“It was a goal I set a decade ago”: When Will Power made an honest admission after removing a big weight off of his shoulders

Will Power won his first, and to this date, only Indy 500 in 2018 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Penske driver had been racing in the Indy 500 since 2008 but didn't manage to win the race until a decade after his debut. The Australian won his first IndyCar championship in 2014, but still, he had the weight of not winning the Indy 500 on his shoulders.

Power sat with the New York Times for an interview in June 2018 after his debut Indy 500 win and shared his thoughts about how the stress and weight of not winning the Crown Jewel of IndyCar is finally off his shoulders. The Australian said:

“Dario Franchitti said to me that once he’d won the 500, with everything else he just didn’t care. Racing became easier, he said. He didn’t have that weight on his shoulders that he had to win the 500 to be a fully accomplished driver.”

“Man, it was a goal I set a decade ago, and that’s where all the emotion in Victory Lane came from. It was a struggle in general that everybody probably has in their careers at some point and in their life. When you reach something that you’ve worked so hard for, and you think about it, it’s the last 20 years of hard work, when I’ve started this process of trying to become a professional racecar driver. To reach that goal, that all comes out. It’s such a satisfying feeling.”

MAVTV 500 Ð Day 2 - Source: Getty

Power came close to winning the Indy 500 in 2015 but finished a tenth away from the winner in P2. The race restarted on lap 184 after a late caution and it was a sprint to the end. Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon, and Will Power exchanged positions for the lead in the remaining lap. However, the Columbian made a crucial move on lap 196 and retained the lead till the checkered flag.

The Australian would go on to win his second IndyCar championship in 2022. However, he never came close to winning the Indy 500 after his 2018 win. He finished 5 of the next 6 IndyCar 500’s outside the Top 10.

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“Warms my heart”: Will Power’s wife Liz revealed her relief after the Penske driver won the Indy 500

Will Power and his wife first met in 2006 when Liz joined Walker Racing. They soon started dating and got married in 2010. Married for almost a decade and a half, Liz has seen Power's high and low moments, including his first Indy 500 win.

Reigning Indianapolis 500 Champion Will Power To Visit With Dallas Cowboys - Source: Getty

Liz Power said in 2018 (via New York Times):

“That one win in the Indy 500 was just kind of hanging over him. To get that recognition now, it makes more completeness. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but it warms my heart. I get to see behind the scenes, what he goes through.”

Liz suggested that there was a change in Will Power before the 2018 Indy 500, and the Australian was unusually calmer. The Penske driver stated the same as he said.

“I really enjoyed this whole month leading up to the 500. Never slept so well. Really relaxed. I was very calm, which is unusual for me. I just had a feeling that I was going to win it this year. I said to Liz a week or two before, ‘I’m going to win this race.’”

Power's wife was diagnosed with a serious infection in the spinal cord a couple of years ago. However, Liz recovered and was even present to see his husband end his win drought at Road America in 2024.