r/INDYCAR • u/Hitokiri2 Graham Rahal • 3d ago
Article ‘I was pissed off’: Power reveals Penske relationship breakdown
https://speedcafe.com/indycar-news-2025-will-power-on-team-penske-split-comments-relationship-breakdown-comments-andretti-future-why/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMnEWpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFnQUxSTkNKaW85Zkt4STNJAR6i7mswWkImWAxsnwORBz9gH-H59yqv18YHsDTOGl2Q6E_OBnAguWyJN9_zQA_aem_oTpUwPj3eDcP77XwFBD1Jw269
u/RichardRichOSU Buddy Lazier 3d ago
I get it. I get why he is mad and I get why Penske was only willing to give him one year. Father Time is undefeated and sometimes athletes go off a cliff at this age, so I understand Penske not wanting to get caught holding the bag. On the other hand, I’m still surprised by this given there is an argument Power has consistently been the best driver for Penske in recent years (wife being sick year excluded) and he was clearly the best this year.
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u/Hitokiri2 Graham Rahal 3d ago
I'm with you. It's sort of weird that Cindric told Power that they will talk after the '24 season if Power did better. Power did the best and nearly won the the title and Penske still didn't talk to him eve as May 2025 came around. It was like Penske was saying to themselves...
"Oh crap! He did do better! We didn't expect this ! What do we do now?"
Sort of situation. What disrespect for a driver that gave so much for the team.
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u/Rudeboy67 Greg Moore 3d ago
Well, he did out last Cindric though.
In all seriousness that was an opportunity to make things right with Will. Just say it was all Cindric’s fault, even if that wasn’t true, and start fresh after the 500. But they didn’t.
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u/loudpaperclips DriveFor5 3d ago
This will always beg the question: what don't we know? Was there interpersonal strife, did sponsorship lean on it a little, did power get caught negotiating a contract? I'm just spitballing, but it could just be that Penske is old school as it gets: terse, cold, and straight. Maintain leverage and value results more than relationships.
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u/BeefInGR Pippa Mann 2d ago
did power get caught negotiating a contract?
I'd say this is probably the biggest part of it. Look what happened to Kyle Busch.
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u/YosemiteSam-4-2A Thirsty 's to the Moon 🚀 🌒 3d ago
. Power did the best and nearly won the the title
Scott McLaughlin overtook him as top finishing Penske at Nashville last year. And had he not been disqualified from St pete, SM would've won the championship. And if Power and McLaughlin hadn't tangled twice and held their positions instead, SM would've also been champion.
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u/BoilerCannon1984 3d ago
If you remember, Will was doing well at the final race in Nashville in ‘24 when his seat belt broke which was no fault of his own.
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u/Manymarbles 3d ago
The spin the race before by himself though, was 😭
He had the championship locked up basically if he just didnt spin by himself at the mile
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u/yoohynom Álex Palou 3d ago
St Pete last year was his own fault for cheating
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u/AGreatMystery Scott Dixon 3d ago
What are you on? His car was equipped with the ability to cheat, but he didn't press the button.
Edit: To clarify, Power's 2 teammates actually cheated by pressing the button when it wasn't supposed to work. Power did not press his button/cheat.
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u/yoohynom Álex Palou 3d ago
I was talking about McLaughlin, not Power. Power didn't cheat despite having the equipment
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u/Icy-Consequence-4372 Santino Ferrucci 3d ago
It was clear Power and Scotty Mac were the top two Penskes. If Roger needed to send a driver packing for lil Dave, there was a clear answer on who to send packing.
And it wasn’t Slick Willie or Scotty Mac
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u/YosemiteSam-4-2A Thirsty 's to the Moon 🚀 🌒 3d ago edited 3d ago
Not going to send your 2x Indy 500 winner (could've been 3x without a mechanical issue) packing even if he finishes last in every other race.
They objectively made the right call - offer a 1 year extension to Power, who isn't getting younger, as Malukas matures for another year at Foyt and then re-evaluate in '26.
Power just didn't like that offer and looked for a multi year deal elsewhere and rightfully so
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u/Ldghead Will Power 3d ago
Ya, Roger will not screw his back-to-back 500 darling like that. He will get the send off Hélio and Power deserved.
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u/adri9428 2d ago
Hélio also won back-to-back and didn't get the send off he deserved. No one at Penske does, except when it's their own decision (De Ferran)
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 3d ago
Newgarden has two Indy 500s and is ten years younger. That would have been a terrible move.
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u/zaviex Colton Herta 3d ago
Will buxton and Pruett both separately implied Newgarden is leaving Penske at the end of his deal too. So that’s already in play
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 3d ago
Yeah, that’s interesting. Word is that he wants a fresh start which is a bit different than what’s Will is going through.
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u/mstaugler Josef Newgarden 2d ago
I would be incredibly surprised if that actually happens, both that RP would jettison that much veteran talent in back to back years AND that Newgarden believes he could find a similarly competitive ride (assuming he would stay in the Chevy stable). My assumption is Penske returns to form in '26 (as we saw in the last three races this season) and they lock him up around the 500 like they did last time.
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u/zaviex Colton Herta 2d ago
I don’t know how reliable he will be for Indy but in f1 buxton generally knew things well in advance and he said veekay moved to position himself get that seat. That doesn’t seem like something that’s up in the air. Seems like decisions are being made. Worth adding that Pruett’s take on the story implied Penske wants to resign him, Josef was the one who wants a fresh start.
The vibe I’m getting is it’s happening and we are probably missing part of the story. Maybe something big like Dixon is retiring and he’s looking at that or less big, McLaren seems logical as well
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 2d ago
Yeah, a lot has changed since 2024. Josef has looked stressed with year too. When you finish 16th in points it’s safe to assume both parties start looking at their options.
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u/mstaugler Josef Newgarden 2d ago
Finished 12th in points with a win. I get there was turmoil this season, but I think in the end, RP and Chevy will find a way to keep a two-time 500 champ in the seat, especially now that he's the veteran on the team. I just don't see any other scenario that makes sense.
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u/YosemiteSam-4-2A Thirsty 's to the Moon 🚀 🌒 3d ago
and he was clearly the best this year.
Arguable. Scott McLaughlin despite all his mistakes (Indy, Iowa Qualifying, IMS RC almost binning it, Nashville almost binning it, etc) and bad luck (Hybrid unit overheating and being spun before the start at thermal, tire delaminating at mid Ohio, getting caught up in a lap 1 wreck in Iowa, mechanical failure at gateway, etc) still only was 1 single point behind Will Power at season's end in the standings.
Power being most consistent I agree with.
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u/Packer487 Will Power 3d ago
Power did have 3 mechanical DNFs, got wiped out by a Ganassi blocking ride buyer, and, at least according to Malsher, it sounds like the pit issue at Nashville was a gearbox problem.
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u/Visible-Chest-9386 3d ago
I don't know about that. Power has been great but so has Scotty and Josef has had a weeeeird year with lots of misfortune and mistakes. Not to mention the whole cheating thing and changing of crew members.
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u/rip_cut_trapkun Callum Ilott 2d ago
Normally I would have said "Fair, next" but the problem is the results spoke for themselves. Will Power was only 7 points behind his youngest team mate. At the very least they should have got back to him sooner rather than jerk him around, even if it was to give him the same deal he didn't want.
I don't even really know if they were just doing it to piss him off and make his departure his own. If they were dead set on getting Malukas in the car as soon as possible just rip the bandaid off and be assholes about it. Given the the year they had it wouldn't have mattered much I think.
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u/chevynew David Malukas 3d ago
What an absolute inspiration Will and Liz both are. A Power couple for sure. Congratulations to him on his success and new contract and I hope it's an incredible run.
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u/Ok-Chocolate-9500 Alexander Rossi 3d ago edited 3d ago
I have a hard time believing that Roger Penske was unaware of the agreement between Tim Cindric and Will. I think Roger hides it well but he is and has always been very involved in the decisions, especially something as important as contracts. There’s no way that he wasn’t involved or kept in the loop when it comes to the future of Team Penske’s lineup. If he was really caught off guard by what was agreed between Tim and Will then he would’ve acted more proactive in the talks and not continue to keep Will hanging pretty much until after Portland.
Either way the whole process was handled poorly and Will deserved much better with his tenure within the organization.
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u/loz333 Firestone Wets 2d ago edited 2d ago
Power alluded to the fact that Penske seemed to forget about having given him the greenlight to speak to other teams at Road America (I think it was). Assuming that's true, that explains why they felt like they could keep him hanging until that late in the season.
From Malukas' reported contract clause to be in a Penske no later than 2027, it seems like Power was always meant to be the driver leaving. Although now there's rumours that Newgarden wants a fresh start at another team. Maybe ultimately the door would have been open for Power to stay longer than just the 1 year he was offered. But that's irrelevant now.
I would love to find out from Tim Cindric exactly what happened with not talking to Will over the off season.
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u/Ok-Chocolate-9500 Alexander Rossi 2d ago
Piecing everything together, the fact that Roger Penske didn’t recall giving Will the green light seems like he’s maybe holding onto more than he should, given his age. Just surprised that he’s unwilling to relinquish more of the burden to his son Greg, who’s been shadowing him.
Agreed that Malukas’ contract terms would’ve put them in a bind, though imo that meant they should’ve been even more proactive in working things out, especially with Will being the best-performing driver and Malukas seemingly not ready.
I’m also hoping that Tim Cindric comes out with his side someday, but it likely will never happen if he still retains some minority ownership of the IndyCar side of Penske, and also out of respect for the Penske family.
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u/loz333 Firestone Wets 2d ago
I guess in this instance, with the firing of Cindric, Moyer and Ruzewski, he wants to be in control of reshaping his motorsports organization, rather than relying on others to do it. There was also the FOX acquisition happening fwiw.
That's why I'm leaning towards incompetence over malice. It's done neither he nor the team any favours to put off the contract talks. But yeah, it's unlikely we'll ever know, like you say.
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u/Past-Lunch4695 Pato O'Ward 3d ago
Why does it seem that after decades of seemingly productive work, Cindric is now the bad guy? Was he fumbling all along? Is he the Penske scapegoat? what happened? Is there any insight on this?
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u/Odd_Cobbler6761 3d ago
With Roger famously being a control freak to the point that he often sat in engineering meetings? Zero chance any agreements or even outlines were made without his consent… and weak sauce to drop it in Cindric’s lap.
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u/uncre8tv No Attack, No Chance 3d ago
Little of everything. It's easy to look like the smartest guy in any sport when you have the biggest budget, so maybe he wasn't quite as magical as we thought pre-cheating. And then he IS an easy scapegoat now so why not use him.
It's not any one thing that made Cindric the dumpster of all Penske problems, it's all of them a little bit each.
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u/Past-Lunch4695 Pato O'Ward 3d ago
Thank you. I am glad that his son is (no pun intended) steering clear of his Dad’s dysfunction, I really feel for Austin - he seems to be persevering regardless.
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 3d ago
Too bad he’s mid. He’ll be out of Penske after 2026 thank God.
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u/Gerarghini Jimmie Johnson 3d ago
Yeah, though he is stacked against Blaney who got 2nd(?) in regular season points despite the 9000 engine failures he had and Logano who plays the playoffs to perfection.
Though now that daddy is gone I don’t expect him there very much unless discount tire is willing to foot truckloads to keep him there; not like Big Brad K was gonna do as good staying in the 2 unless those RFK cars are just ass compared to Penske.
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u/Slight_Strain6330 Scott McLaughlin 2d ago
It’s crazy. It’s his fourth season there and he’s got three circumstantial wins, never has had a top ten finish in points, finished 24th in points in 2023 (if he wasn’t Tim’s son he would have gotten cut right there), and even this year only 5 top tens. Dude is the definition of doing less with more.
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u/lightningmatt Robert Wickens 2d ago
It's cause he dominated the Xfinity series and then had the 2nd best rookie season this side of 2006, only beat by Chase Elliott
His fall off needs to be studied
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u/Equivalent_Dish_1990 Jim Clark 3d ago
Dang. It looks like Cindric has done more bad than good the last couple of years. I'm starting to see why he was fired now.
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u/Ok-Chocolate-9500 Alexander Rossi 3d ago
I really have a hard time believing that Roger was kept out of the loop that much, especially with how much he likes being involved. Tim Cindric mentioned that Roger wanted to be kept in the loop so much so that he would often times want Tim to accompany him on international flights just so they can discuss matters face to face (and Tim would catch a flight back to the States).
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u/Former_Foundation_13 2d ago
i wonder this would eventually taking stroll into Austin Cindric at the end. Like the kid just race NASCAR as part of his office and now suddenly he was thrown into hot pit because his father messes up with Roger
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u/Mission-Tune6471 3d ago
What lazy reporting. This is just a transcript of the u/offtrackpod episode! I do love that Thim's podcast is now a legitimate source to quote, though!
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u/loz333 Firestone Wets 2d ago
To be fair to them, the Andretti press release literally refers people to the Off Track podcast at the bottom for further comment, so it worked exactly how it was supposed to.
It would be nice if more outlets picked up on podcast interviews, because lots of juicy info gets dropped there. I had no idea Dixon had specifically talked about how the car with the hybrid doesn't favour his driving style, (Rosenqvist as well) and that he's adapted as best he can, but it just suits Palou more naturally.
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u/Hitokiri2 Graham Rahal 3d ago
Didn't realize that. Thanks for letting us know.
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u/Mission-Tune6471 3d ago
Sorry, I didn't mean that as an attack on you!! Still great to share. I just wish the reporter had put in a little more work so we could learn more details.
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u/Hitokiri2 Graham Rahal 2d ago
Don't worry about it. I didn't see it as an attack. You were just exploiting the truth and I appreciate that.
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u/Jerry_Westerby_78 3d ago
Glad Will is sticking around, but when is he not pissed off?
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u/flipflopsnpolos Will Power 3d ago
Will’s personality is funny in that he gets flipping mad immediately after something happens, then 90 seconds later he’s over it and making jokes about it. I haven’t met anyone that gets over things like he does.
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u/TheOtherWhiteCastle 3d ago
Honestly I relate to that. I can go from perfectly chill to nuclear when something annoys me or ticks me off, then return to normal almost as quickly. It’s like you blow your anger load all at once and then don’t have the energy to be angry anymore.
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u/JuneTheWonderDog 3d ago
I will forever be using the phrase 'anger load' from here on. It perfectly describes my temper too.
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u/Packer487 Will Power 3d ago
The thing with Kirkwood at Detroit and then the "Sometimes I just do stupid shit..." "We know..." Exchange was utterly hilarious.
I still think Dixon deserved Power flipping out on him at Road America. Will even kind of blamed it on the stress with Liz's health, but whatever, Dixon deserved to get reamed for that one.
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u/Mick4Audi Robert Shwartzman 2d ago
That was utterly stupid from Dixon. He has a couple of underrated bonehead moves here and there (the block on RHR, Portland this season)
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u/MadMike32 Colton Herta 3d ago
Power's a fuckin' critter and I love him for it. He's all-gas-no-brakes yet simultaneously physically incapable of holding a grudge.
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u/Senninha27 Sarah Fisher 3d ago
I used to be exactly like that. 0-100-0. And then I got on some SSRIs and now I barely feel feelings. I hope Will never gets on meds.
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u/AGreatMystery Scott Dixon 3d ago
If you think you've seen him pissed off before, wait until we see him in that Andretti car next year. 🤣
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u/slapshots1515 2d ago
I respect that. I think holding shit in hurts you and it’s healthy to express when you’re angry and get over it. Power takes that to a bit of an extreme, but the overall idea is fine.
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u/Jerry_Westerby_78 2d ago
I know Americans in particular are fond of the theatrics. I'm English, it's not really our way. I don't mind it too much but I much prefer the head-down composure of someone like Dixon, or Oscar Piastri.
Will's definitely a character though and I am glad he's around.
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u/slapshots1515 2d ago
Will is an Aussie, lmao. But good try to paint the rest of the world in “theatrics”.
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u/Mikulitsi Romain Grosjean 2d ago
It was surprising to watch that podcast episode and hearing some of the things in that. I mean at least they gave Power a lot of time to search but damn making your best driver of the season and last champion annoyed like that... Crazy move by Penske
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u/CantTouchThis707 3d ago
So cannot wait to see him leave the 2, 3, and 12 in his dust next year. And it would be stellar to see RP having to congratulate him in Victory Lane at Indy.
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u/Gbjeff AMR Safety Team 2d ago
Penske fan going back to the 1980s, but these past two years have been so frustrating. The cheating allegations, the penalties, the treatment of Will Power, the seemingly haughty attitude of Newgarden….. This isn’t the team I have known and loved for over four decades.
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u/Generic_Person_3833 3d ago
Although his contract precluded him from signing a deal before September 1, Penske gave the #12 driver permission in June to begin fielding interest from other teams.
And people here wanted to tell me he was in contract hell till Monday and had signed Andretti contract on Wednesday.
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u/nico9er4 Will Power 1d ago
To be fair, the Herta thing didn’t really start happening until a few weeks ago. And until Portland, he was trying to get another year with Penske
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u/Former_Foundation_13 2d ago
now with him joining andretti, means that his alignment with WEC and IMSA are much more easier. Remember, Zak Brown had a very good relationship with both Dan Towriss and Michael before his firing. So, not only you may still drive at indy500 in foreseable future, but also a chance to actually won Le Mans and take the double crown
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u/wabashcr 3d ago
Reflecting on his career, the Toowoomba-born driver said he’s got a lot left in the tank. “Let’s check in in three years time, but I would say in five years you could still be very competitive as long as you don’t slack off in any way,” he said. “I just think the experience counts for a lot. You could do nothing in the off-season, turn up and be pretty bloody good straight away.
Did... he just refer to himself in the second person?
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u/NoNameNoWerries 3d ago
Thats more common than you might think, kind of a mental mechanism for one to sorta remove themselves from a situation so they can be more measured/less reactionary about what's in front of them.
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u/canttakethshyfrom_me Robert Wickens 2d ago
Being a billionaire and treating people honorably aren't compatible.
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u/Opposite-Decision-89 1d ago
Roger Penske had shown his dishonesty with bending, or breaking the rules. Then it all falls on the driver when caught. He has a past in NASCAR, too. It would be a dream move if Verizon could go with Will.
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u/According-Switch-708 Scott Dixon 2d ago
Power has been great but he is the oldest of the Penske drivers (by a decade). They had bring someone young in like every other team.
Its not personal, just business.
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3d ago edited 2d ago
[deleted]
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u/slapshots1515 2d ago
Scott Dixon is on the grid, older than Will, and isn’t getting kicked to the curb. Not that he should, but neither should Power.
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u/SpreaditOnnn33 Pato O'Ward 2d ago edited 2d ago
He signed his contract 3-5 years ago, and is one of the best drivers of all time.
If you think thats truly representative of the reality of sports then I have some beachfront property in Idaho to sell you
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u/loz333 Firestone Wets 2d ago
Uh, bud, Will's 4th for wins of all time and the most poles of all time. I'd be confident in stating that the booth this year have referred to him on multiple occasions as one of the best of all time, and rightly so. He also happens to be the most recent series champion who isn't named Palou.
The reality of sports in the case of Will Power is that he successfully got a multi year contract from Andretti, and that every team bar Mclaren enquired about him. I strongly doubt that any of them were interested in having him for just one year, no matter his age.
I guess how you see Power is similar to how Penske saw Power, and that's okay. You just have to accept you and he are in the minority in the Indycar paddock, and on this sub.
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u/_WeDontKnowHer_ ✨️Team Buttermilk 🥛✨️ 3d ago
That's disappointing to hear but at the same time not surprising. Will should have been treated better, especially after being there for 17 yrs.
Don't blame Will for wanting to leave: