Christian Rasmussen was left visibly upset after a potential second victory escaped his grasp in Saturday’s IndyCar Series race at Phoenix Raceway.
The 25-year-old Dane was the star of the show, charging from an 18th-place start on the grid and charging to the front with daring outside passes on the 1-mile tri-oval. He found the lead by Lap 73 of 250, and remained a factor even through several pit cycles jumbling up the field.
With 46 laps to go, Rasmussen attempted a pass for the lead on the outside of the #26 Andretti Global Honda of Will Power at the exit of Turn 2. However, the Power squeezed up as the nose of Rasmussen’s #21 ECR Chevrolet propelled forward. The two came together, with Rasmussen hitting the wall – and somehow not breaking the front wing – as the right-rear of Power’s car sustained damage.
The caution came out and Rasmussen elected to stay out and assumed the lead when the race resumed on Lap 218. Despite his best efforts, he was passed with eight laps to go by Kyle Kirkwood, Power’s teammate, and then Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden – the eventual race winner. In the end, the damage was too severe to hold a strong pace and Rasmussen dropped like an anchor to finish 14th.
“I think it’s very clear what happened,” said Rasmussen, who led 69 laps (second-most on the day). “We were the class of the field today. The best car out there. I was so happy with the car and yeah, you can’t just run people into the wall, which was what happened today.
“He (Power) ran me straight into the wall and after that I had damage. I think like lower wishbone front, upper and lower wishbone on the rear and a toe link, which obviously some of that was probably from after, but the car was just impossible to drive after that. And yeah, I just did what I could to salvage the day and not crash the car. But just frustrating, man.
“So frustrating because we should have won the race today and obviously didn’t.”
Multiple videos surfaced on social media of Rasmussen and Power talking after the race, with the latter admitting fault.
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