With four of Team Penske’s crucial crew members suspended for the next two races, the team has shuffled some of its existing people into new roles to support their three drivers on track.
One of the key suspensions is Ron Ruzewski, who serves as Will Power’s race strategist and voice over the radio.
Stepping into Ruzewski’s role for the Sonsio Grand Prix will be David Faustino, who is Power’s race engineer.
Faustino has had a long relationship with the veteran driver, and will do his best to complete a dual role throughout the weekend.
Speaking ahead of the race, Power related that the suspensions have made for a less than ideal scenario, but he doesn’t believe he will be negatively affected in the end.
“[David Faustino] has run a lot of tests and been on the radio,” said Power. “It will be different, yeah. He’s not used to counting me down to the box or sending me, so there will be a few things that we have to really practice as much as we can. I think warmup is the only time we get to do that.
“But we’ve raced so long together, and I’ve been at it so long, I can almost do strategy from the car, and he’s the one that basically does the strategy anyway. Ron sort of calls the races. Not a massive change.
“It will suck not having Ron. I’ve really got used to him. He’s very calming and good on the radio. That’s a pity, but that’s the way it is, and we have to do our best.
“It’s not ideal losing someone off your stand [for the Indy 500], losing two people is definitely not ideal. We were better off with them.
“But I sat down with Dave and we just said we’re going to do absolutely the best we can with what we’ve got. We’ve got very good people on the team. It is what it is. That’s the way it is, and we will do our absolute best to make the most of it.”
Power is no stranger to success at IMS, winning five races on the road course and one Indy 500 in 2018.
He will look to use that experience to make the most of the situation without the normal voice in his ear for the next two races.
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