Will Power had the biggest opportunity he could ever ask for in the IndyCar championship chase at the Milwaukee Mile.
The American driver saw his title rival Alex Palou sat in pit lane as Sunday’s Milwaukee Race roared into life.
At one stage, Power had managed to turn a 43-point deficit into a championship lead, before chaos at one of the caution restarts.
As the track went green out of the final corner on lap 131, the Team Penske driver lit up his rear tyres, sending him spinning into the wall, and two laps down on the leaders.
JR Hildebrand gives reasons for Will Power’s ‘fluke’ spin
It was a catastrophic mistake which holds major title permutations, with the gap at the top now 33 points when it probably would’ve been single figures at worst.
Former driver JR Hildebrand came to his defence in The Race’s IndyCar podcast, with the incident supposedly easier to commit than it seems.
READ MORE: Will Power apologises for costly mistake at Milwaukee Mile as Scott McLaughlin secures victory
“I think it would be hard to be in Will’s position and not kicking yourself,” he said. “Not putting yourself in a better position when it was available to you.
“The way that that happened, like you see that happen once in that situation and I was like wow ‘if that was that easy to do, then I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often.’ You do see guys getting a little bit loose coming off corners.
“Milwaukee is an interesting track from that perspective. It’s kind of a fluke that occurred that way. Like, that’s just a function of not quite enough tyre warm up, but probably being oblivious to that before it actually happens.”
What task does Power face in the final race?
In simple terms, all Palou has to do to guarantee himself a third IndyCar crown in four seasons is finish ninth or higher at the Nashville Superspeedway finale.
Anything but a victory for Power would all but settle the deal, but as witnessed in Milwaukee, anything can happen to anyone.
READ MORE: Will Power shares what caught him by ‘surprise’ that caused Milwaukee spin
Fortunately, he has two teammates in Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden at the front of the pack who are likely to be inclined to help him.
Palou only has Scott Dixon dependably battling at the front with him, but his experience in title fights could come in handy.
Another deciding factor will be the drivers’ ability to get up to speed at a track which returns after a 16-year absence to host the season finale, an oval circuit and a layout which Palou is yet to win on.