When a driver is unceremoniously dumped or simply just doesn’t have his contract renewed, it’s natural to want to exact revenge and show his now former team that it made a mistake in letting him go.

We saw that with NASCAR’s Kyle Busch, who was dumped by Hendrick Motorsports to open up a spot for Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the HMS roster.

Busch would then go on to earn 56 of his 63 career NASCAR Cup wins for Joe Gibbs Racing before once again getting dumped four years ago to make way for Gibbs’ grandson, Ty Gibbs – which remains a work in progress.

Now, Busch potentially could be in his last season in Cup this year, or at the very least, his last year with Richard Childress Racing.

IndyCar driver Will Power can relate to that. After 16-plus years with Team Penske, including 42 of his 43 career wins and two championships in 2014 and 2022, Power’s contract was not renewed after last season.

Power is starting over with a new team, mindset, and way of doing things

Having turned 45 years old on March 1, the native of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, is now attempting to write the next chapter of his open-wheel career with a whole new team, organization, and way of doing things.

And even though his advanced age could be an obstacle, Power is bound and determined to not only win for his new team, Andretti Global, but also to show his old buddies at Team Penske that they made a mistake in letting him go.

“Yeah, (Andretti Global) definitely do things a different way, there’s no question,” Power said. “But their preparation, they’re very, very a well-put-together team. I tell them, you’ve got everything you need to win a championship.”

Power enters Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, hoping to extend the momentum he earned in the last race – the inaugural event in Arlington, Texas – two weeks ago, when he finished third, his best showing yet with his new team.

“Yeah, showed at Arlington,” Power said of his third-place podium finish. “Finally we put a weekend together. Stayed quiet and ended up in the top four or five all weekend, finished third. That was a very good, solid weekend.”

Power has a strong overall record on Barber’s twisting road course. Not only is he a two-time winner there, he also has finished in the top five in each of the last five races there.

“Yeah, it is a track I really enjoy,” Power said. “It’s a track I’ve had a ton of success at. Always expect to be the pointy end there.”

Qualifying for the fourth race on the 18-race NTT IndyCar Series schedule takes place Saturday, with Power a strong candidate for the pole, having turned in the 10th-quickest time and speed (1:07.8818 at 121.977 mph) during Friday’s practice session.

He was roughly a half-second and just under one mph behind the top driver in Friday’s practice, former Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin (1:07.3840 at 122.878 mph).

Podium finish at Arlington showed Power still has it

Thus far in the first three races, Power has had a mixed outing. He retired with 45 laps to go in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida, due to contact (finished 22nd), was 16 at Phoenix and is coming off a season-best third place in the inaugural IndyCar race at Arlington, Texas, on March 15.

“Yeah, it did look slow (his start to the season), but you’ve got to remember we were leading at Phoenix,” Power said. “We had the incident. I think St. Pete would have been a top five, for sure.

“The speed is certainly there, the capability to contend for the championship is there. It’s a very good team.”

He comes into this weekend ranked 12 in the IndyCar point standings with 59 points, but a distant 67 points behind series leader and Andretti teammate Kyle Kirkwood.

“You look back, yeah, it really hurt me in the points, it’s unfortunate,” Power said of his rough start in the first two races. “But I know we’re going to have chances of wins this year. I know we’re going to be fighting at the front.”

Barber has long been one of Power’s favorite tracks. The sharp and tight turns, along with the rising and falling elevation is the type of challenge Power welcomes.

“It’s certainly a flowy track, very different to what we just came from, very different to, like, St. Pete,” Power said. “It’s going to be an interesting weekend for me.

“It’s the first time I’ve driven this thing on a road course. I’m very interested to see where we stack up, if there’s any work to be done. Every year you come back, it’s more competitive. We kind of know that.”

The first off-weekend after three straight races was a big help

Power and his team are still in the getting-to-know-each-other phase, but the learning process is going well, he said. After three races in as many weeks, having last weekend off helped the No. 26 team time to shore up some of its weak points.

“Gave us a little time to catch our breath, man,” Power said. “For me in particular, learning a new team and all that, it’s been such a busy time. I’ve never been so busy in my life. To actually have a weekend off and digest a little bit of what needs to be worked on, what we need to be better … is definitely nice.

“We’ve definitely been on the pace, I’ll tell you. Andretti is a bloody good team. The cars are good. We’re fast. We’re at the front. That’s all you can ask for.”

One of the immediate things Power witnessed when he moved from Penske to Andretti is that the latter is a bit more military-like, while the former was a bit more laid back.

“I can see why we’re running at the front, to be honest,” Power said. “Like the team is very good. I am very impressed. We’re improving as well as we go here. Doing a lot of work.

“Obviously they’ve also had feedback from someone from another team (talking about himself and his tenure at Penske) that’s been at another team for a long time, sort of giving feedback on how the car feels from what I’m used to make it a bit easier for me to drive. I think it’s something that is good for the team directionally in some aspects.

“It’s still an Indy car. I think Andretti has always been one of the top teams. There’s only been two teams winning championships.

“I think this year I really believe I’m in a position to win a championship. Next year absolutely, absolutely. But this year we’re there already. Making gains immediately.”

With 15 races left on the schedule, Power is trying not to get too far ahead of himself, but he likes what he’s seen thus far and made a rather bold prediction for Andretti Global in what some may call a rebuilding year.

“Man, I feel like I could have contended for a win at every race this season,” Power said. “So the pace is there. The ingredients are there to contend for a championship. It’s been strong.

“Obviously this is the next discipline coming up. It will be even more telling, where do we stand on road courses. That was a place the team felt they needed to work on last year.

“I’m like we’re there. The team is leading the championship. It’s right there. Kyle is leading the championship. Two rough races at the beginning. If I just finish Phoenix, I’m right there. That’s the reason I said that, because I believe that.”

“It’s no surprise to me, now that I’ve been there, that we are at the front. Like, I’m finding myself being able to be in the top five each weekend.”

Power had a rough final season with the Penske organization, earning just one win, three podiums and only one pole for a driver who is the most prolific active pole qualifier (64) in the series. He ended up a distant eighth in the final standings.

“Honestly, last year that wasn’t the case for me,” Power said. “At times we struggled a lot. Obviously it’s a very small snippet, only three races. They’re three quite different tracks. This will be another track for us to see where do we actually stack up.

“Very happy about being there. I really am.”