Roger Penske has allowed Will Power to have contract talks with other IndyCar teams for 2026

Will Power's future with Team Penske remains uncertain, with no update expected on his contract situation before the season finale in Nashville. The two-time IndyCar champion has now shared that billionaire team boss Roger Penske has allowed him to have contract talks with other teams for 2026.

Ahead of the GP of Portland, Power told reporter Bob Pockrass that he couldn't "do anything" with regards to a contract with another team before the 2025 season ended. In a recent interview with SpeedFreaks, he was asked if Team Penske's not allowing him to talk with other teams while postponing contract negotiations themselves was an "odd" position to be put in.

This led him to clarify his earlier statement. Power said [16:18 onwards]:

"That's not true. What I was saying is, you know, sat down with Roger... yes, I could talk to other teams. Roger basically said that's okay, but obviously, you can't sign or do anything till after the season. So yeah, that's not exactly true.

Basically he said, 'I'm not going to shoot you if you go and talk to other teams while we work out what's gonna happen here.' Obviously, I can't sign or anything with other teams, but I could see what's out there."

Will Power is in his 17th year of driving for Team Penske in IndyCar. He has won 42 races with the team, including the 2018 Indy 500. Even at 44 years old, the Australian driver's performance has remained consistent as ever.

All three Penske drivers were enduring a horrible run in the 2025 season before he changed the tide at the last race, the Grand Prix of Portland on August 10. Will Power led a significant chunk of the race and brought home his and the team's first win of the season. However, Team Penske seems set to replace him with AJ Foyt Racing's David Malukas for 2026.

Will Power gets honest about Team Penske's "shocking" setback in 2025

Scott McLaughlin talks with Will Power at the IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland - Source: Getty

Will Power recently addressed Team Penske's unexpected downfall in 2025. The Roger Penske-owned team came into the 2025 IndyCar season with Scott McLaughlin expected to be a championship contender. However, what followed was a string of bad luck for all three of its drivers, including Josef Newgarden.

With two races remaining in the season, Power is the only Penske driver within the Top 10 in the standings, sitting in P6. McLaughlin sits in P11 and Newgarden, further down in a lowly P18.

Will Power spoke about this unfortunate season a few days after breaking the pattern with a win at the Grand Prix of Portland. While speaking about the biggest "negative surprise" in the 2025 IndyCar season on his fellow driver Conor Daly's podcast named Speed Street, Power mentioned McLaughlin's name.

"I mean, probably the year McLaughlin's had. You know what I mean? I would have said that he was going to be an absolute championship contender at the end of last year. I was like, but yeah, that's the whole team. Like, you know, we've all struggled. Just look at the whole Penske situation. It's just shocking. We just won our first race now, and we've got two (races) to go," the No. 12 Chevy driver said. [1:14:20 onwards]

Fortunately for Team Penske, the last two races of the season are on the short ovals in Milwaukee and Nashville, which have been their strongest circuits. Scott McLaughlin won race two of the 2024 double-header at the Milwaukee Mile.