Will Power holds off Alexander Rossi to win at Belle Isle

On Sunday afternoon on the streets of Belle Isle Park, the NTT IndyCar Series raced the circuit for the final time as they move the race to downtown Detroit next year.

Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden started the race on the pole, with Takuma Sato starting second.

On the third lap of the race, Graham Rahal got loose, and his right rear hit the tire wall at turn two, causing significant damage that put him out of the race. Upfront, Josef Newgarden led 13 laps before losing the lead to his teammate, Will Power. Then he lost the second position to Scott Dixon.

The second driver that did not finish the race was Helio Castroneves. His car suffered a mechanical failure and finished in 25^th place.

Will Power led 11 laps before making his first scheduled pit stop on lap 25. Scott Dixon and Alex Palou led a lap before Will Power resumed the lead. Power’s car was strong all race long. On lap 49, Kyle Kirkwood broke the suspension on his car and was the third driver out of the race, finishing in 24^th place.

A lap later, Will Power made his final pit stop of the day and kept the lead leaving pit road. However, the drama started to build. Andretti Autosport driver Alexander Rossi was catching Power. Will Power had a 12.156 lead over Rossi with nine laps to go. Power kept a distance between him and Jack Harvey, who was fighting to stay on the lead lap.

Rossi closed the distance on the last lap, but he ran out of time, and Will Power won the race by one second over Rossi. It was Power’s first win of the season and the 100^th win for Chevrolet since joining IndyCar in 2012. Will Power now holds a three-point lead over Marcus Ericsson in the point standings.

The rest of the top ten finishers were Scott Dixon third, Josef Newgarden fourth, Pato O’Ward fifth, Alex Palou sixth, Marcus Ericsson seventh, Colton Herta eighth, Simon Pagenaud ninth, and Felix Rosenqvist tenth. There were four lead changes and no cautions.

“I just drove it as straight as I could. I never put any slip (angle) into it,” said Will Power. “I was just driving it really straight and really nice on the brakes and the throttle. I knew if I could keep a reasonable gap until the end, we’d be ok.”

Last year, Power lost the race due to his car not starting, and he was glad to get redemption. “Steller job by the team and a very enjoyable race because you had to chop through the field and fight hard,” said Power. “It’s just redemption from last year. I was just waiting for something to happen those last ten laps, but I just stayed laser focused.”

“I think one more lap would’ve been interesting,” said second place finisher Alexander Rossi on catching Power. “You’ve got to give credit to the 12 guys and Will (Power). That’s hard to do at the end, to hang on. It was a good recovery from yesterday. The strategy was good, and we’ll take it.”

Next Sunday, the NTT IndyCar Series heads to Road America for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America starting at 12:30 pm on NBC. Tickets for the race can be purchased thanks to our friends at StubHub.

Finishing Order: