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The Sheer Force of Will Power
The story of 2014 Indy Car series champion Will Power.
From the dirt tracks of Queensland, Australia, to the road, street and oval race tracks of America, join Will Power on his torrid 20-year ride to the top of Indy car racing, culminating in the 2014 IndyCar Series championship. Arduous both mentally and physically, Will's journey pushes him to the limit as he finds fans and critics, friends and rivals - and eventually a reputation as the fastest racer in America. Off the track, Will is known as a man of individualism, dry humour, brutal honesty (particularly with himself), unshakable principles and a ferocious desire to learn fast and beat everyone else. All these qualities and more are revealed in a biography that will have you laughing, crying and in awe at just what it takes to rise to the top of professional racing. Will has taken the hard road, but a champion like Power would never do it any other way.
From the dirt tracks of Queensland, Australia, to the road, street and oval race tracks of America, join Will Power on his torrid 20-year ride to the top of Indy car racing, culminating in the 2014 IndyCar Series championship. Arduous both mentally and physically, Will's journey pushes him to the limit as he finds fans and critics, friends and rivals - and eventually a reputation as the fastest racer in America. Off the track, Will is known as a man of individualism, dry humour, brutal honesty (particularly with himself), unshakable principles and a ferocious desire to learn fast and beat everyone else. All these qualities and more are revealed in a biography that will have you laughing, crying and in awe at just what it takes to rise to the top of professional racing. Will has taken the hard road, but a champion like Power would never do it any other way.
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 1, 2015
7 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 25, 2021
Not something I would normally choose to read; I think my other half bought it by mistake, but thought I'd give it a go. Even though I'm not an IndyCar fan, it was still moderately interesting, talking about the challenges for any driver to secure sponsorship and get a drive, no matter how good he is. Probably more details than I needed on some of the tracks and drives, but I'm sure that's of more interest to a genuine fan. Sports biographies can be interesting even if you don't follow the sport, and this was one of those; more than just a catalogue of Power's sporting achievements.
November 30, 2015
Excellent behind the scenes look into Will Power's life on and off the track. The book also provides much insight into the happenings of ChampCar and IndyCar that many readers might find interesting. I can't imagine any race fan not loving this book.
April 26, 2016
First off, I use to be hard core into IndyCar driving back when the series was called CART. When the series broke up to form IRL and CHAMP I kind of drifted back to NASCAR for my fandom. Now I am a devout NASCAR (Tony Stewart) fan yet I am a still a casual fan of IRL. If there is race on and I don’t have anything better to do I will watch it. Of course this holds true any time any type of motorsports- the other day I was watching dirt bikes because it was the only racing I could find, but I digress. So I “know” the IRL drivers in that, I know their names, car number, sponsors…the basics. But I don’t know their stories. This book gave me the chance to dive into Will Power’s story and get to know Will on a deeper level. But I don’t think you have to be a Will Power fan to appreciate his story.
The book starts off with him growing up a child who “played racing” as a child. Of course it didn’t hurt that his father was a grassroots racer in Australia. It follows his career through his eyes and the eyes of those closest to him, including his family and close friends. It spans the course of his racing from a young boy in Toowoomba Australia (and now I know where the name of my favorite dish at the Outback comes from) as an up and coming driver in Australia, to his move to England for F1 and then eventually to America and then to Indy car and everything in between. The book aptly covers both the extreme highs of winning a championship and the lowest of lows throughout different points in Will’s carrer. There are parts of Will’s career that will ring true to any racer, any style of motorsports- especially his early struggles to attain much needed sponsorship money as an early racer in Australia, to what could have been a terrible career ending injury at Sonoma Raceway. And then there is living the horrifying accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that took fellow driver Dan Wheldon’s life through Will’s eyes. Let’s just say it was a good thing I wasn’t wearing mascara when I read that chapter.
Now for the book itself: The Sheer Force of Will Power is a lovely hard bound (also available in e-book format) book with 352 pages and includes two sections of color photos spanning Will Power’s career. It also contains a fairly extensive glossary- so don’t let the difference in open wheel and stock car racing vernacular worry you if you are a NASCAR fan as many of my readers are.
I highly recommend this book for Will Power fans, IRL fans, and motorsports fans in general because I think that everyone will get something out of this book.
(part or all of the above review originally appeared on badgroove.com)
The book starts off with him growing up a child who “played racing” as a child. Of course it didn’t hurt that his father was a grassroots racer in Australia. It follows his career through his eyes and the eyes of those closest to him, including his family and close friends. It spans the course of his racing from a young boy in Toowoomba Australia (and now I know where the name of my favorite dish at the Outback comes from) as an up and coming driver in Australia, to his move to England for F1 and then eventually to America and then to Indy car and everything in between. The book aptly covers both the extreme highs of winning a championship and the lowest of lows throughout different points in Will’s carrer. There are parts of Will’s career that will ring true to any racer, any style of motorsports- especially his early struggles to attain much needed sponsorship money as an early racer in Australia, to what could have been a terrible career ending injury at Sonoma Raceway. And then there is living the horrifying accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that took fellow driver Dan Wheldon’s life through Will’s eyes. Let’s just say it was a good thing I wasn’t wearing mascara when I read that chapter.
Now for the book itself: The Sheer Force of Will Power is a lovely hard bound (also available in e-book format) book with 352 pages and includes two sections of color photos spanning Will Power’s career. It also contains a fairly extensive glossary- so don’t let the difference in open wheel and stock car racing vernacular worry you if you are a NASCAR fan as many of my readers are.
I highly recommend this book for Will Power fans, IRL fans, and motorsports fans in general because I think that everyone will get something out of this book.
(part or all of the above review originally appeared on badgroove.com)
January 30, 2022
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. An in-depth look at the career of Australia's first IndyCar Series (and Indianapolis 500 winner, since 'The Sheer Force of Will Power' was published). Brilliant insight from many on Power's career. As an IndyCar fan, I ate this up. What a shame Power has yet to capture the attention of the Australian motorsport public in the way Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber and others have.
May 20, 2019
I loved the book. It was great to find out how Will Power got to the top of IndyCar
October 21, 2025
This book solidified what I already know about myself. Will Power is nothing short of AWESOME.
April 27, 2016
Loved it. Informative and full of stories about picking up that last bit of speed, how to learn from the car. Interesting from start to finish.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews