On Sunday’s race in downtown Detroit, it seemed that Graham Rahal was everyone’s punching bag.
He was constantly embroiled in battles and rubbed wheels with more than a few other drivers throughout the event.
One collision stuck out in Rahal’s mind, however, and that was the one delivered from Kyffin Simpson.
Rahal had been fighting for position with Marcus Ericsson when Simpson made a deep lunge into the hairpin and spun Rahal around.
The veteran felt that the Chip Ganassi Racing driver was unwelcome in that battle, and that he should have waited his turn to fight for position.
Even after the race, Rahal was still clearly upset about the incident that happened in the first half of the event.
“First off, I’ve always had a lot of respect for Kiff, but I was pissed,” said Rahal. “I’m not going to lie because it was completely unnecessary, particularly at that stage in the race. Completely unnecessary.
“When you see two guys battling like Ericsson and I were, there’s no reason for the third man in to be the guy that causes the problem. I mean, zero reason for it.
“I had that early in the race, too. I was behind Sting Ray [Robb] and somebody else, and I had a couple of runs on Sting Ray I had to bail out because basically I had to let him finish his job first, but then get whoever it was and then go back after Sting Ray.”
Respect on the streets
Rahal does typically speak his mind, but often reserves admonishment of other drivers for private conversations rather than public forums.
That is what stuck out about this incident, because the 37-year-old continued recounting why he was upset to media members after the race.
Simpson did receive a penalty for the incident, but Rahal still dropped 11 positions in the moment due to the contact.
“You’ve got to race with a little more clear mind,” continued Rahal. “And that’s what really upset me, because we all know that results — things like that don’t help any positive result.
“I treat everybody with respect on track, and I didn’t hit a single person today. Every pass I made was clean. Every battle I was in, clean. I expect the same in return.
“Most guys do that. Kirkwood and myself, zero — never a close moment. Pato [O’Ward] and myself, clean, no problem. I was just very disappointed in the move. That’s what it comes down to.”
Rahal recovered well in the remainder of the race and eventually finished on the podium, his third of the season.
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