Second in a series looking at the Verizon IndyCar Series championship season of Will Power through various eyes. Today, race engineer David Faustino says he’s seen the driver’s confidence grow each year.

Aside from Will Power’s wife, David Faustino has the ear of the new Verizon IndyCar Series champion the most – and vice versa. During the season, at-track meetings are supplemented by scheduled and impromptu phone conversations to discuss the most minute or random details.

Faustino, race engineer for the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car, and Power are comfortable with their professional relationship, which has grown since they initially worked together in 2007 at Walker Racing. Faustino, a 2001 graduate of Rutgers University, has been Power’s sounding board and sword through the highs and lows interspersed through three consecutive series championship runner-up finishes.

Together, they’ve shared in 24 Indy car victories and this year put it all together to earn Team Penske’s first driver and entrant championships since 2006. It’s been an journey full of exploration, according to Faustino.

Click it: Part 1 -- chief mechanic Matt Jonsson

“In 2012 we all got the new car so there was a lot of big, chunky stuff going on,” he said. “We were experimenting a lot and things were pretty generic as far as the car setups. Now from 2013 through this season we’ve had to focus more on the details again to be quick. This field is so competitive that you couldn’t just get the bulk of it right anymore.

“Also, in 2013 we had a lot of bad luck at the beginning of the season and a lot of strength at the end of the season. From a performance standpoint, I’m not sure that our actual ultimate potential is all that different. This year we had to really dive into the details to keep performance potential; it’s been up and down, but on average I think you've seen that across the field. Cars that are really quick at one track the next week they not quick, and that’s just because it comes down to these details.

“With the (Team Penske) drivers this year a setup could be tailored to the driver again instead of having a setup for the teams. We wanted to not over-focus on our teammates. That’s been a good thing for us this year to just make sure we got things right for Will. Now we’re making sure what each guy has what he needs, and really small changes we’re finding were making a big difference in getting that last little bit of performance.

“It’s been tough in that respect actually because it’s hard to use everybody’s information and say, ‘Well, he’s quick, we’ll use his setup.’ That doesn’t really work, and that has been the biggest adjustment for us this year.”

Power recorded three victories, four Verizon P1 Awards and finished in the top 10 in 15 of the 18 races. He also led a series-high 623 laps, and was one shy of completing all 2,395 laps.

Faustino noted that through those three seasons with the car and Chevrolet engine package he’s witnessed the development of the driver, too. A victory in the 2013 finale at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway, which capped a strong finish of three victories in the final five races, has been designated as Power’s moment of oval racing enlightenment. But fully grasping the nuances of the short ovals (Milwaukee, Iowa), speedway (Texas) and superspeedways (Indianapolis, Pocono, Auto Club) was another area of methodical development.

“It’s really tough on the ovals because you don’t really know where you stand all the time. Some people are running light fuel, some are on new tires or running full tanks,” Faustino said. “You get through a practice and it takes a lot of poise and maturity to see yourself in the middle or bottom of the time sheet knowing that you might have a good car.

“That was the case at Milwaukee. We were out there working on race stuff and looked really slow on the time sheet, but when it matters it pans out. There’s a lot more maturity and confidence. If he feels it’s right, he really believes it’s right. If you have the confidence and maturity to not second-guess yourself, you know you feel you have a good car -- or feel you don’t have a good car and we have to work on it -- that takes a lot of confidence and a leap of faith to make changes to the car.

“That’s where I’ve seen the growth.”