Power to Compete in Indy 8H in Revised 75 Express Pro Lineup

Photo: Team Penske

Two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power will make his sports car racing debut in next weekend’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, having been confirmed as part of 75 Express’ lineup for the joint Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season finale.

The 44-year-old Australian, who will switch from Team Penske to Andretti Global in IndyCar competition next year, will join 75 Express team owner/driver Kenny Habul and Repco Supercars star Chaz Mostert in an all-Australian lineup that will compete for overall honors in the race.

For Power, it will mark his long awaited debut with Habul’s squad, after originally being announced for the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona with the team, a race that he was forced to miss due to complications from his wife’s surgery at the time.

Power and Habul have been long-time friends and competitors in their early years of racing, with both drivers starting their careers in Formula Ford in their native Australia in the late ’90s before both moving into Formula 3.

While Power went to Europe to work up the open-wheel ranks before ultimately making his name in IndyCar, Habul paused his racing career to pursue business ventures before returning to competition in the 2010s, notably having achieved four IGTC class championships since.

Power has five wins on the IMS road course, the most of any IndyCar driver, and is tied with Michael Schumacher for the most wins of any driver in a top-level series on the circuit.

Habul’s entry for Indy was originally set to race in Pro-Am with co-drivers Adam Christodoulou and Silver-rated Yannick Mettler, but he changed course following last month’s Suzuka 1000km when his No. 75 SunEnergy1-sponsored Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo lost out to IGTC Independent Cup rivals Antares Au and Ralf Bohn in the race.

“We unfortunately had bad luck in Suzuka,” Habul told Sportscar365. “We had a refueling problem where the valve didn’t shut and we lost a tank of fuel and had to come in and do an extra stop.

“All those things put together, we finished a lap down.

“I’ve got no choice but to win [Indianapolis]. We’ve had to swap Adam and Yannick for two Pros. There’s nothing against them but I’ve got a better chance if I go in [the] Pro [class].”

Mostert, meanwhile, will be making his return to the Munich-based operation after contesting last year’s Battle on the Bricks IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race with the team.

He also was part of SunEnergy1 Racing’s Pro-Am class-winning lineup in the 2023 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa alongside Nicky Catsburg, Martin Konrad and Adam Osieka, who was a last-minute fill-in for Habul following his back-breaking accident in Pre-Qualifying.

Indianapolis will be Habul’s second IGTC race of the season contesting the Pro class after finishing on the overall podium in February’s Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour and scoring maximum Independent Cup points in the process.

Power is the second high-profile IndyCar star to take part in the Indy 8H in as many years after now four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou was in the 2024 race, at the wheel of Lone Star Racing’s Mercedes-AMG.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John