IndyCar racer Will Power has nothing left to prove; he’s one of the best ever. He’s an Indy 500 winner, a 2-time IndyCar Series champ, is 4th on the all-time wins list (behind legends like A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti) and Power’s 70 pole-positions is the outright record in American open-wheel racing history stretching back to 1911.
Yet race fans around the world watching Power lead the IndyCar race on Sunday chewed their nails and silently pleaded with the racing gods to let this racing hero take one more win. Let Will celebrate with his wife Liz once again.
Back in 2006, when Will Power was just a young driver at Team Australia in the old Champ Car series, he met Liz Cannon. She was the team’s PR director and despite their professional relationship, the two fell in love and were married in 2010. Will went on to drive for Team Penske while Liz continued her PR career with driver Justin Wilson at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (1).
For a racing wife like Liz, the danger her husband faces each time he’s on track is all too real. Together, the Powers suffered through the traumatic deaths of IndyCar drivers Dan Wheldon in 2011 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Justin Wilson in 2015 at Pocono Raceway. With Will’s open-wheel racing approaching two decades, and nothing left to prove, the couple must question continuing this pursuit of racing glory, and ask themselves “Why do we even do this?”.
On Sunday, the NBC broadcasters reminded everyone that Power hadn’t been to victory lane since 2022, and 2023 was the first time in 15 years Power didn’t win a race all season long. Casual racing fans did not know was that after the high point of winning the IndyCar championship in 2022, Will’s family life was turned upside down when his beloved wife Liz was struck with a devastating blood infection in early 2023. She became gravely ill and the sepsis nearly turned fatal.
Under the finest medical care available, Liz’s health began to improve, but the road to recovery was long and the fear of illness returning loomed. Although Power competed in the 2023 IndyCar series, his heart and mind were thousands of miles away, with his wife. Power was gripped with fear and doubt but carried on to the best of his ability.
After some improvement in 2023, Liz’s condition worsened just before Will was to compete at last year’s Road America race. With his wife back in hospital, Power was visibly on edge during TV interviews as personal pressure mounted about whether to even continuing racing. In a now-infamous moment, Power had a complete meltdown on track after being crashed out of a practice session by rival, Scott Dixon. Power gestured angrily then physically assaulted Dixon, who must have been in complete disbelief of Power’s behaviour. (2)
“It was a very stressful weekend because I left thinking that Liz was sick again. Had booked a private plane, because that’s the only way she could travel. Get in the car, she looks down and says, ‘Look at all the worms in that cup.’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, shit.’. To my mother-in-law, I said, ‘You have to stay here. We already booked this plane. Taking off now. I’ll go, call you on the plane.’.
All weekend she’s going back and forth to the doctors. Turns out she mixed some medications and was having hallucinations. That’s how it all started; hallucinations.
Stressful, this predicament. Should I race or not? Then you crash bad. That’s why I was so I guess angry or just stressed. Anything set me off. Grappling with that.”
One year on from that very public breakdown, Power’s win at Road America this weekend snapped his winless streak, allowing Will and Liz to enjoy Victory Lane together. After the race, Will spoke very openly and candidly with NBC commentators about Liz’s life-threatening illness and what it meant to have his family together in Victory Lane again.
“It was very special. She was in tears. So was her mother. Had Beau there. Yeah, been a rough trot. It was last year we didn’t get a win. She wasn’t at a lot of the races.
In the off-season when my wife is sitting in hospital, we’re just wondering what’s going to happen here. She almost died. You start thinking, “Yeah, I’m going to have to stop now, take care of my son.’
Then after that also, it’s a long process. Once they put the metal plates and all that, you have that infection in the blood, it can stick to the metal, come back. It’s like what’s going to happen. Continual blood tests. You just got to be on top of it. If it comes, you have to be very quick to have the antibiotics reduce it, I guess. The doc said it can come back anytime. You got to be quick to catch it.”
This was a very personal moment for Liz and Will, in a way a return to normal life, and a reminder of the good days before Liz became ill. Once again, Liz and Will were together at a race track, the kind of place they first met and fell in love 18 years earlier. For the first time in a long time, the anger and anguish appeared to be lifted from Will’s spirit. (3)
(1) AdelaideNow.com.au: Liz Power Remembers Justin Wilson
(2) Demaras.com: Will Power NEVER Disappoints
(3) Racer.com: Will and Liz Power celebrate much more than a win at Road America
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