At 43, Power is defying time to challenge for IndyCar crown

IndyCar’s biggest kid loves to sing, play the drums, revels in old-school hip hop, and has no interest in hearing the end of his illustrious career is near.

At 43, the mercurial Will Power, from the modest town of Toowoomba, Australia, is in his 20th season racing at the top of American open-wheel racing. The past 16 years have been spent as Roger Penske’s most consistent threat to win IndyCar races and championships, and he’s in the thick of yet another battle for IndyCar supremacy, hunting for another Astor Cup — IndyCar’s version of the Stanley Cup — in the few weeks of action that remain.

Most racecar drivers are relics by the age of 43, resting on past achievements, clinging to careers in steep decline. It’s here where Power, with his victory on Sunday at the Portland Grand Prix, offered the latest reminder of his timeless ability to crush the competition as he earned the 44th IndyCar win of his career, which moved him to fourth on the all-time list.

And like his fellow 43-year-old Fernando Alonso continues to prove in Formula One, Power’s triumph in Portland — his third win of the season, more than any other driver — is yet another piece of evidence that physical age is no longer a relevant marker in judging an athlete’s competitiveness.

Where Power’s career arc varies from Alonso’s is found in their relative stations. Mired with the midfield Aston Martin outfit, Alonso sits ninth in F1’s drivers’ championship. In a Red Bull or McLaren, the Spaniard would be a nightmare, but with his current employer, and despite his generational talent, the double world champion is unable to factor in how the title will be settled.

Power’s reality is altogether different at Team Penske — one of IndyCar’s two best teams — where he holds second in the championship with three races left to run. Already a two-time IndyCar title winner, Power secured his first in 2014 at the age of 33, won his first Indianapolis 500 in 2018 at 37, and scored his second championship in 2022 at 41. Thanks to his unwavering form in 2024, he’s chasing Alonso’s countryman, fellow two-time IndyCar champion Álex Palou, for a third title a full 10 years after capturing No. 1.

“I really do feel like I get better every year, man,” Power told ESPN. “I’m driving better this year than I ever have before, I’m certain of it. I’m always finding little things I can improve in myself, learn things from my teammates. That’s the thing about this sport: You can always get better if you’re willing to look for it. You can’t rest or be complacent at all. The moment you do, you’re basically deciding to surrender, and man, I just refuse to do that. It’s not in my nature, not at all.”

Physical fitness and maintaining a strict diet is a massive priority for the married father of one, but it’s the mental game where he’s an outlier in the sport. Power’s innate curiosity is one of his great strengths. His introspective ways — constantly probing his mind for new ways to approach his craft — are another critical aspect in how, after three decades as a top-tier driver, he remains fresher and faster than the majority of his rivals.

There’s a relentlessness to Power that has yet to subside. Older drivers tend to lose the desire to exhaust themselves in the gym or push the riskiest boundaries in the fastest corners to the same degree they did while in their teens and 20s. Inevitably, the raging need to conquer begins to wane, and that’s where veteran drivers lose a step or two in outright speed and thoughts of retirement — hopefully prior to being replaced by a young lion — enter the frame.

As IndyCar’s all-time leader in pole positions with 70 first-place starts, Power continues to set the gold standard as the series’ quickest driver. The stopwatch doesn’t lie, and it says he’s too damn fast to hang up his helmet.

“I think it comes down to the consistent work ethic,” says his boss, Team Penske president Tim Cindric. “I think all the drivers, as they as they get older and they get more successful, their priorities change, and they have more distractions, more things going on. Some of them aren’t as hungry as they used to be, but with him, it doesn’t change.

“Even the younger ones, they’ll go, ‘OK, the season’s coming up. I need to get in shape now.’ We have five or six months of an offseason, and even back in the day, some of the best drivers would come in after a couple months completely out of shape. Power’s never been that guy. Even the best of them, they’ll just relax for a few months and then get back to it, but he’s always on it. He has that constant work ethic, and I don’t think you can say that about a lot of athletes. But most of the elite athletes, they have that same trait like Will.”

Power isn’t the only 40-plus IndyCar driver defying the norms of age and diminished pace. Six-time champion Scott Dixon, who turned 44 in July, was chasing his seventh title until he was crashed out of last weekend’s race in Portland. Sitting third in the championship at the time, the New Zealander fell to fifth in the standings and lost any realistic hope of overtaking Power or Palou to stand atop the field.

The fact that a 43-year-old and a 44-year-old are continuing to deliver peak performances ahead of drivers half their age is a testament to how truly unique they are in IndyCar’s long history. For Cindric, it comes back to the devastating speed his team veteran produces in ways that are rarely matched elsewhere on the grid.

“Some of these guys that are really good racers, even as they get into their 40s, the hardest thing is to be able to qualify well these days,” he said. “Because that’s what’s needed to run at the front. Seeing him qualify (second) like at Portland, where one tenth of a second is worth six or eight spots at least, and being just off a tick, you’re ten spots back, that’s the most impressive thing with Will. And with this car, most of the teams now have homed in on setups; there’s not big differentiators in engines or setups or things that are outside the driver’s control.

“And when it’s time to get it done, more often than not, he’s able to get it done. Some of these guys that race into their 40s, they don’t start up front, therefore their finishing positions aren’t that great, unless their strategy is great, or the fuel mileage is great and they’re able to overcome their lack of track position. What’s amazing to me is just how he’s able to continue to qualify against these young drivers, the ones that are willing to put it all on the line. That’s the differentiator between him and a lot of the other guys.”

Power isn’t ready to pass the torch to Palou or any of IndyCar’s next-generation drivers, but that doesn’t mean he exhibits animosity toward his younger competitors. In fact, he and Palou have established one of the healthiest rivalries in racing, underscored by mutual respect.

“We fight really hard on track, but very fair at the same time. So that’s probably why we have that kind of relationship where we never had issues with each other,” Palou said. “So whenever he wins, it’s because they’ve been better than us. I’m like, ‘Good job. I could not have done that today.’ And it goes the same way from him when we win. It’s all about respect and admiration.

“The way that he’s been able to keep himself up there, I think it’s very tough, and we don’t see that very often. I have a lot of appreciation for Will, but I don’t want him to beat me this year.”