INDYCAR: Late contact a 'racing incident' - Rahal

Graham Rahal says race control was right not to penalize Simon Pagenaud for blocking, despite relinquishing the lead to the Frenchman in the incident.

The Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver had been closing on his Penske rival for several laps when he attempted a lunge on the way into the hairpin. Pagenaud drove across him to turn into the corner, resulting in mild contact and the Frenchman retaining the lead.

Although Rahal believed that Pagenaud's move pushed the limits, he insisted that a penalty for the eventual race-winner would have been disproportionally harsh that late in the final stint.

"He blocked me, a really solid block, and the worst part wasn't that he didn't leave the room, it was that he diagonaled to the apex," Rahal said.

"He just turned in way earlier than you'd normally turn in. You can watch the overhead camera; it's pretty easy to see. I'm glad there was a no-call because for sure it's a racing incident, but you would never turn in where he turned in. He was purposely trying to cut me off there. [But] I wouldn't want to see his day completely ruined by a call like that."

Rahal also refused to blame Jack Hawksworth for the incident that followed a short time later, when Rahal mistimed a move around the lapped Foyt car while battling Pagenaud and tore off his left-front wing. Hawksworth said that he did all he could to give Rahal room, while also being mindful of his own battle with the cars around him.

"The problem was I was racing the two guys behind Graham," Hawksworth told RACER.com. "So I didn't want to stop and let [the leaders] past and then get passed by those other guys. In the hairpin I tried to pull off and let him past, but he'd already pulled in behind me and lost his front wing. That was a shame, but it's not an easy position to be in when you're racing guys and then the leaders are coming up on you. I'm sorry about his nose, but that's racing."

Don't just watch the race, feel it with the INDYCAR Mobile app. Enjoy live in-car cameras, real-time leader board and team transmissions.