ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — A battle for the final spot on the podium in Sunday’s (June 21) XPEL Grand Prix at Road America ended in tears when Graham Rahal and Will Power collided on the final lap of the 10th NTT IndyCar Series race of the 2026 season.
As the pair were heading to Canada Corner, Rahal and Power had contact when Rahal moved to his left, with Power’s car not quite alongside as the pair entered the 12th of 14 corners on the 4.014-mile road course.
The pair were fighting for third place, and Power initially finished fourth before a scoring review placed the Australian third. Race Control determined that the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda was in third at the moment of caution, since Race Control called for a full course yellow immediately after the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda hit the wall. That yellow meant that Christian Lundgaard won the race ahead of David Malukas.
“Unfortunate there. I was braking, [Rahal] was braking. I don’t understand why that was,” Power said in the post-race press conference. “It took me by surprise obviously. That’s what caused that. It’s a pity. But still a very good day for us overall. I’m really glad to finish third.
“[Rahal] just kind of moved over, got his rear wheel. That was that.”
Power got by Rahal early on the restart but lost the position when he locked up in turn 8. Power tried to get a run on Rahal going to the final hard braking point on the track when the collision occurred.
“Probably shouldn’t have got myself in that position to start with,” Power said. “Was third, locked up in eight. He passed. Hadn’t locked up all day. Took me by surprise in turn eight. Good strategy. We actually had a fast car. Car was very fast on blacks. Reds went off pretty badly.”
Rahal saw things differently after being checked and released from the IndyCar medical unit.
“I’ve got a lot of things to say about Will and the way he’s been driving and stuff, but I’m just not going to say it,” Rahal told Frontstretch. “I don’t need to say it. I think people see it, you know. You’re making a mistake in [turn] 8, lick your wounds and move on, you know, you don’t need to ruin somebody else’s day, particularly when you’re fighting for P3 or 4. I just, I don’t get it.
“With Power at the end, I mean I blocked, but cleanly. I raced him clean all day. That word’s not in his vocab apparently, but I raced him perfectly clean. When I passed him and when he got back by me in the last restart, and again, though, same, just same wing angle, just so much more straight-line speed, there’s nothing I can do.
“So unfortunately, you know, that’s really I think part of the cause and the effect of the last [lap] was I got a good run through the Carousel, [Power] just had overtake and he had red mist and those two combined, you know, ended up with me being out of the race and him hopefully getting a penalty, but I have no clue.”
Rahal was scored in 23rd position. Despite being cited for blocking, no further penalty was given to the Ohio native.
Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.
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