INDIANAPOLIS -- It's been more than five years since team owner Roger Penske's last victory in the Indianapolis 500.
Will Power gave him a pretty nice consolation prize Saturday.
Power drove his Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by 1.50 seconds over a hard charging Graham Rahal to win the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. It gave Penske a first victory on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to go with his record 15 wins in the "500" on the classic Brickyard oval.
"Awesome! Awesome!" exclaimed Penske Racing president (and Power's race strategist) Tim Cindric over the radio to his driver as he took the checkered flag. "You can say you won at Indy now.
"Let's do it again next time."
Power led 65 of 82 laps for his 25th career Indy car race win, but it was anything but cut and dried. He got a big helping hand at the first corner when his Penske teammate Helio Castroneves drilled front-row starter Scott Dixon into a spin. Both top contenders recovered to post top-10 finishes, but didn't factor.
Power's biggest early challenge came from his other teammates, Simon Pagenaud and Juan Pablo Montoya, emphasizing the strength of Penske's Chevrolet-powered four-car team.
Then during the first round of pit stops, Rahal emerged in second place. After qualifying 17th, Rahal vaulted to sixth place in the confusion at the start, then used the superior fuel mileage of his Honda to gain three places during the pit stop exchange.
Once in second place, Rahal was able to keep pace with Power. The gap ranged from 2 to 5 seconds, and in the closing stages, Rahal was able to close in as Power worked traffic and saved fuel.
But as heroic as Rahal's effort was, it wasn't enough to best Power. Montoya claimed third place, some 8 second behind Power, to maintain the Verizon IndyCar Series championship lead.
"That was exactly the race we asked for -- no yellows and very straightforward," Power said. "I was just super determined to make it happen. I know Rahal was closing fast at the end and I had to make my fuel number.
"That's the most physical race I've had all year," he added. "Real hard work. I'm mentally drained from just pumping out hard laps, but I'm halfway through what I want to accomplish this month."
In the last couple of years, Power has beaten the rap that he can't close out races, culminating in his 2014 IndyCar Series championship.
Still, at St. Petersburg this year in the season opener, Power lost out to Montoya in a straight fight and raised questions again about his killer instinct.
There's no doubt it was in place Saturday on the IMS road course. And Power intends to maintain that intensity for the Indianapolis 500 when practice begins on the oval on Monday.
"That was as good as it gets," Power observed. "No mistakes, good start, good out laps, good in laps, good stops. We just did everything you need to do to win. I can't think of anything that was wrong with that race and you don't often get that in IndyCar.
"I don't know if that makes me the favorite for the 500, but what I would say is that I have more focus for the 500 than I ever have," he continued. "I've won a championship now and that was the first thing for me to accomplish. That's the best driver over a whole season and that was a big deal for me to win that.
"Now it's just absolutely the 500. I really, really want to win that race."
Team Penske now ranks 1-2-3 in the IndyCar Series standings, with Montoya leading Power by five points and Castroneves by 10.
Pagenaud, who retired from the Indianapolis GP with an engine problem, is 10th in the standings in his first season with the team.
"Will Power had one of his best days and he never missed a beat," said Penske. "He was out front all day long and that bodes well for us as we move toward Memorial Day."
Indeed, Penske's team looks formidable as it gets set to contest the Indianapolis 500 for the 42nd time. Castroneves is bidding to join the select four-time winner's club, while championship leader Montoya is also a former "500" winner.
Castroneves scored Penske's most recent win, in 2009. But this year, the legendary team's best shot at victory may come with Power in the No. 1 car.
The Australian is a former Indy pole winner, but he's never finished better than fifth in seven Indy 500 starts.
"2009 and '10 were years I felt I had a car to win it," Power recalled. "Especially 2010, it was an unbelievable car. Just something would happen every time. Last year was my mistake getting a drive-through penalty.
"I have to put myself in that position to challenge at the end of the race," he noted. "I'm really determined to do that this month. I really want to get it right and win that race."
For one night at least -- and one full day, because the IndyCar Series drivers and teams will have Sunday off to celebrate Mother's Day and allow the IMS crew to convert the facility from road racing to oval setup -- Power can stop dreaming about what might happen two weeks from now and celebrate his latest accomplishment.
"It feels very good," Power said. "It's funny, I came in this month determined to have a good month. I haven't had that for so long.
"It's working out. It's just awesome to win at this place."
Now, as Tim Cindric said, he just needs to do it again next time.