Power wins in Portland, keeps IndyCar title hopes alive

Will Power remains in the hunt for a third IndyCar championship with a wire-to-wire victory at Portland International Raceway.

Power started second alongside polesitter Santino Ferrucci — the first A.J. Foyt Racing driver to lead the field to green in a decade — but an alliance between Team Penske and the Foyt organisation allowed Power and Ferrucci to make a plan for the start.

Sixty-six points behind championship leader Alex Palou at the start of the race, Power vowed to be aggressive at the start and drive like three-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen. The 43-year-old Australian was serious about it, too, as he slid ahead of Ferrucci entering the first turn.

"Santino and I talked about the start, he was a very good teammate," Power said.

Palou, who started third, finished just under 10 seconds back in second as Power led for 101 of the 110 laps to win for the third time this season. Palou wondered if his Chip Ganassi Racing team was too conservative with its strategy.

"It was tough work there trying to catch Will," Palou said.

Power now trails Palou, who was the defending Portland winner and is seeking a third championship in four seasons, by 54 points with three races remaining.

"If he had finished ahead of us, it would be over. This just kept it alive," Power added of the importance of the victory.

"It's going to be the same for the rest of the year. You've got no choice but to be ahead of him."

Power teammate Josef Newgarden finished third, three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin of Penske was seventh and Ferrucci, seeking his first career victory, faded to eighth.

"It's unfortunate, but man, I had fun," Ferrucci said.

"To get the pole for us was a huge deal. It's huge to qualify on pole, we've just been so consistent."

Queenslander Power has raced Nashville Superspeedway, site of the season finale, once before and has one victory in six previous starts at the Milwaukee Mile. He'll seek to chip into Palou's lead even more in IndyCar's return to the Wisconsin State Fair Park for next weekend's doubleheader.

Unlike Palou, who has never won on an oval or even raced at the two remaining venues on the schedule, Power has 10 career victories on ovals.

"I really, really love this series, feel lucky to be part of it and see if we can get a championship," Power said.

"We've been very, very good on ovals. Very solid. Obviously, it is two ovals we haven't raced for a long time, so it's anyone's game. We'll do our best and take the fight to Alex."

Power has 44 career victories, fourth in IndyCar history.