BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Rick Mears was confident that Will Power would make a successful return to Team Penske and the IZOD IndyCar Series after suffering back injuries in a practice incident last August.
His work ethic was the giveaway.
“You always work harder at something you love than you do at something you don’t,” Mears says. “If you love what you’re doing, you dig a little deeper and give that extra little bit that the other guys may not. That’s what helps separate you from them.
“Coming back from something like that just shows the reason you’re in the sport – because you love it. If you didn’t really love what you were doing, it would be more difficult to come back.”
Mears can relate. Less than four months after winning his second Indianapolis 500 in 1984, Mears suffered severe foot and leg injuries in a crash at Sanair near Montreal that jeopardized his ability to walk let alone his racing career. The Bakersfield, Calif., resident went on to two additional 500 Mile Race victories.
“As soon as I saw both feet were there I knew I would be back in a car,” Mears says. “It wasn’t if; it was when, and that’s the way (Power) was. And that’s because of his love for the sport and his desire to do it.”
Power, who followed up a victory in the IZOD IndyCar Series opener March 14 in Brazil with a 0.8244-of-a-second win in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 29, leads the championship standings by 44 points.
Power, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, is the first since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2001 to emerge victorious in the first two races. He’ll attempt to match Scott Dixon (2007, Watkins Glen-Mid-Ohio), Dan Wheldon (2005, St. Petersburg-Indianapolis) and Kenny Brack (1998, Charlotte-Atlanta) for consecutive wins in the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy Credit Union on April 11.
“To be able to come back and run as well as he has is great for the confidence, especially out of the box,” says Mears, a consultant to Team Penske’s trio of drivers. “I know the first time I got back in a car during a test there was a little apprehension. There wasn’t any apprehension in doing it. It was how long would it take me to get back to the level I was at? To able to get back in a car and run well right away is good for six months’ therapy.
“The way he ran at the (Barber Motorsports Park in late February) test I knew he wouldn’t have any problems because I knew he loved what he was doing. It’s a real confidence-builder; a great way to start the year obviously.”
Last year also started positively for Power – initially as a fill-in for Helio Castroneves during his tax evasion court case. He started and finished sixth in the St. Petersburg opener and started from the pole and was second at Long Beach (in a third Penske car after Castroneves returned in time for qualifications). The team entered a third car in five other races, with Power winning from the pole at Edmonton and finishing in the top 10 at the three other races (he obviously did not start at Infineon and was credited with 23rd place).
Results (make that results and Power’s desire) prompted team principals Roger Penske and Tim Cindric to expand to three full-time 2010 cars for the first time since 1984 with Verizon as the primary sponsor of the No. 12 entry.
“There are a lot of guys out there that could run quick but maybe don’t have as much desire,” Mears says. “There might be the talent and ability, but if there’s not the desire they might tend to run hot and cold because your heart’s not in it.
“That’s why I quit (at age 41 in 1992) – when the desire started tampering off. I knew that the ability and performance would go with it. When you look at somebody, you look for the talent, ability and desire. And it was all the above with him. That’s what helps separate you from others.
“The wrong reasons are you’re in it for the money and spotlight. The right reasons are to compete and win. The dollar and spotlight are secondary. In fact, I’d do it without the dollar and without the spotlight. That’s desire. That’s what creates the dollar and spotlight.
“I said (to Team Penske sponsors at the time) ‘I don’t set goals’ and most people live on that. To me, I didn’t feel I needed to set a goal. I’m going to do the best job I can do. If I’m doing that, the rest of it will happen. Looking back at my career, that’s what got me to Indy cars. I never did any of it to get there because that was way out of my league. I didn’t know I was doing it that way.
“In hindsight, I could see what created it. It was the desire to compete and run well in whatever I was in at the time. Kids come up to me and say ‘What do I have to do to get to Indy?’ Well, that’s the wrong approach. You have to keep both feet in front of you today and focus all on that, get the results and that creates the next steps.”
In addition to Dixon, Wheldon and Brack in the IZOD IndyCar Series era, the following in post-World War II Indy car history to have won at least three in a row to start a season:
Sebastien Bourdais – First four races of 2006 Champ Car season (Long Beach, Houston, Monterrey, Milwaukee)
Paul Tracy – First three races of the 2003 CART season (St. Petersburg, Monterrey, Long Beach)
Al Unser – First three races of 1971 USAC season (Rafaela Argentina-race 1 and race 2, Phoenix)
A.J. Foyt – First seven races of 1964 USAC season (Phoenix, Trenton-April, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Langhorne, Trenton-July, Springfield)
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