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DETROIT -- You kind of got the feeling that justice prevailed when Will Power won the second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit IndyCar weekend. Power was conclusively fastest in the brief Sunday morning qualifying session that set the grid for the second race of the doubleheader on the Belle Isle street course, but INDYCAR's three-man officiating crew deemed him guilty of blocking Marco Andretti and tossed out his two fastest qualifying laps, both of which would have been good enough for pole position. Instead, Power started from eighth place -- with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Despite his unhappiness about the penalty, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion drove an impeccable race to earn his first victory in more than a year, leading Simon Pagenaud in a 1-2 finish for Team Penske that made up for the team's disappointing results in the Saturday race. Power beat Pagenaud across the line by 0.9 second after leading the final 11 laps. Power fared the worst of the Penske quartet in the first race, losing a wheel and finishing 20th when he thought he had a shot at the victory that went to Sebastien Bourdais and KVSH Racing. On Sunday, when weather conditions were not as much of a factor and the race was interrupted by only three short full-course cautions, Power and the No. 12 Chevrolet made sure that the fastest car won. With the cautions not affecting those who had committed to a standard two-stop strategy, Power and Pagenaud fought for the win on a late-race restart, with Power bullying past in the short run from Turn 3 to Turn 4. "We knew that we were on the same strategies and all those guys in front of us had to pit," Power explained. "I had to really go for it on the restart, and I was able to get him. "I thought: 'I've really got to capitalize here; otherwise, we are not going to win.'" Championship leader Pagenaud wisely ceded the position and ended up padding his points margin with the second-place finish. He now leads the IndyCar standings by 80 points over defending series champion Scott Dixon and 86 over his Penske teammate Helio Castroneves. Pagenaud led for 40 laps, more than any other driver, but he was forced to settle for second place. "I tell you, he made a great pass," Pagenaud said of Power's move. "He was very aggressive on the restart. We had a really good car on long runs, but I struggled on cold tires. He saw it, I think, and took his chance. That's how you win races, so congratulations to him." "There was no point colliding and trying too hard," Pagenaud added. "I'll take second today, because it was a really good points day for us. You have to look at who is your competition. You've got to be smart and think about the big picture." Ryan Hunter-Reay took third place in his Andretti Autosport Honda, disappointed that he didn't have quite enough pace to challenge the leading Penske Chevrolets. "I was pushing as hard as I could, but Team Penske was pretty much untouchable this weekend -- they just had the pace," Hunter-Reay said. "There was only so much I could do about it, and I was getting as much as I could out of the DHL Honda. "It's nice to finish on the podium, but that's obviously not what we're here for."  Power is well back in the standings, with a 117-point deficit to Pagenaud. The Australian missed the first race of the season in St. Petersburg, Florida, after symptoms from a severe sinus infection were mistakenly diagnosed as a concussion. He has been trying to fight back ever since. Power has a history of running hot and cold, so he hopes taking his first IndyCar race win since May 2015 kicks off an extended period of success. He won't rule out a championship run, though he knows that Pagenaud's superb start to the season (with three wins and three second-place finishes in eight races) will make the Frenchman hard to beat. "This is great," Power said as he enjoyed the fruits of Sunday's win. "It's just been such a crazy year, you could say, of unfortunate things happening and things not kind of rolling our way. Really happy to get the whole Verizon crew in Victory Lane." "I think it just gives the whole crew some confidence," he continued. "I think we have all kind of been stumbling a little bit -- the whole group of us. It's been a tough start to the year -- missed the first race and just had a few mishaps. "Now we are there."
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