Will Power feels sorry for Josef Newgarden after Team Penske's debacle at Long Beach

Josef Newgarden suffered a seatbelt issue at the IndyCar Long Beach Grand Prix which forced him out of contention for a top-10 spot, and Will Power empathized with him. The Australian driver shared his thoughts on Newgarden's trouble in a post-race interview and deemed the issue to be a "race ruiner."

Team Penske's two drivers were knocked out during the first round of qualifying for the Long Beach Grand Prix. Power and Newgarden found themselves at the lower end of the grid and had to make up for their loss during qualifying by moving up the order during race day.

Josef Newgarden's pace saw him get inside the top-10 and eyed a potential top-five result on merit if the race continued with the same trajectory. However, his race came undone when he had to make an unplanned pitstop to tighten his seatbelts on lap 61.

The 34-year-old was dejected from the seatbelt antics, an issue that Will Power had to face in the 2024 championship finale that saw him out of the fight for the title. Sharing his thoughts on it, the Australian driver said (via Frontstretch Open Wheel):

"Well, I got to see what it was, but man, it is just a race ruiner. We got to really look into that stuff and see how that happened. It cost us a shot at the championship in Nashville... and it cost Josef [Newgarden] a very big result today." (2:08 onwards)

Will Power made a comeback drive at the Long Beach Grand Prix, finishing fifth, after starting a dismal 13th.

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Will Power revealed his uneasiness within the cockpit at the Long Beach Grand Prix

Will Power at the NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 - Source: Getty

Though Power's result was the best for the Team Penske outfit, it was not all sunshine and rainbows for him. The 44-year-old had to tackle his own issues.

Power was not all-healthy behind the wheel of the IndyCar, and he revealed how he felt sick during the 90-lap event, and said (via Team Penske):

"Very good day. Very good day. Just methodically getting to it, but it was methodical. I was driving very hard, biding my time, used up the perfect amount of push-to-pass in the race to finish it off on the last pass. Love those sorts of days."

"I didn't feel very good, to be honest. Felt sick. I could feel myself getting achy in the car but drove the crap out of it. Man, we have a good Verizon Chevy, we just have to start at the front. On days like this, get the points. Pretty cool we got a top five,” he added.

Power's top-five finish escalated him in the championship standings and stands level on points with Colton Herta (after the Andretti driver was deducted 10 points for the Thermal Club GP penalty).