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 Pagenaud won Sunday's action-packed Honda Indy Grand Prix of
Alabama, hanging a second consecutive victory on his competition.
Team Penske's driver also won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
last weekend, extending his run of strong finishes to fourth. He was
second in each of the season's first two races.
Pagenaud and Rahal were 1-2 with nine laps to go when Rahal dove to
the right approaching a corner, and that's where Pagenaud cut across
him. There was contact and Pagenaud got shoved into the sand trap as
Rahal slid past.
That appeared to be how things would end -- IndyCar's officiating
team decided there was no blame to issue -- but Rahal had front-wing
damage and couldn't keep the pace he had earlier. Within no time,
Pagenaud was side-by-side with Rahal again, and they came upon the
slower car of Jack Hawksworth, who tried to get out of the way but
couldn't. Rahal hit Hawksworth, causing even more damage to Rahal's
front wing. From there, he was a sitting duck.
 Pagenaud got back into the lead and never looked back. He finished
13.7 seconds ahead of Rahal, who had to work the damaged car to stay
ahead of a charging Josef Newgarden, who finished third. Will Power
was fourth with Juan Pablo Montoya storming from the last starting
spot to finish fifth.
Fittingly, Pagenaud thought Rahal was in the wrong, and Rahal
thought Pagenaud was. The heat of the moment situation is likely why
IndyCar's officiating team opted to let the incident stand on its
own, without punishment either way.
But clearly, Rahal thought he was blocked.
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"A really solid block," he said. "The worst part wasn't that he
didn't leave the room, it's that he dived to the apex. He just
turned in way earlier than you'd 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 was a racing incident, but you would never turn
in where he turned in, purposefully trying to cut me off there."
Said Pagenaud: "I've got to see the review. I didn't think he was
alongside, but I couldn't see him next to me when I went for Turn 8.
I felt like I was being pushed, but I don't know."
Scott Dixon entered the race second in points, 15 behind Pagenaud,
but he was hit from behind on Lap 2 by Sebastien Bourdais, who
missed the entry point in Turn 5. The spin that followed had Dixon
in last place in the 21-car field and without a caution thereafter
there was no chance to fully catch back up. He finished 10th and
while he still stands second in the standings, he is 48 points
behind Pagenaud, who has finished second, second, first and first in
the season's first four races.
Two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the 100th
Indianapolis 500, are next up for the series. It should be fun.
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