Will Power’s Miserable Birthday Weekend At IndyCar’s St. Pete GP

Will Power explains his first-lap crash to Team Penske IndyCar President Tim Cindric after the March ... [+] 1 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg IndyCar race.
Bruce Martin Photo
The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is off and running with a familiar story as three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou won the March 2 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with a brilliant drive.
For Team Penske’s Will Power, however, the season-opening race was over after just three turns.
Power’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was involved in a crash with 19-year-old driver Nolan Siegel as the field was stacked up in the third turn on the opening lap. Rookie driver Louis Foster of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was also involved in a crash on that lap.
The two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner turned 44 on Saturday, but his team had to use three different Hybrid units after the Team Penske driver experienced issues in practice and qualifications.
I caught up with Power after the race for an exclusive interview.
“Oh Man, you put a lot into it, and it is frustrating,” Power told me. “Everyone at some point gets caught up in a first turn thing every few years.
“All the work we put in during the offseason, to be out on the first lap, it is frustrating. I was not ready for that checkup in Turn 3.
“I don’t know what happened. Nolan checked up heavily to the point where I got into him, he got into somebody and someone else got into me.