Q and A with 2014 IndyCar champ Will Power
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| Will Power |
Will Power won the inaugural Quicken Loans Office Grand Prix last week … on a tricycle.
It's been that kind of year for the talented, Australian-born racer. He won three Verizon IndyCar races in 2014 on his way to his first series championship after three years a runner-up.
In Detroit to kick off ticket sales for the 2015 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, Power and Penske teammate Helio Castroneves did some trike racing on Quicken Loans main call center floor (Quicken sponsors the Saturday and Sunday IndyCar races. Other heats feature sports cars and trucks) in the Chase Bank building downtown. The media ate it up. So did Quicken employees who got to rub shoulders with both winners of the 2014 Dual in Detroit.
The veteran car jockeys are friends, fierce competitors — and very different men. Three-time Indy 500 champ Castroneves is a racing rock star. Nicknamed "Spiderman" for his trademark fence-climb when he wins, the electric Brazilian is a TV celebrity with two appearances on "Dancing with the Stars" to his credit. The soft-spoken, boyish-looking Power doesn't have a nickname (Will Power is pun enough) or TV show — though he was in the 2013 animated snail-racer movie, "Turbo."
"I played a journalist and had one line: 'It's a freak of nature,' " he laughs in recalling his big screen debut.
One of the world's elite drivers, Power too is a freak of nature. I sat down with him at Quicken's HQ to talk Detroit, oval tracks, and racing movies.
Q: After three years runner up, how big was it to win this year?
Power: It was huge for me … after having been so close three times before. It was my most solid year as far as being good at every discipline where in the past I was super-dominant on street courses — not so much on oval. This year it was very even. Oval was almost my strength this year.
Q: You were in "Turbo." What's your favorite racing movie?
Power: "Days of Thunder" is a cool movie. "Rush" is very accurate. The "Senna" documentary is probably the best I've seen — very real.
Q: Do you still live in Australia?
Power: I live in Charlotte, North Carolina where the Penske team is based. I lived in Indianapolis before that. I have a wife but no kids — we might work on that next year. The team is based (in Carolina) because they also have a NASCAR team and everything is under the same roof.
Q: We just had the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin. Have you raced in Formula One?
Power: I tested a Minardi car back in 2004.
Q: How do you compare F1 and IndyCar?
Power: IndyCar is very spec. Everyone has the same stuff so it really comes down to the driving team and the engineers to get the most out of that. Which has made for this unbelievably competitive environment that we race in. There are 22 cars and 22 guys that can win every week. Formula One is more about the equipment. It's difficult to get a gauge on drivers because everyone's equipment is different.
Q: Do you still have F1 aspirations or do you prefer IndyCar?
Power: I enjoy racing IndyCar. It would be difficult to get into F1 at my age (Ed. Note: Power is 33). They're looking for young guys who are going to spend some time there.
Q: How do you like the Detroit course?
Power: It's a very good track. What makes a good race track is being able to pass. There's nothing worse than watching a procession. It's a fun track to drive — pretty technical. It's spectator friendly as well.
Q: Detroit will be the only dual race on this year's schedule. How do you like the duals?
Power: I love (them). I think they are a great idea. We go there to race. Why waste two days practicing and qualifying when you can race for two days? We practice on Friday and should be racing on Saturday and Sunday. The streets are closed down for us, so we should take absolute advantage of that.
Q: Is Detroit particularly tough?
Power: It depends on the temperature and the day. But it's pretty tough to drive these cars now.
Q: What's your daily driver?
Power: A Chevy Tahoe. The new one's really nice.
Q: What's your dream car?
Power: I'd probably like one of the Porsches. I'm not sure which one. I'm not a big car guy. I'm a race car guy, but I'm not into buying expensive cars.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.