Franchitti and Dixon keep Ganassi in a power position. (Michael Levitt/LAT)

At its heart, motorsports has always come down to power being transmitted from engine to wheels to track, in a way that enables our heroes to display their talents at controlling the violence that ensues. The September issue of RACER magazine explores the heights to which that process has been taken over the years, as well profiling some of the key personalities who have come to wield the "soft power" that makes them some of the sport's key personalities.

From the wild days of Formula 1's power war in the mid-1980s to Antron Brown's descriptions of driving his current Top Fuel dragster, the subject of our "In Situ" (a new variation on our regular "In Focus" studio photo shoots) and you can't fail to be impressed at the sheer exhilarating hedonism of crazy amounts of power. And what issue devoted to power would be complete without a detailed look at the guy who's got it in his name: IndyCar star Will Power?

Here's an overview of what you'll find in issue #245, on sale at fine booksellers:

• F1'S 1980S POWER TRIP    
   When the go in grand prix racing was all about the shove

• THEY PUSHED THE LIMITS 
    Mightily motivated Indy and GP cars of the past

• EMPEROR BERNIE
     How Bernie Ecclestone made himself indispensable to F1

• ROAD WORKERS
     Race drivers' unions rarely dictate events

• DRIVING FORCE
      Will Power's skills and insatiable need to know set him apart

• GOING BEYOND THE CALL
       Meet the aces in Will Power's corner at Penske

• THE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER
       Why are so many Australians cracking the whip in racing?

< THE RACER INTERVIEW
       Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte
       are on the climb together 

• BALANCING PUSH AND STICK
       Forging the magic motoring mix of
       power and grip

• POWER CHANNELS NEWEY
       Will Power takes a stab at designing
       the perfect racecar

• NEW MILLENNIUM MASTERS
        Classic doesn't mean old, as the
         latest greats prove

• ECONOMIES OF SCALE
        Must multicar teams inevitably overwhelm the rest?

• IN SITU: DSR Top Fuel Dragster >       
       Antron Brown's Matco Tools monster at home

All this, plus Helio Castroneves' exclusive driver's column, and our host of additional departments and features.

Don't miss out on the September issue. CLICK HERE to subscribe now at a special discount rate!