Power will adapt championship approach to whatever’s required

Power delivered his 2022 title on the strength of one win and 11 other top-four finishes, but says he can change the way he tackles the year ahead.

“Every season has its flow,” he said. “It's never the same. Sometimes you get a runaway guy and you have to win races rather than be consistent. It just depends how it rolls, and you've got to adjust accordingly.

“I just think the older you get, the more comfortable you are with the situation. You just naturally gain confidence. You know your strengths, you know your weaknesses, you know how to extract the most out of yourself. That's kind of what I've been doing.

“I would say I don't have much pressure at this time in my career, so it's all about the craft and getting the most out of it. It's a good space to be in.”

Having achieved his second championship, Power denies that he feels “unleashed” and ready to ramp up the aggression.

“No, it's just about extracting the most out of every situation,” he said. “There's never like, ‘I need to be more aggressive.’ The situation is always different and requires a different approach. You've just got to get good at reading that. Like I said, every season flows differently, but just in general in my life, I just don't put too much emotion into situations. There's nothing to be gained from it.

“There's just a lot of things that clicked last year within my team, the crew. Obviously Dave Faustino and the new crew chief are all pretty good group, pretty good, positive group, enjoying the job.”

Power became the most successful pole-winner in IndyCar history by landing P1 in the season finale at Laguna Seca, surpassing Mario Andretti’s record of 67. Among his 68, though, Power does not yet have an Indy 500 pole – and he admits it’s a big deal.

“Yeah, that's one that's eluded me for a long time,” he admitted. “I've had times that I've had the car to do it and then just sort of overshot or undershot in some way of trimming, or it just hasn't worked out, or the wind…

“It's a tough one because it's often out of your hands. It really depends on the car you have that year, the time you go, the temperature – it's all got to work. Yeah, either it'll happen or it won't. Either it'll all fall in place and it'll be there, or….”

Regarding his off-season, Power ignored the rib-breaking kart accident he suffered, and instead addressed the subject of his wife, Elizabeth, who has had to endure a back operation, sepsis and a staph infection. The seriousness of her condition prompted Power to ditch his plans to race the SunEnergy1 Mercedes-Benz in the Rolex 24 Hours.

“Obviously the last few weeks have been tough, staying in hospitals and working through the health issues that my wife has,” he said. “That's life. It could always be worse. She's improving, and hopefully in the next four or five weeks we can get to a point where it feels safe.

“Yeah, she's much better than two weeks ago, but I think we'll know for sure in five weeks whether her blood stays sterile. She's improved significantly… She was in a pretty bad shape a couple of weeks ago.”