Will Power.

''Everyone is kind of on their tippy toes trying to make sure they don't make a mistake, it's kind of like racing on ice,'' said Power, who won the race last year. ''We have no problem racing in the rain, if anything I think it might make the racing better. It will be good for the fans.''

With a 60 percent chance of rain Sunday, Power was thinking back to a decade ago.

''I won in 2007, a wet but drying race,'' he said Thursday. ''To me it creates a lot of action, a lot of racing, very good for the fans and tough for the drivers. It's not a bad thing.''

There are several concrete patches around the track and the area between turns 6 and 8 have been re-surfaced. Five feet of track was also added at Turn 11.

Power, who won his third Toronto race last year after a decision to pit on Lap 58 worked to his advantage, said the concrete is very slippery but driveable.

''When you race in the wet, the grip level is reduced so much and the braking zones are so much higher,'' he said. ''It's way easier to make a mistake, it's way easier to get into the wall.''

Power enters this weekend in fourth place in the IndyCar Series driver standings, 53 points behind leader Scott Dixon, who won the pole in Toronto last year.

Power has two wins this season and has finished in the top five for four straight races.

Returning to a place where he's had success is a bonus.

''You always feel good coming into a race that you've won before. Your team feels confident, you feel confident,'' Power said. ''But you still have to do your homework, you still have to really think about and execute. You can't sit there thinking, `We're good,' you feel like you're going to be safe and fast. I'm very focused on the event this weekend.''

Practice starts Friday with qualifying on Saturday.

Notes: Sebastien Saavedra will replace Mikhail Aleshin in the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports No. 7 car. SPM said Aleshin will be at Toronto this weekend supporting the team, but weren't providing any more details. Canadian James Hinchcliffe also races for Schmidt Peterson.

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