Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
DETROIT – Will Power chuckled a little watching the replay, but whether INDYCAR officials find humor in his new push-to-pass maneuver in practice Friday is still to be seen.
The Detroit Grand Prix street course is notoriously tight in some areas, and Power got into the back of Kyle Kirkwood and decided to just keep pushing him until he got to a point where he could pass Kirkwood.
The contact did slight damage to the underwing of Kirkwood’s car but Kirkwood still posted the fastest time by the end of the opening INDYCAR practice.
“He stopped in the middle [of the turn] and I tried to go, and he didn’t and I thought I might as well move him out of the way and get a gap and then finish my run,” Power said. “I just moved him … I don’t have a problem with him. I didn’t even know who it was.
“I was just in the back of someone and I was like, ‘He’s off-throttle and I’ll keep pushing him until he gets passed this [other] car, move him out of the way and go.’”
Kirkwood wasn’t mad but also said he hopes for some sort of sanction (which typically is a reduction of practice time). INDYCAR officials had not said anything as of Friday night if Power will lose any time Saturday.
“Does it give him the right to push my car through a couple of corners and almost cause a wreck?” Kirkwood said. “I don’t think so. … I expect INDYCAR to do the right thing with that. I’m sure they’ll do something. Who knows what? I have never seen that before.”
Kirkwood did have some fun (we think) on social media.
“I get Will’s frustration,” Kirkwood said. “Everyone’s stopped. I’m frustrated, too. But the difference is I’m not pushing guys, I’m not running into the back of guys. Everyone knows Will to get animated sometimes and that’s another moment of it.”
The Andretti driver is the only driver not named Alex Palou to win this year.
“We’re fast, so I’m not frustrated,” Andretti said. “We’re quick. We’re a team that is going to come here and try to win and do everything in our power to win, and we’re not going to let anybody ruffle our feathers.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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