On the final lap of Sunday’s IndyCar event from Road America, veterans Will Power and Graham Rahal came together while racing for third place.
Rahal attempted to block a pass in the braking zone, and the contact sent him spinning into the wall while Power continued on and finished on the podium.
After climbing from his stricken car, Rahal waited for Power to come by again so he could gesture at him and let him know that he should use his head.
Rahal was still upset after being released from the medical center, and told Frontstretch how he felt Power deserved a penalty for his attempted pass.
“I’ve got a lot of things to say about Will and the way he’s been driving and stuff, but I don’t need to say it,” said Rahal to Frontstretch. “I think people see it.
“You make a mistake in [Turn] 8, lick your wounds and move on. You don’t need to ruin someone else’s day, particularly when you’re fighting for P3 and P4. I just don’t get it.
“I blocked, but cleanly. I raced him clean all day. That word is not in his vocab apparently. I raced him perfectly clean when I passed him and when he got back by me on the last restart.
“I got a good run through the carousel, he just had overtake and he had red mist. Those two combined ended up with me being out of the race and him hopefully getting a penalty.”
Power did not receive a penalty, however, and in fact Race Control deemed Rahal at fault for the incident at handed him a blocking penalty that did not affect the results.
Difference of opinion
Power, in a separate interview after the race, described the incident very differently.
He did not feel he could have avoided the incident, and placed blame on himself only for the missed corner in Turn 8 earlier in the lap.
“Yeah, from my perspective, I could not do anything,” said Power. “I mean, I was at the capacity of braking. He moved it. There’s nothing I can do.
“He just kind of moved over, got his rear wheel. That was that. But yeah, probably shouldn’t have got myself in that position to start with. Was third, locked up in [Turn] 8. He passed. Hadn’t locked up all day.”
Power has been a fiery driver for the majority of his two decade-long career, but this latest clash did not seem to anger him at all. Perhaps because he came out on the good side of the encounter.
He and Rahal will have a chance to discuss the incident in two weeks when the series heads to Mid-Ohio for the next race on the calendar.
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