Will Power will have to start from the back of the grid after suffering a massive shunt in IndyCar qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park.
A participant in the first group, the 45-year-old Aussie began to pick up the pace roughly halfway through the session when a brake issue left him unable to make the corner plowed past the grass and gavel trap into the foam and tire barriers in Turn 5. Fortunately, he was unhurt in the incident, with his #26 Andretti Global Honda getting towed back to the paddock.
“Yeah, the brake just went to the floor,â€� Power said. “I think the front were working so there was a brake failure on the rear. That’s all I know.â€�
Power, a two-time IndyCar Series champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner, has yet to have a clean race weekend in four race weekends since joining Andretti Global over the offseason. He crashed in both the practice session and the race in the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He was leading at the next round at Phoenix Raceway when he collided with ECR’s Christian Rasmussen. And even though he scored a podium at the previous race on the streets of Arlington, he found the spun Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Scott Dixon during the second practice session and crashed.
Despite being the only driver to crash in qualifying, Power won’t have to start last on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course. By virtue of being in the first group, he’ll roll off 23rd in the 25-car field.
Although coming from that far back is a tall task, Power, who has two wins, five podiums and four poles in 15 previous starts at the Alabama circuit, believes he can put together a special performance and make a run to the front.
“Yeah, we’ll find the problem,â€� Power said. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just a pity for qualifying.
“I think we had a good car. I haven’t had a clean lap this weekend but the car is actually very good. I thought we’d make it through to the Fast Six, definitely the top 12. It’s unfortunate. We definitely found the wall quite a few times this year already. It’s incredible, but that’s how things go sometimes.
“We’ll look and see what happened. And then see if the guys can fix the car, fix the car and start from last. But we can definitely win from there.â€�
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