Power trying to keep focus after hot IRL start
It's going to take plenty more than 103 points for someone to hoist the Indy Racing League championship trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway this fall.
That being said, it's not hard to already envision Will Power wrapping his hands around IndyCar's yearlong prize, either.
After all, he made it through the first month of the IRL season undefeated.
Two races so far in 2010, two wins already for Power, who prevailed Monday at the rain-delayed Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to move 44 points clear of defending champion Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Justin Wilson in this year's IRL standings. If so inclined - and naturally, he's not - Power could skip the April 11 race in Alabama and still likely keep his perch atop the points race.
Championship talk in March?
Perish the thought, Power said. Still, to put this in some perspective, his 103 points so far after winning rain-affected events in Sao Paulo and St. Petersburg are 22 more than Danica Patrick and Scott Dixon - two pretty good drivers, by just about anyone's estimation - have combined.
``I'm just, you know, aware that it's only race two of 17,'' Power said. ``To win a championship, it doesn't matter if you win two races and then have a heap of bad ones. You just have to keep at it every weekend. You go into every weekend thinking, 'OK, I have a chance to win' and if you can't, you have to make the most of it.''
History seems to be on his side.
Sam Hornish Jr. was the last driver to open an IndyCar season with two wins, back in 2001. He took the series title that year by 105 points.
``Obviously, with 100-plus points, he's got a good lead,'' said Ryan Briscoe, Power's teammate at Penske Racing and the third-place finisher at St. Pete. ``But it's early days. There's a lot of racing to go, lots of different tracks to come. But you know, at Penske, he's got a car that's going to be strong at all the races this year and it's going to take a lot to catch him.''
Power is thankful just to have a car, period.
Barely seven months ago, that wasn't a sure thing. Really, nothing was.
A crash in practice at Sonoma left Power with four broken bones in his back, an airlift to a nearby hospital and a most uncertain future. He only got his foot into the door of the Penske garage when Helio Castroneves - fourth on Monday - missed the race at St. Pete in 2009 because of a tax-evasion trial.
Castroneves won the trial and returned to his car. Team owner Roger Penske told Power he'd try to find sponsorship to get him as many starts as possible in 2009, and made the same vow to him at the hospital after the Sonoma wreck. Maybe even more than the doctor's word that he wouldn't need surgery, Penske's pledge put Power at complete ease.
He rehabbed, got stronger and came back with a full-time ride for 2010.
Power hasn't lost since.
``For Will, it's unbelievable for a guy who wasn't sure he was going to have a full-time ride for a good part of last year,'' Briscoe said. ``He had faith in Penske and, likewise, the other way around. Penske stuck behind him after he broke his back. Obviously Will did an awesome job last year in all the races he ran.''
So what, if anything, does Power need to improve on?
``Maybe toughen up his hand a little bit,'' Briscoe said.
He wasn't kidding. Not really, anyway.
Power had a blister pop up on his right hand around the time of the race in Brazil. After the race Monday, he wrapped a bandage around that hand, prompting some concern that the injury was more serious than first thought.
It wasn't. The reason Power had the bandage? Too many people were stopping to shake his hand.
For a guy concerned about walking and working a few months ago, that's not necessarily a bad problem to have.
``We just have to stop the guy, man,'' Castroneves said moments after congratulating his teammate Monday afternoon. ``What's going on with Will Power?''
That's the question everyone in IRL is trying to answer.
