September 4, 2025 • 13 mins
IndyCar Driver Will Power joins Query & Company to discuss the decision to move on from Team Penske and go to Andretti Global. Will explains why he felt like it was time for a fresh start somewhere else, evaluates if the recent Team Penske problems were factored into his decision to leave, provides a timeline as to how it all came about, and switching from a Chevrolet to Honda engine.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our next guest has won more polls than any driver
in the history of the NTT IndyCar Series. He also
has won forty three races, the majority of those with
Roger Penske and Team Penske, but he would like to
add to that total because of course he now is
no longer with Team Penske, but stays in the series.
(00:20):
That news in the fact that will Power is now
a member of Andretti Global and will drive the number
twenty six car that most recently was piloted by Colton
Herda and he joins us now on the always busy
and available for your company to sponsor guest line, will
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm doing well? Thank you? How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I am good? And you know what, I'll tell you.
Part of the reason that I'm good is because and
I feel bad about it. You know, at the end
of the year in Milwaukee and in Nashville, I think
every time that we interviewed you, you know, everybody is
wanting to know the question of what's going to go
on with will Power. We had pretty good indication of
what was going to go on with Willpower, and yet
(00:58):
we've got to ask it. Knowing that you can't necessarily
say what's going on with will power? So how relieved
are you to just have kind of all of this
over and done and now being able to look forward.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
It was a weight off my shoulders to sure its
actually the Gokart trail and there right now just having fun.
But I just felt a bit of a relaf So yeah,
it was probably subconsciously weighing on me, and I was
getting a lot of questions about it and just sort
(01:32):
of you know, the stress was wondering exactly how is
this going to play out? Is it going to go easily?
You know, the transition, and it has gone very smoothly.
So yeah, you know, I'm very very excited for the future.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
We did this will I mean, obviously this domino felt
quick and we knew it was going to And then
it was not long after the announcement from Team Penske
that you would not return, that you were announced friend
Ready Global. So when when did this all kind of
get underway? When was the first time that you thought
about the fact that you would not be with Team Penske,
And when was the first conversation you had with and Ready?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, it's it has been let's say, you know, definitely
from May onwards, I was starting to, you know, think, well,
you know, maybe maybe I'm going to have to drive
somewhere else I get another ride. But the goal was
to resign with Penske. That was you know, I'd been
(02:33):
there seventeen years. I have had great success. I love
the team, the people, Roger, Roger's been great to me.
And yeah, I think after the conversation that I had
with Roger, you know, post Indianapolis, you know, he said,
(02:54):
I'm not going to shoot You've talked to other teams.
I'm not saying that you won't be in the car,
and actually, you know, I'm a allowing you to see
what's out there. So at that point, you know, when
he said that, I thought, okay, you know they're looking
at going a different direction. There's a chance here that
I'm not going to go to Fancy. So then we
started looking around and I would say just about every
(03:17):
team owner in the pit lane spoke to me, But
for Andretti, that sort of came together very quickly at
the end. Yeah, I think the first conversation was that
road America just sort of in passing saw down on
a golf cart and said, oh, you know what i'd
I'd love to drive for you, and you know, they
(03:39):
didn't really have anything at that point, but yeah, then
it probably got the wheels turning for Dan and you know,
an opportunity for Colton to go somewhere, and then that
set opened up. So yeah, and then the whole process
went very smoothly. So and that you know, when we
spoke about it, when I signed up to a four
team management at the beginning of the year, we thought
(04:02):
the most likely thing to happen is that Roger does
sign me for a year or you know, probably just
a year, because that's kind of you know that that's
sort of the trend that Penske has followed over the
years with the drivers that are a bit older. But
you know, but the ideal place to end up for
us was Andretti. We actually said that, not that there
(04:26):
was anything open there when we were talking about that,
but we actually said, Oriel said, you know, my ideal
place for you to end up would be at Andretti.
I agreed with him. So that's yeah, I agree. They're
a great team. You know that they're you know, Dan's
very obviously when I started talking to Dan, you know,
(04:46):
even cemented that more because he's he's very in touch
with what needs to be done in that team to
improve it. They're already winning races. I think Honda, as
you've seen this year of have a very good vengeance.
Yeah it was just but yeah, just you know, play
(05:07):
it out quite smoothly.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Actually, so Dan Twis, by the way, is who Will
is referencing there, who is with originally with Group one
thousand and one and now is involved with the ownership
stakes within and Dreddi Global. So Will, if you would
have decided, for example, after that meeting with Roger Penske
in May, if if you would have woken up a
month ago and said, you know what, I do want
(05:31):
to give another run with Team Penske. Here would that
have been? Was that offered to you? Was there the
possibility from their end of you returning to them next year?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yes? I was offered to fly up and we never
got to that point. But after Portland, Jonathon Gibson called
me and said, hey, we'd like to fly you up
to Detroit to meet with Roger and talk about your future,
and you know, and I basically he said, look, I'm
(06:01):
not I'm not going to come back. I'm not coming
back you know, I've made the decision of my mind.
And I kind of went from there. And Roger called
me a day later and kind said, yeah, look, we
would love to have negotiated with you, but you know,
it sounds like you made the decision. It was. You know,
Roger was fine with it. He understood, and you know
he he was. And I said, you know, I kind
(06:22):
of didn't want to go through the stress of another
single year of wondering what I'm doing the next year.
And also, you know, I got the feeling that you're
only going to offer me one year, and he said, yeah,
that's true. You know, I'm not going to lie to here.
We were going to off you one year. So yeah,
there was a chance to go back, but my mind
was made up. So you know, I was just time
(06:44):
for a change and a different challenge. See if you can,
you know, winning a different team. You know, I think
I liked that. It's exciting for me, it's motivating.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Will power my guest here, who will be dry Forendredti
Global coming up in the twenty twenty six IndyCar season,
who will be in car number twenty six? Well, I
want to go back to this, and I talked about
this because you have been and I commend you for it.
You and your wife, Liz, both I think, have been
pretty public about and it's well documented the health challenge
that she had and the balance that you had to
(07:20):
have between being husband and dad and race car driver,
and what I would assume was a difficult distraction for
the last few years as Liz at times her health
was in dire situation. Did that help you navigate this
process in terms of having an understanding of the realities
(07:40):
of what's truly important in life and how did it
all How did you weigh all of that out, because
you you always just seem so kind of relaxed deep
down inside. Were you were you terrified?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I would never say terrified, but yeah, in twenty three
obviously that was a very stressful situation. You know, Liz's
health has got a lot better. I don't think we
were necessarily thinking of any of that. Yeah, I think. Yeah.
My thinking was, look, I'm late enough in my career
(08:21):
to I'm not going to say it's a risk, but
take you know, make a change, because it's not like
you know, it all all went bad or just you know,
you know, it just didn't seem like it seemed like that,
you know, I knew in my gut basically, is what
I'm trying to say, is I know him. I knew
(08:44):
in my gut that it was time to move. You
just know, at this age, just felt it like it's
the right thing to do and it's the right time,
and I just knew it in my guard I just
you know, I trust that feeling. I sort of don't
don't have a lot of indecision these days to kind
of move forward quickly.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Did some of the things that happened within the team
factor at all. I mean I'm talking about like the
push to pass thing, which you were pleadered of really
but you were kind of caught up in it in
Saint Pete. And then obviously this year at Indie having
to start from the back. Did those things factor in?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Nah? I think. I think having sort of two Indy
five hundreds affected by those things were disappointing. You know,
I'd mistrategist taken off my car two years in a row,
and definitely that first year it cost us, I think.
But no, you know, they those things were not you know,
(09:43):
they didn't. Yeah, as we've explained many times, it's unfortunate
circumstances there, But it was obviously a lot of things
go into it. You know, you just have a number
of different things that sway your decisions, you know, as
they add up. I wouldn't say that that wasn't one
(10:06):
of them. It was sort of, you know, It's just
just many things that went into that decision, and you know,
and one of them was my got my gut feel
for it. I think this is the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Okay, last thing for you, will and I appreciate your time,
will power joining us here. And I've made a living
asking questions, and about seventy percent of the time I
ask you a question, I think to myself, I think
that might have been a dumb question, you know what
I mean. Yeah, so this is probably a dumb question.
And then I want you to tell me if it's
a dumb question. In winning the Indy five hundred with
Roger Penske, in driving for Roger Penske and driving for
(10:41):
that team, you have primarily been and had success with Chevrolet.
You now will be going to a team that is
kind of a flagship team for Honda. Theoretically, to those
of us that drive cars, you don't really notice any
difference of the engine underneath you as a driver. Will
there be any sort of a different feel or different
style or challenge for you as a driver with a
(11:04):
Honda engine versus a Chevrolet engine.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I'm sure there is a difference in the way those
engines drive, you know. I think from the outset, the
Chevy sort of I felt like always a really good
top end. I think I've always thought that Honda has
very sort of good lowish mid range, So I think
there is a difference. I think the performance is very close,
(11:31):
and I'll get to feel that. You know, I can
only sort of wonder what it feels like until I
actually drive a car, so I would almost guarantee that
will be a difference.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So that wasn't a dumb question.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
That wasn't That wasn't a dumb question.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
But I've had some dumb questions, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I mean, you know, this whole review has been good.
You've got great questions, believe me, good, good, good questions.
They have been I've I've definitely had some questions from
people over a time. Yours have been great.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So all right, so you're gonna go out and you're
just gonna get the go cart and drive around the
track all day to day to just clear the mind
and get back to the roots.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well, there's actually names David day four A. He's Italian.
It's like a five time world chance. I thought I'd
come out and run around with him just for fun,
you know. Quality definitely a top level job is a
bit of fun for me.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
There you go. I mean that's that is different than
the way most of us will spend our off days.
But listen, I know it's been a busy and flurry
of activity here, a busy time for you, and I
certainly appreciate not only the time, will but also the
explanation from all of it. Our best to you and
you know, to Liz as well and your son, and
certainly look forward to seeing you coming up in Saint Pete.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
No good stuff, man, looking forward to it. It's going
to be great.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Much appreciate it, will enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
That is will Power joining us on the program today.
Our next guest has won more polls than any driver
in the history of the NTT IndyCar Series. He also
has won forty three races, the majority of those with
Roger Penske and Team Penske, but he would like to
add to that total because of course he now is
no longer with Team Penske, but stays in the series.
(00:20):
That news in the fact that will Power is now
a member of Andretti Global and will drive the number
twenty six car that most recently was piloted by Colton
Herda and he joins us now on the always busy
and available for your company to sponsor guest line, will
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm doing well? Thank you? How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
I am good? And you know what, I'll tell you.
Part of the reason that I'm good is because and
I feel bad about it. You know, at the end
of the year in Milwaukee and in Nashville, I think
every time that we interviewed you, you know, everybody is
wanting to know the question of what's going to go
on with will Power. We had pretty good indication of
what was going to go on with Willpower, and yet
(00:58):
we've got to ask it. Knowing that you can't necessarily
say what's going on with will power? So how relieved
are you to just have kind of all of this
over and done and now being able to look forward.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
It was a weight off my shoulders to sure its
actually the Gokart trail and there right now just having fun.
But I just felt a bit of a relaf So yeah,
it was probably subconsciously weighing on me, and I was
getting a lot of questions about it and just sort
(01:32):
of you know, the stress was wondering exactly how is
this going to play out? Is it going to go easily?
You know, the transition, and it has gone very smoothly.
So yeah, you know, I'm very very excited for the future.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
We did this will I mean, obviously this domino felt
quick and we knew it was going to And then
it was not long after the announcement from Team Penske
that you would not return, that you were announced friend
Ready Global. So when when did this all kind of
get underway? When was the first time that you thought
about the fact that you would not be with Team Penske,
And when was the first conversation you had with and Ready?
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Well, it's it has been let's say, you know, definitely
from May onwards, I was starting to, you know, think, well,
you know, maybe maybe I'm going to have to drive
somewhere else I get another ride. But the goal was
to resign with Penske. That was you know, I'd been
(02:33):
there seventeen years. I have had great success. I love
the team, the people, Roger, Roger's been great to me.
And yeah, I think after the conversation that I had
with Roger, you know, post Indianapolis, you know, he said,
(02:54):
I'm not going to shoot You've talked to other teams.
I'm not saying that you won't be in the car,
and actually, you know, I'm a allowing you to see
what's out there. So at that point, you know, when
he said that, I thought, okay, you know they're looking
at going a different direction. There's a chance here that
I'm not going to go to Fancy. So then we
started looking around and I would say just about every
(03:17):
team owner in the pit lane spoke to me, But
for Andretti, that sort of came together very quickly at
the end. Yeah, I think the first conversation was that
road America just sort of in passing saw down on
a golf cart and said, oh, you know what i'd
I'd love to drive for you, and you know, they
(03:39):
didn't really have anything at that point, but yeah, then
it probably got the wheels turning for Dan and you know,
an opportunity for Colton to go somewhere, and then that
set opened up. So yeah, and then the whole process
went very smoothly. So and that you know, when we
spoke about it, when I signed up to a four
team management at the beginning of the year, we thought
(04:02):
the most likely thing to happen is that Roger does
sign me for a year or you know, probably just
a year, because that's kind of you know that that's
sort of the trend that Penske has followed over the
years with the drivers that are a bit older. But
you know, but the ideal place to end up for
us was Andretti. We actually said that, not that there
(04:26):
was anything open there when we were talking about that,
but we actually said, Oriel said, you know, my ideal
place for you to end up would be at Andretti.
I agreed with him. So that's yeah, I agree. They're
a great team. You know that they're you know, Dan's
very obviously when I started talking to Dan, you know,
(04:46):
even cemented that more because he's he's very in touch
with what needs to be done in that team to
improve it. They're already winning races. I think Honda, as
you've seen this year of have a very good vengeance.
Yeah it was just but yeah, just you know, play
(05:07):
it out quite smoothly.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Actually, so Dan Twis, by the way, is who Will
is referencing there, who is with originally with Group one
thousand and one and now is involved with the ownership
stakes within and Dreddi Global. So Will, if you would
have decided, for example, after that meeting with Roger Penske
in May, if if you would have woken up a
month ago and said, you know what, I do want
(05:31):
to give another run with Team Penske. Here would that
have been? Was that offered to you? Was there the
possibility from their end of you returning to them next year?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Yes? I was offered to fly up and we never
got to that point. But after Portland, Jonathon Gibson called
me and said, hey, we'd like to fly you up
to Detroit to meet with Roger and talk about your future,
and you know, and I basically he said, look, I'm
(06:01):
not I'm not going to come back. I'm not coming
back you know, I've made the decision of my mind.
And I kind of went from there. And Roger called
me a day later and kind said, yeah, look, we
would love to have negotiated with you, but you know,
it sounds like you made the decision. It was. You know,
Roger was fine with it. He understood, and you know
he he was. And I said, you know, I kind
(06:22):
of didn't want to go through the stress of another
single year of wondering what I'm doing the next year.
And also, you know, I got the feeling that you're
only going to offer me one year, and he said, yeah,
that's true. You know, I'm not going to lie to here.
We were going to off you one year. So yeah,
there was a chance to go back, but my mind
was made up. So you know, I was just time
(06:44):
for a change and a different challenge. See if you can,
you know, winning a different team. You know, I think
I liked that. It's exciting for me, it's motivating.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Will power my guest here, who will be dry Forendredti
Global coming up in the twenty twenty six IndyCar season,
who will be in car number twenty six? Well, I
want to go back to this, and I talked about
this because you have been and I commend you for it.
You and your wife, Liz, both I think, have been
pretty public about and it's well documented the health challenge
that she had and the balance that you had to
(07:20):
have between being husband and dad and race car driver,
and what I would assume was a difficult distraction for
the last few years as Liz at times her health
was in dire situation. Did that help you navigate this
process in terms of having an understanding of the realities
(07:40):
of what's truly important in life and how did it
all How did you weigh all of that out, because
you you always just seem so kind of relaxed deep
down inside. Were you were you terrified?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I would never say terrified, but yeah, in twenty three
obviously that was a very stressful situation. You know, Liz's
health has got a lot better. I don't think we
were necessarily thinking of any of that. Yeah, I think. Yeah.
My thinking was, look, I'm late enough in my career
(08:21):
to I'm not going to say it's a risk, but
take you know, make a change, because it's not like
you know, it all all went bad or just you know,
you know, it just didn't seem like it seemed like that,
you know, I knew in my gut basically, is what
I'm trying to say, is I know him. I knew
(08:44):
in my gut that it was time to move. You
just know, at this age, just felt it like it's
the right thing to do and it's the right time,
and I just knew it in my guard I just
you know, I trust that feeling. I sort of don't
don't have a lot of indecision these days to kind
of move forward quickly.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Did some of the things that happened within the team
factor at all. I mean I'm talking about like the
push to pass thing, which you were pleadered of really
but you were kind of caught up in it in
Saint Pete. And then obviously this year at Indie having
to start from the back. Did those things factor in?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Nah? I think. I think having sort of two Indy
five hundreds affected by those things were disappointing. You know,
I'd mistrategist taken off my car two years in a row,
and definitely that first year it cost us, I think.
But no, you know, they those things were not you know,
(09:43):
they didn't. Yeah, as we've explained many times, it's unfortunate
circumstances there, But it was obviously a lot of things
go into it. You know, you just have a number
of different things that sway your decisions, you know, as
they add up. I wouldn't say that that wasn't one
(10:06):
of them. It was sort of, you know, It's just
just many things that went into that decision, and you know,
and one of them was my got my gut feel
for it. I think this is the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Okay, last thing for you, will and I appreciate your time,
will power joining us here. And I've made a living
asking questions, and about seventy percent of the time I
ask you a question, I think to myself, I think
that might have been a dumb question, you know what
I mean. Yeah, so this is probably a dumb question.
And then I want you to tell me if it's
a dumb question. In winning the Indy five hundred with
Roger Penske, in driving for Roger Penske and driving for
(10:41):
that team, you have primarily been and had success with Chevrolet.
You now will be going to a team that is
kind of a flagship team for Honda. Theoretically, to those
of us that drive cars, you don't really notice any
difference of the engine underneath you as a driver. Will
there be any sort of a different feel or different
style or challenge for you as a driver with a
(11:04):
Honda engine versus a Chevrolet engine.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
I'm sure there is a difference in the way those
engines drive, you know. I think from the outset, the
Chevy sort of I felt like always a really good
top end. I think I've always thought that Honda has
very sort of good lowish mid range, So I think
there is a difference. I think the performance is very close,
(11:31):
and I'll get to feel that. You know, I can
only sort of wonder what it feels like until I
actually drive a car, so I would almost guarantee that
will be a difference.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
So that wasn't a dumb question.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
That wasn't That wasn't a dumb question.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
But I've had some dumb questions, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
I mean, you know, this whole review has been good.
You've got great questions, believe me, good, good, good questions.
They have been I've I've definitely had some questions from
people over a time. Yours have been great.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
So all right, so you're gonna go out and you're
just gonna get the go cart and drive around the
track all day to day to just clear the mind
and get back to the roots.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Well, there's actually names David day four A. He's Italian.
It's like a five time world chance. I thought I'd
come out and run around with him just for fun,
you know. Quality definitely a top level job is a
bit of fun for me.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
There you go. I mean that's that is different than
the way most of us will spend our off days.
But listen, I know it's been a busy and flurry
of activity here, a busy time for you, and I
certainly appreciate not only the time, will but also the
explanation from all of it. Our best to you and
you know, to Liz as well and your son, and
certainly look forward to seeing you coming up in Saint Pete.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
No good stuff, man, looking forward to it. It's going
to be great.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Much appreciate it, will enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
That is will Power joining us on the program today.
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