Will Power has a heartbreaking engine failure at IndyCar Iowa Race 2 in consecutive Team Penske disasters

Will Power is the fastest qualifier to ever grace the IndyCar field, but the majority of the points are awarded on the raceday, which has reflected a sorry state of affairs for the Aussie. The 44-year-old retired from Race 2 at Iowa Speedway after clinching a podium yesterday and shared his thoughts on how he has had torrid luck with reliability this year.

Power has been with Team Penske since 2009 and claimed a myriad of poles and race wins on his way to claim two titles and a sole Indy 500 victory. He has emerged as the only driver to put a halt to Alex Palou's championship streak from 2021, as he won his second drivers' crown in 2022 amid the Spaniard's impressive run of form.

While the Australian has been a force to be reckoned with for the past few years, the tale of the 2025 season has been starkly opposite. He has suffered multiple retirements this year, a trend that started at the season opener in St. Petersburg.

Moreover, his engine troubles in Mid-Ohio that forced him out of the race after just 11 laps, returned at the Race 2 for Iowa Speedway. This took him out of the race, and reflecting on the disappointing end to his day at Iowa, Power said:

"Same as Mid-Ohio, some kind of engine failure... We improved upon yesterday, felt like we would have had a good race. Obviosuly, you never know what can happen, something did happen. But, ah man, pity. We keep giving away days so we have a car to win. Yeah, just had those seasons I guess; not much we can do."

On the other hand, Will Power is the only Team Penske driver not to have a contract nailed down with the Mooresville-based squad for the 2026 season.

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How can Team Penske's reliability affect Will Power's future at the team?

Roger Penske (L) and Will Power (R) at the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Team Penske is the most successful squad in the IndyCar racing realm. However, the team's luck has not been great this year as its trio of drivers has a combined dozen DNFs to their name in only 12 race weekends.

This statistic translates to a retirement for its racecar every race weekend, which considerably holds back the team. But, this drags back Will Power even more as he is in pursuit of landing a contract extension with the squad since the start of the season.

Talking about how he even put up the matter to the Captain after the Detroit GP, and his request was called off to be delayed till the end of the season, this has made Power's situation even more dire at the Mooresville-based squad, as he told Motorsportweek:

"Probably, it has probably pushed their decision a little further down the road. I met with Roger [Penske] after Detroit, he said then it would be August for us to reconvene. It’s still going to be late, maybe even after the season. I don’t have any clue what the scenarios are. I haven’t been told anything. All I’ve been told is ‘We’ll talk in August.’ That’s it."

Despite not finishing the race, Will Power remains the lead Team Penske driver in the championship standings.