Will Power was handed the opportunity of a lifetime during race two of the Milwaukee Mile – the penultimate round of the IndyCar season.
Chasing a gap of 43 points to title rival Alex Palou, he knew that not much else other than a win would be enough to keep his hopes alive headed to the final round in Nashville.
However, the Spaniard suffered a reliability issue at the start of the race, sending him laps down the field and putting a golden opportunity on a plate for Power to gain back some, if not all of the margin ahead.
When he was leading at one stage, he had successfully managed to swing the odds back in his favour, as he sat top of the championship in the live standings, but it wasn’t to be like that for long.
Will Power apologises for costly Milwaukee Mile mistake
A crazy race saw multiple cautions and incidents, which, for the most part, Power had navigated successfully until lap 131, where he spun after applying the throttle at the green flag.
He clipped the wall, which forced him to pit twice as a result, and despite recovering to be on the same lap as the leaders at the end of the race, he could only muster 10th place.
A result that could have put him in prime position for a third IndyCar crown, now sees him against the odds again and 33 points behind Palou.
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He had been engaged in a terrific battle for the lead with Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin before the incident, dicing with each other for half of the race before it all turned upside down.
Acknowledging that the win was there for the taking, he apologised to the team for his error over the radio after the race.
“Sorry about that. Ah we still closed up,” he said.
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Although Power would’ve snapped your hands off to make sure that the title went to the last race, IndyCar heads there with a sense of what could have been.
33 points is an almost insurmountable margin, while if he had managed to claim even sixth or seventh – a few more positions, a 20-point gap would place Palou under so much more pressure.
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The electrical problem which plagued him sent him nearly 30 laps back, but he did return to the track to come home in 19th and claim a few extra points that could make all the difference in the end.
Palou has afforded himself the comfortability of being able to take it easy at Nashville in a few weeks’ time.
Power knows that nothing but a win will do now, and will have to put the mistake to the back of his mind if he is to have any chance of stealing a third championship.