Power Claims 17th Victory in Tag Heuer Pit Stop Challenge for Team Penske

With 190 wins in 51 illustrious seasons, the Team Penske name is a common one in the INDYCAR record books. With a triumph by Will Power's No. 12 Verizon crew in today's TAG Heuer Pit Stop Competition, the North Carolina-based program added to its historic pedigree.

Team Penske has claimed 17 victories in the 41 times the pit stop competition has been held, but this was the first for Power, who had never made a competition final prior to this year.

"That was an example of four or five perfect pit stops, no mistakes," said Power, who will start ninth in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. "You know, when you think about the 500, that's what wins races. No mistakes on pit lane, quick pit stops under yellow, and I have absolute faith in these guys every time I pull in the pit box."

In a new twist for 2017, the final round of the competition consisted of a best-of-three competition between Power's crew and that of James Hinchcliffe from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. After the crews split the first two rounds, it came down to a winner-take-all final stop. Power's crew executed flawlessly with a stop of 11.614 seconds, the fastest of the day.

Chief mechanic Matt Jonsson earned his record-tying third competition win, all with Team Penske, and each with a different driver (Sam Hornish, Jr. in 2005 and Ryan Briscoe in 2011). Jonsson, in his 22nd season with Team Penske, is the only chief mechanic to win pit stop competitions with different drivers.

Power's crew earned $50,000 for the victory. The winner of the pit stop competition has gone on to win the Indianapolis 500 six times, most recently by Team Penske's Helio Castroneves in 2009. Castroneves' crew, the two-time defending pit stop champion coming in, was eliminated by Hinchcliffe's crew in the quarterfinals.