A clean opening day of NTT IndyCar Series action at Road America took a different turn Saturday morning as three contenders for pole position returned to pit lane with their cars dangling from tow trucks.
The first to crash was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who flew off at Turn 14 and damaged the right side of the No. 10 Honda on his third lap. Although the damage was not excessive, the brief two-hour gap between the end of the second practice session and the start of qualifying is where the pressure to affect repairs in a timely manner was impossible to ignore.
The biggest crash, however, was reserved for Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon and Team Penske’s Will Power, who was hit by the No. 9 Honda on the way up the hill leaving Turn 12. With Dixon having spun, recovered, and while running slow on the right side of the track, the CGR driver waited for Romain Grosjean to clear him before turning left but didn’t appear to see the oncoming Power as he ventured directly into the path of the oncoming No. 12 Chevy.
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The ensuing crash did extensive damage to both machines, breaking suspensions and wings before the cars came to a stop on the grass. An enraged Power climbed from his car, flipped Dixon the middle finger with both hands — reminiscent of his “double birds” incident at the Loudon IndyCar race in 2011 — before charging down to Dixon’s car and pushing him before AMR Safety Team members restrained him.
Dixon, who took responsibility for the clash, didn’t attempt to parry Power’s advances, acknowledging his rival was “pretty fired up.”
.@12WillPower and @scottdixon9 have been seen and released following this incident in practice 2.#INDYCAR // #SonsioGP pic.twitter.com/43FSpGd6Yk
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 17, 2023
Hear from @12WillPower following his incident with @scottdixon9 in practice 2.#INDYCAR // #SonsioGP pic.twitter.com/57CfQ9U4i1
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 17, 2023
