Will Power is thick in the IndyCar championship fight and not even considering retirement

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Will Power, soaked in victory champagne and still buzzing from a win that kept him in the IndyCar championship fight, leaned in to do a microphone check in a most unusual way.

The 43-year-old Australian sang a verse of “Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi to test the sound level on his news conference microphone in a fitting post-win tribute. His Sunday victory at Portland International Raceway cut into points leader Alex Palou’s margin and made the title fight a two-driver competition with three races remaining.

“If he had finished ahead of us, it would be over,” Power said of beating Palou. “This just kept it alive.”

When he won his second IndyCar title in 2022, Power was rewarded in early 2023 by Team Penske with a two-year contract extension. That deal runs through next season, but with Power still at the top of his game, he used Portland to emphasize he’s not planning to leave IndyCar anytime soon.

“I want to continue. I’m not retiring. I’m not. I’m just simply not retiring,” he said. “I know people probably like to spread that around, rumors or whatever, in the hope that they can take my seat. Yeah, I’m staying here for a while. I get better every year, man. I get better every year. I feel like that.”

He's shown it this year in a bounce-back season in which he's won three races for the first time since 2018. Power struggled mentally most of last year as his wife battled a near fatal staph infection that left him distracted at the racetrack.

Now that Liz Power has healed and is back attending races with him, his race craft is back to its 2022 level. And his win at Portland cut Palou's lead in the championship race from 66 to 54 points.

Although four drivers remain mathematically eligible to win the title, it's really down to Palou and Power as each is seeking a third IndyCar championship. Palou won at Portland last year to wrap up his second title, but he finished nearly 10 seconds back of Power on Sunday.

“It’s going to be the same for the rest of the year. You’ve got no choice but to be ahead of him," Power said of his strategy the remaining three races.

IndyCar closes out the year with a doubleheader next weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, followed by the September season finale at Nashville Superspeedway. Power has raced Nashville once before and has one victory in six previous starts at Milwaukee Mile.

Palou has never won on an oval or even raced at the two remaining venues on the schedule. Power, who has 10 career victories on ovals, is salivating over the opportunity in front of him.

“To win in this series, at this time, it’s so difficult. You get a third championship from a deficit of 54 points at this point, come back from a deficit like that, that would be amazing,” Power said. “To finish on all ovals, as well, kind of going back to my early days, sort of unfinished business there. It’s a tough climb from here, but not impossible.”

Although he wasn't emotional about it Sunday, Power took a moment to reflect on his first opportunity in America when Walker Racing flew him to Portland from Australia in 2005 to test in what was then called the Champ Car Series.

Power impressed the team so much that he got two races that year and a full season in 2006. So he considers Portland his launching pad of sorts, and a fitting spot Sunday to ensure he doesn't let Palou run away with the title.

“It’s the first track I ever drove at in the U.S, first time I ever drove an Indy car,” Power said. “I still remember it, driving down the back straight, I had the thought, ‘Man, I could be paid to do this.’ I remember that day, I do. I remember driving that car. It was good memories. A long time ago.”

It made him reflective and again reiterate that he doesn't want to retire, he loves his job and racing in IndyCar, and doesn't have any idea what he'd even do if he walked away at the end of next season.

“I love all the tracks. It would be really tough for me to walk away from this sport. It really would,” Power said. "The feeling of being a part of something, trying to accomplish something with a group of people, I think you’d be pretty lost. If I stopped, I’d be very lost with what to do.

“No way that I thought I would have driven for the best team in the U.S., won on ovals, won the Indy 500. All those things. Won a championship,” he continued. “I worked very hard always, was very determined. It’s something that unfolds very slowly. It’s not a big shock that it happened now. When you reflect on it when you came here all those years ago, it was a dream. What I’ve done, I’ve lived out my dream, absolutely. I’ve just lived it out.”

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Will Power is thick in the IndyCar championship fight and not even considering retirement

Will Power drives during an IndyCar auto race on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. (Zachary Linhares/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

Will Power is thick in the IndyCar championship fight and not even considering retirement

BANGKOK (AP) — Germany sailed two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Friday in its first transit of the disputed waters in more than two decades, as Berlin seeks to increase its defense engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.

China claims the self-governing democratic island of Taiwan as its own, and views such transits as provocative actions.

To challenge China's claims, the United States and allies including Australia, Canada, Britain and France, have regularly conducted “freedom of navigation” operations there, sailing through the strait to emphasize that it is international waters.

In its last naval deployment to the region in 2021-22, Germany had sought to avoid confrontation with China and attempted a diplomatic balancing act, seeking a port call in China, which Beijing denied, and by not sailing through the Taiwan Strait.

The government was widely criticized for this approach, and on this deployment to the Indo-Pacific, leaders decided to sail through the strait en route from South Korea to the Philippines in a widely-telegraphed move.

“The signal is a very simple one, which we have always maintained and I have always maintained,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters in Berlin. “International waters are international waters.”

Taiwan's Defense Ministry confirmed in a post on X that the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and support ship Frankfurt am Main had transited through the strait from north to south, adding that throughout the sail "the situation remained normal."

China, which often reacts sharply to American warships transiting the strait, was somewhat muted in its response.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that for Beijing, “the Taiwan issue is not an issue of freedom of navigation, but an issue related to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

She said that while China respects the navigation rights of all countries, “we firmly oppose provocations endangering China’s sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation.”

The European Union three years ago embarked on a new strategy for the Asia-Pacific aimed at boosting economic, political and defense ties. Part of that has been focused on improving maritime security and ensuring safe passage through sea lanes.

It comes at a time when China is becoming increasingly assertive in pushing its maritime claims in the region, including on virtually the entire South China Sea and on Taiwan.

China maintains that Taiwan is part of its territory, and President Xi Jinping has not ruled out taking it by force.

China sends warplanes and warships near Taiwan on a near-daily basis in an attempt to intimidate its citizens and degrade the island’s defenses.

In response, Taiwan has extended the period of national military service to one year, building its own submarines and importing sophisticated new equipment from the U.S.

The vast majority of Taiwanese favor the current status of their island, which separated from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.

FILE - A Taiwan national flag flutters near the Taipei 101 building at the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, on May 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying, File)