Power admits he never expected to match IndyCar greats

Power’s third pole of 2018 and 53^rd of his career, scored at Pocono Raceway this afternoon, elevates him to joint second with Foyt in the all-time IndyCar record book. However, Mario Andretti remains a further 14 poles out in front.

Said Power: “It sounds very cool. I never thought I'd be up in that sort of company, to be next to A.J. Foyt's name. I wouldn't have expected that when I started my career; it’s so amazing.”

Asked if he thought Andretti’s mark was reachable, Power admitted: “I thought about that… and I thought about how many times I've lost pole by like a hundredth of a second this year!

“It is possible to reach that,” said Power who has re-signed a multi-year deal with Penske despite an approach from McLaren, “but [for now] I’m just happy to be next to A.J. Foyt.”

Power said that his pole was a result of taking out more wing than his teammates, as he turned a first lap some 1.3mph faster than anyone else’s. When his second lap was also above the 219mph barrier, pole was his – eventually by a margin of 0.7mph.

“I trimmed out a bit more,” he said. “Obviously the car was handling reasonably well. Very, very good, solid first lap – big first lap. Obviously dropoff in the second lap – I had to lift out of Turn 1 – but it was still fast.

“We just nailed the gear and everything for that run, so it was very nice.”

Despite earning a point for pole, two-time Pocono winner Power still lies 86 points adrift of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who was only 13^th fastest today.

“I really enjoy the track,” said the 2014 IndyCar champion and reigning Indy 500 winner. “It's such a competitive series. You never know how you're going to stack up week in, week out, but we've been quick everywhere and I expect to be running at the front tomorrow.

“We just need to have a good day in relation to Scott, because that's the points deficit that we need to close. Couple of guys in front of me [Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden] are easily able to be caught, but Dixon's lead is pretty big for me. I need him to have a bad run, I need to have a good run to have a good shot at him at the last race.”

Power praises IndyCar for aerokit revisions

Power went on to give credit to IndyCar’s technical team for not only the new-for-2018 spec Dallara aerokits but also the recent revisions to IndyCar’s superspeedway package to allow cars to run closer through high-speed turns.

“I think they nailed it in a lot of respects,” he commented. “It looks better. It definitely performs better as far as racing goes.

“Obviously they're still tweaking a few things for certain tracks, but all in all it's a very nimble, fun car to drive. I think Jay Frye, Bill Pappas and Tino Belli really have done a great job this year in every respect. Such a strong group on the competition side to have at IndyCar.

“I think this car drafts really well: I just didn't get a feel for it in [morning] practice. I think it will be good racing, similar to Indy. I mean, Indy this year was the worst-case scenario as far as grip goes, it was such a hot day. Doesn't matter what bodykit you have on a hot day like that, it's difficult with track temp that high.

“Seems like a pretty nice day tomorrow as far as being cool. So, yeah, we'll see. Time will tell. As you saw, there were a few different configurations of the bits you're [now] allowed to use. Every wind tunnel gets different reads. [The latest changes] just put the front wing in a better range, basically.”