Power admits “it’s not ideal” losing two key personnel for Indy races

Ruzewski was among the four members handed a two-race suspension by legendary team boss Roger Penske following the recent push-to-pass scandal that drew the ire of the IndyCar Series paddock. While the list of names taking a brief hiatus also included Team Penske President Tim Cindric, the other one that hurts Power is losing Robbie Atkinson, who serves as the senior data engineer on the No. 12 Chevrolet.

In wake of the situation, Dave Faustino, Power’s race engineer, is adding to his workload by also taking on strategy duties. Meanwhile, Paulo Trentini Filho will handle things in replacement of Atkinson.

“(Faustino) has run a lot of tests and been on the radio,” said Power, 43.

“It will be different, yeah. He’s not used to counting me down to the box or sending me, so there will be a few things that we have to really, I guess, practice as much as we can. I think warmup is the only time we get to do that.

“But we’ve raced so long together, and I’ve been at it so long, I can almost do strategy from the car, and he’s the one that basically does the strategy anyway, and Ron sort of calls the races.

“Not a massive change. It will suck not having Ron. I’ve really got used to him. He’s very calming and good on the radio. That’s a pity, but that’s the way it is, and we have to do our best.”

Will Power, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images

Those changes come into play for Power, who currently sits second in the championship standings, at this weekend’s round on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course circuit.

However, the Aussie is mindful how it could impact things later in the month with the 108^th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

“Yeah, it’s not ideal losing someone off your stand, losing two people is definitely not ideal,” Power said.

“We were better off with them. But I sat down with Dave and we just said we’re going to do absolutely the best we can with what we’ve got. We’ve got very good people on the team. It is what it is. That’s the way it is, and we will do our absolute best to make the most of it.”

Despite the fact that Power’s data from St. Petersburg did not show any wrongful use of overtake, unlike team-mates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, he deferred on feeling shocked over losing Ruzewski over the situation.

“Yeah, well, Ron is the manager of the IndyCar team, so he just happened to be on my stand,” Power said.

“That’s the call that Roger made, and nothing I can do about it. It is what it is.”