Will Power says father wrestling gunman was “just another day”

During the first week of April, IndyCar driver Will Power’s father, Bob Power, was approached by an armed man who attempted to steal his vehicle as part of a multi-day crime spree. After briefly struggling with the man, law enforcement arrived on scene and apprehended the suspect.

Power was not injured during the encounter. On Friday, ahead of the Long Beach IndyCar race weekend, Will spoke about the incident and how he found out.

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“Well, actually, I was flying to Long Beach to do some promotion,” Power explained when asked by Motorsport.com. “I landed, I got in my rental car, I called Liz or Liz called me (Will’s wife). And she said, ‘did you hear what happened to your dad?’ And I’m like ‘oh no, he’s dead.’ And she said, “No, he was held by a gun.” » I’m like ‘what!?’ I was thinking of the Gold Coast and it’s like, no, Toowoomba in a cafe. Some guy tried to get him to open the door, get him out of the car — “get the shit out of the car”, and he had a little trouble with him.

“Finally the guy pointed the gun at him. My dad said ‘don’t shoot me,’ with authority. (He said) he could see in the guy’s eyes that he was probably going to shoot me. He was pretty mad. So (he said) he’s going to come out, let me take the dog out. The SWAT team had to follow him with a drone because he robbed a few people and then they all invaded. Just another day at Bob Power. life (laughs).”

Will commented that his father wasn’t really fazed by any of this, later saying that “it wouldn’t even register now”.

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“If you know my dad, he’s crazy,” Power continued. “That’s where my crazy side comes from. My mother was a nun in the convent for seven years, so that’s my really empathetic side. So I have this real tug of war all the time about how to behave and act.

Addressing other members of the media in attendance, Power added: “It’s crazy, but it’s no surprise that he fought with him because he’s my dad: ‘You’re not stealing my car.’

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Will Power’s father doing well after struggling with gunman

And apparently that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Bob Power, with Will saying they could make a movie about his father.

“There are a lot of crazy stories like that with my dad,” Power said during the media scrum. “A lot of people have been on racing trips with him. I was in one of them. And we go. We drive from Phillip Island Raceway. He’s in a trailer. I have a car in a trailer, and it’s a little wet. And the speed limit goes from 100 km/h to 80 km/h to 60 km/h. And then there’s a busy intersection. I start to slow down, and Dad and quelques-uns de ses amis sont dedans. voiture. Et il ne ralentit même pas. Et soudain, je me dis, il y a un feu de circulation. Et vous voyez ce truc qui se bloque. Alors, il commence à klaxonner. Je veux dire, une intersection à plusieurs voies, et il vient tout droit. Tout manque comme d’habitude. Et passe au travers. Nous nous arrêtons à côté de lui au feu tricolore. Et son ami John l’accompagne lors de plusieurs de ces voyages. Et ces choses sont arrivals. Typical Bob Power — Something crazy happens But he just gets away with it.

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“So, yeah, when he was held with a sawed-off shotgun and he kind of struggled with it. I was like, yeah, that happens.”