Andretti move "business as normal" for Power ahead of 2026 season
- Dan Jones
- 13 hours ago
- 9 min read
It was a strange start to IndyCar Content Days for Will Power. As he walked into the changing rooms to put on his fire suit for his pre-season media obligations, there hung the Team Penske Verizon suit that he had previously adorned for 17 seasons.
It took Power a second to recognise the suit he had worn for so long suddenly wasn't for him: "It was, 'oh, no, that's not me'".
After 17 seasons with Penske, the Australian will embark on the biggest change in his IndyCar career in 2026 as he starts a new adventure with Andretti Global.
His farewell gift from Penske? A plaque of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, signed by everyone on the team, with one notable absence. That was the signature of Roger Penske and as Power notes, "maybe it didn't get to him," with Penske supposedly not being at the shop.
But to prevent stories being created about the lack of Penske's signature, Power has re-affirmed that it will be signed by 'the Captain' at some point. Power laughs: "I just wanted to make sure because I can only imagine Roger calling, 'what's this? I didn't even know about it'. 'Yeah, sorry, it's the media, it's not me. Blame them. Fire me out of the series'".
To Power's dismay, his signature hunting was delayed as he forgot to put the plaque in the truck in the build-up to the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Otherwise, it had not been the glorious send-off from Penske that maybe Power should have deserved. After months of speculation surrounding his future, Power was tired of waiting for a decision. When he was offered a new one-year deal by 'the Captain' after his victory at Portland, Power declined and embarked on ventures new.
That said, Power reflects on his time under Roger Penske with nothing but thankfulness.
"Roger gave me a great career. He offered me a year. It wasn't like, 'you're not coming back'. He offered me to come back. But we [Power's camp] pretty far down the road at that point [in looking at options for 2026].
"The relationship is good. I'll always be grateful for what he did for my career and what he's done for the sport. I was lucky to drive for that long, and I could have continued, but I wanted a longer term contract, and also for myself, I wanted to know what can I do on another team.
"I have tremendous respect for Roger and the whole organization. I'd definitely like to beat him but I want to beat everyone. We've got to go out and win races."
And for one final time, Power stated: "Yeah, I'll get him to sign the plaque."
Whilst most other drivers get the opportunity to move to their new teams immediately following the IndyCar season, a clause in Power's Penske contract prevented him from teaming up with his new employers until January 1st, despite having signed with Andretti in September. It created an awkward period for Power who was no longer a part of Penske but could not prepare with Andretti for 2026.
"It was strange. Yeah, couldn't really do anything with Andretti. I guess I had everything ready to go the day that I could go there. Obviously went straight there on the 2nd, made a seat, and then went testing a few days later. Just my normal off-season preparation, that sort of stuff, was going on fitness-wise. Spent time with the family. Yeah, it was some nice time off."
Power had a lot of relative catching-up to do, and within a week of him moving in at Andretti, he was on-track in Andretti colours for the first time as he conducted a tyre test at Phoenix Raceway. Although many would expect Power to instantly recognise change after so long at Penske, the Indy car felt like second nature either way.
"I was a little bit like what's this going to feel like, and crept up on it slowly. Ended up being pretty good. It is an IndyCar, so it's not like you can make a car feel incredibly different."
And for Power, the most important element of his transition is to not recognise the changes he will have to experience.
"It's just business as normal. It's not even registering the difference. You're in a team. You're trying to get the most out of the car and working closely with the engineers. You're on the Honda sim, all the same stuff. You're not really distracted by, 'I wonder what they're doing at Penske' or it's strange."
Power's move to Andretti marks the end of Colton Herta's time at the team as he embarks on pastures new in Formula 2 with the goal of achieving an FIA Super License to reach Formula One with Cadillac. Herta has long been the figurehead of the Andretti organisation and was often touted as a future champion.
However, six seasons at the team yielded just seven victories with year-to-year inconsistencies and a lack of an IndyCar championship that many expected Herta to have by this point in his career. Despite Herta's shortcomings, he has some very strong praise from his very accomplished successor.
"It was a good conversation with Colton. Even his dad, I had good conversations with Bryan, so they kind of know kind of where improvements need to happen and so on because that's all you talk about, what do you think we need to do. It was very handy speaking to him. Just watching his onboards, he's very good. He really gets the most out of the car, even when it's not completely balanced. You can see that he extracts -- his actual natural ability is very strong."
The team have gone through several major changes in Herta's timeframe with the team. From running as many as six cars in 2020, the team have downsized to running just three full-time. Most notably, Michael Andretti's time at the helm of the team came to an end in 2024, as he handed over the keys to Dan Towriss and TWG Motorsports.
It would not be an unfair statement to say the team have made good progress since then. They have had two cars in the top seven of the championship for consecutive seasons, something that has not been done since between 2009 and 2010, and achieved their most victories in a season since 2018. Kyle Kirkwood's victory at Gateway last season was also their first on an oval since 2018.
The team's street course package has been particularly of note, even as Power notes they're "the best in the business". Since 2021, seven of their 12 victories have come on city streets despite the track type making up the least races on the schedule and have generally been the series frontrunners on those courses. Whilst Andretti have led the way on the streets, Penske have traditionally led the way on ovals, an area of expertise that Power can bring to Andretti.
" I have a ton of experience with short oval cars and developing them through the years with Penske to get to a point where we were very dominant, so to me, we're in a very good position.
"I felt like the Penske car was the best on short ovals, so obviously I kind of know what that feeling is and sort of gave some good feedback on where we could go. Actually the car was really balanced [at the Phoenix test]. It was also fast. I had a Penske car to compare it to. Quite fast. Yeah, it's there. There's obviously always room for improvement. Yeah, not a big shock to the system. Not at all."
Andretti have been winless at the Indianapolis 500 since 2017 and despite their stature in the series, their last championship came in 2012. In the meantime, Penske have claimed four Indianapolis 500 victories since 2017, including Power's in 2018, as well as five series championships, including both of Power's in 2014 and 2022.
Penske are renowned for their 'Penske perfect' culture and a winning mentality which has led to repeated successes for the team year-on-year. With Andretti's lack of comparative success over the last decade, nobody could be blamed for thinking that it could take a lot of time for the team to reach the standards set by Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, but Power is confident that success will come during his tenure with the team.
"The team has all the ingredients. Just being around the shop, they definitely have all the ingredients. They have enough people. They have some very smart people. The group on my car is incredibly experienced. Just looking from the outside before I got there, I was like, 'Penske has the best pit stops'. They train a lot and obviously have a good coach and so on, so I think that would be an area that I could see a lot of focus needing to be on, which it looks like it has been anyway in the off-season.
"They're sort of hot and cold on the road courses, and the short ovals, which is a good thing we get a two-day test [the upcoming Phoenix Open Test]. It's definitely going to be improved upon from last year. Like we're already a good team. Everything they're doing and have done, to me they'll just be better, and it will just continually get better. I can just see the list that are getting done there. It's only going to get better.
"That's why I've said I believe the team will be the best team in the next three years."
It's a bold statement to make for a team that hasn't been the best in 14 years and feels some distance off the likes of Ganassi and Penske and on occasion, Arrow McLaren. But Power brings a wealth of experience and a different working culture to the team, something that the organisation hasn't experienced in a long while, especially to a driver of his calibre.
Power remains the only driver to have beaten Álex Palou to an IndyCar championship since the Spaniard joined Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021 and all signs point toward Palou being the benchmark once again in 2026. There's a belief in the Andretti camp that the teams' standard is not incomparable to that at Ganassi, a belief which was led by Kirkwood. It's a belief that Power can get behind too, but there's still a mountain to climb in order to topple the four-time series champion.
"Over the whole season, I feel like we should have a championship contending car. We should. I don't see anyone standing out except Palou. You're not even looking at the team standing out. When I look at the teams they're all pretty even across the board for that front group. It was just one guy extracting the most out of his car, and it was Palou. If you took him out of the equation, it's not like the other Ganassi guys are as dominant as he is.
"I think you almost need to be looking at the driving stuff more than the car stuff, like what is he doing as a driver to extract the most out of it?"
Palou had been impressive on his way to championships in 2021, 2023 and 2024 but he raised the benchmark even higher in 2025 as he claimed eight victories and 13 podiums. That was impressive, but maybe not as impressive as the strides he made in areas that he was previously considered weak at.
The 'weak' oval driver in Palou claimed the most oval points of anybody on that track type, which included two victories and four podiums. Palou's qualifying form also had typically had room for improvement, but he wiped the floor in 2025 claiming six pole positions and never once qualifying outside the top nine.
It has left his competitors struggling to find an element of his game where they can pull him back at.
"Now he's just so rounded. There's not a weakness basically. I can't see a weakness with this guy. He's very strong. Man, he's a tough guy to beat."
Power will turn 45 during the St. Petersburg weekend but there's overwhelming feeling that this isn't a last rodeo for Power, but instead a move that comes with a genuine hunger to bring his new outfit success. There is also absolutely no doubting the fact that Power is still on the very top of his game. He led the ultra-competitive Penske line-up in almost every major statistic last season and yet was the one who's future was never guaranteed.
And as Power re-iterates, he has no good reason to stop.
"I just love competing. I love doing this. It's really enjoyable. I've got a ton of experience. It would be a pity to stop when you're really still on top of your game. A lot of work, 20 years of work, 20 years of IndyCar racing and still able to win races and poles. It's just very difficult to do in this series.
"That's sort of why I keep going."
Power already holds the all-time pole position record in the series, despite going pole-less throughout 2025. There's a new figure that he has his eyes on though, with the Australian seven wins shy of reaching 50 for his career.
"To get to 50 would be very nice. That is possible, too. Get three wins this year or four, you have a really good year, you're right there."
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