Will Power completed one of the best drives of the season at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, turning in a fourth place result with a car that didn’t have much pace all weekend.
Power was remarkably consistent in his slow practice pace, ending each session two-thirds of the way down the timesheet in 16th position.
His qualifying effort was even less productive, forcing the 15-year veteran to start all the way back on the 10th row.
Once race day arrived, however, Power was able to advance well beyond his starting position over the course of the 90-lap race to match his good results from earlier in the season.
A large number of positions came to him through a fortunately-timed caution that allowed his pit strategy to work to its fullest.
From that point on, however, Power was able to consistently work his way past other drivers on merit alone, and soon found himself in the top five of the timing tower.
In the end, the Team Penske driver gained 15 places from his starting position, and kept his streak of good finishes alive.
“As the race was winding down, I did my very best to take advantage and make those moves early on [in the stint] and get by Dixon and all those guys as quickly as possible,” said Power.
“We made some dive bombs to get there. I’m so happy to have this Verizon Chevy up there. I honestly didn’t expect it.
“We just have to keep doing the same thing this year, finishing near to top. We have to qualify better, it will make it a lot easier on us during the race. But this team is working hard. We had better tires near the end and great strategy.”
It was thought that the forecast rain would be necessary for the veteran to stand a chance at salvaging the weekend, but Sunday’s result shows that Power hasn’t lost his skills behind the wheel.
His fourth place finish is his third such result of the season, and he is the only driver to finish in the top four in every race the season.
