With each passing NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Will Power continues to make his mark on the series record book. The 2021 season saw him capture another victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – his record fifth career triumph on that circuit – to give him a win in 14 consecutive seasons and a total of 40 wins for his career. His 63rd career pole position, won at World Wide Technologies Raceway (WWTR) in August, moved him closer to Mario Andretti’s all-time INDYCAR record of 67 poles.
Power and the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet once again demonstrated in 2021 that they had the speed and performance to compete among the series leaders as Power continued to chase down the INDYCAR SERIES legends in front of him in the record book.
The season opened with a strong showing by Power and the No. 12 team as they produced a second-place finish in the series opener at Barber Motorsports Park. A top-10 result on the streets of St. Petersburg in the next race gave Power fans plenty of optimism that this could be a special year for the Toowoomba, Australia native. However, the team hit a dry spell over the course of the next five races, finishing outside the top 10 until earning a sixth-place result in the second race at Belle Isle Park in the Detroit doubleheader weekend.
It seemed as though Power and then Verizon 5G Chevy team found their footing following Belle Isle with a third-place run at Road America, but an early incident at Mid-Ohio – while running inside the top five – resulted in a 25th-place finish for Power at a track where he runs particularly well. The 2014 INDYCAR champion rebounded the following week with his victory at Indianapolis followed by his WWTR pole position and a subsequent third-place finish in the Gateway race.
Power and the No. 12 team entered the final three-race stretch on the West Coast ranked ninth in the series standings. In the season’s home stretch, Power welcomed the opportunity to move up in the standings with races at three race tracks where he has been super competitive in the past. An early incident at Portland forced the team to fight back for a 13th-place finish. A 26th-place result due to a mechanical issue at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca the following weekend hurt the Verizon Chevy team in the standings, but Power was able to finish with a 10th-place result in the season finale at Long Beach.
In a season that saw Power produce a race victory and a pole position competing against the deep and talented series field, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion continued on his path to INDYCAR immortality. Power’s 40 career wins place him fifth on the all-time list and his 14 consecutive seasons with at least one victory is tied for the fourth-longest streak in series history. Yet, it is his total number of pole positions that have him in legitimate striking distance of the all-time record as he enters his 18th INDYCAR SERIES season in 2022 only four behind the record.
“It was a solid year for the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet team, but we could just never find the consistency,” said Power. “I really wanted to win a race to keep that streak going, and I’m very proud of the number of pole awards we’ve been able to grab. It’s a record that I would love to have, but I’m more focused on winning another championship and another Indy 500. We just need to find that consistency and we will be fine.”