William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian and American racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 26 Dallara-Honda for Andretti Global. He won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and has won the IndyCar Championship twice, in 2014 and 2022. Power is one of the most successful drivers in IndyCar racing history, currently fourth all-time in wins (45), first all-time in poles (71), fourth all-time in podiums (113), and fourth all-time in top 5 finishes (147)
Power was born in Toowoomba, Queensland. The son of open-wheel racer Bob Power, he started his career in Queensland driving a Datsun 1200 at Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick as well as at Carnel Raceway, Stanthorpe. In 1999, Power began driving an ageing family-owned Swift SC92F in the Queensland Formula Ford Championship, winning races in a sporadic campaign. In 2000, Power ran a full campaign leading to his first title in the Swift while simultaneously racing a late-model Spectrum 07 on the Australian Formula Ford Championship, finishing a promising seventh. Still running a small family-oriented team in 2001, Power upgraded to a Stealth RF95, a Western Australian modification of a 1995 Van Diemen. Power finished second in the series behind the factory-supported Van Diemen driver, Will Davison.
After three years of Formula Ford racing, Power moved into Formula Holden, racing for the Graham Watson-owned Ralt Australia team driving a Reynard 94D. Power swept all before him in Formula Holden, winning the title by over 50 points from Stewart McColl, claiming the 2002 Australian Drivers' Championship by winning 7 times and achieving 3 pole positions.
Midway through the 2002 season, Power was allowed to drive for the Bevan Carrick-owned Cooltemp Racing Formula 3 team, driving a Dallara-Toyota as well in the Australian Formula 3 Championship. Despite missing the opening races, Power missed out on winning the Formula 3 championship by only a handful of points to James Manderson.
Europe beckoned and in 2003 Power joined the British Formula 3 Championship racing initially for Diamond Racing, then later for Fortec Motorsport as tight funding prevented a full campaign. A second place at Thruxton demonstrated his ability and Power mounted a full campaign in 2004 with Alan Docking Racing but finished the season in the ninth position with five podium finishes.
Power tested a Minardi Formula One car in 2004 with his Australian Formula Ford and British Formula 3 rival Will Davison in Italy.
During 2005, Power competed in the World Series by Renault for the Carlin Motorsport team, where he proved very competitive. During the WSR championship, he scored two race victories, with four trips to the podium in total, and qualified his car on the front row five times. In addition to driving in the WSR, Power was also one of the featured drivers for the Australian team in the 2005–06 A1 Grand Prix season. Power raced in the series opener at Brands Hatch and piloted Australia to a second-place finish behind Team Brazil.
In late 2005, Power joined Champ Car's Team Australia at the Lexmark Indy 300 event at Surfers Paradise in Australia, which also resulted in his departure from the World Series by Renault championship; that season was still in progress and Power ultimately ended seventh in the championship despite his departure. In the Indy 300 Power ran strongly until being knocked off the track by teammate Alex Tagliani. After the Surfers Paradise event, he signed a multi-year contract to race for the team, which began immediately at the next Champ Car round in Mexico City after Tagliani's teammate Marcus Marshall was released for what was described as a "serious breach of contract".
Power drove full-time for Team Australia in 2006. He performed well throughout the season with nine top-ten finishes and strong qualifying results. In Mexico at the final round of the season, Power took his first podium finish in Champ Car. He won the "rookie of the year" award and finished in sixth place in the championship standings.
In his home race in 2006, at Surfers Paradise in Australia, he scored the first pole position of his career in Champ Cars, in front of his home crowd. However, contact from Paul Tracy in the pit lane and then an ambitious overtaking move by Sébastien Bourdais resulted in a bent left steering arm, and he fell to the back, one lap down by the time the car was repaired, eventually finishing twelfth.
On 8 April 2007, Power won his first Champ Car race at the inaugural Vegas Grand Prix, held on the streets of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. He qualified on the pole position and led most laps, becoming the first Australian driver to win in the series. On 8 July, at the Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto, with rain pouring down and visibility near zero when he got behind other cars, Power decided it was time to get aggressive. Power drove from fourth to first in fourteen laps, finally splashing past rookie Ryan Dalziel to take the lead with 23 minutes to go, and went on to an easy victory.
To get to the lead, Power also had to pass three-time Champ Car World Series champion Sébastien Bourdais and rookie Neel Jani. Thanks to a series of late caution flags, he was able to go after each of them in turn. "I was close behind Sebastien and I knew he was quite tentative in the wet and I attacked him," Power said. "I got him on a restart. Then the next restart, I got Neel and the next restart, I got Dalziel. It's just about being aggressive at the right time and not hitting anyone". "I just drove so hard here because we've just had so much bad luck in the last few races," said Power, whose first Champ Car victory came in the 2007 opener in Las Vegas. "I didn't care; I just went hard. The car was good in the wet. It was good in the dry, and we stuck it to them." Power had podium finishes at Long Beach, Mont-Tremblant, and Mexico City and pole positions at Houston, Edmonton, Surfers Paradise, and Mexico City to place fourth in the final point standings in 2007.
The merger of Champ Car and the IndyCar left his future uncertain. Power's Walker Racing team announced they would not be making the switch from Champ Car to IndyCar due to a lack of sponsorship. However, Power later signed with KV Racing Technology, to drive the No. 8 Aussie Vineyards—Team Australia car in 2008, continuing to work with Team Australia boss Craig Gore.
Power won the final Champ Car race at Long Beach in 2008, also giving Power his first IndyCar Series win. He scored two top-five finishes in IndyCar Series races, enough for twelfth overall, outpointed by teammate Oriol Servià. In the non-points event in Surfers' Paradise, Australia, Power won the pole position but crashed out while leading the race.
Team Penske announced on 13 January 2009 that for the 2009 IndyCar Series season, Power would replace Hélio Castroneves at the helm of the No. 3 Team Penske Honda-Dallara while Castroneves attended to his federal tax evasion charges. Power drove the No. 3 Team Penske Honda-Dallara to a sixth place finish in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the first race of the year. Following St. Petersburg, Castroneves was acquitted of all tax evasion charges and returned to the team for the following race at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Roger Penske came prepared for this scenario, however, and had spare cars on hand for both St. Petersburg and Long Beach, employing the option beginning at Long Beach and continuing through five more races that season. Power's new car, the No. 12 Penske Racing Verizon Wireless Honda/Dallara was officially entered for the Long Beach Grand Prix late on Friday evening and all the setup data garnered from his two sessions in the No. 3 Dallara was successfully transferred over. Power stormed to a dominant pole position with the last-minute effort and ultimately finished second to Dario Franchitti after leading 16 laps. Power was also entered in the same third car for the Indianapolis 500, in which he finished in fifth place after a pit crew gaffe on the final stop – while Power was running 2nd – cost him a shot at Castroneves for the victory. To reward Power for his efforts, he was retained by the team to drive in five more races in Toronto, Edmonton, Kentucky, Sonoma, and Homestead. His team was crewed by Penske's Rolex Sports Car Series team, as Power's races were specifically scheduled on their RSCS off-weekends. Power's dreams and efforts came to fruition when he captured his first IndyCar race win, driving the No. 12, in dominant fashion at the Rexall Edmonton Indy.