Rookie Devlin DeFrancesco likely won’t be in the good side of Will Power anytime soon after the two came together in the early running of the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America.
Piloting the No. 29 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda, DeFrancesco was putting pressure on Power on Lap 8 as the banged wheels in Turn 4. Unable to get by, the 22-year-old Canadian made a late attempt to dive under Power entering Turn 5, but ended up colliding and sending the NTT IndyCar Series championship leader into the outside wall, dislodging the nose and coming to a stop in front of the AMR Safety Team.
The incident brought out the third caution of the 55-lap race.
Power was able to get his wounded No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet back to the pits for service and a new front wing. Meanwhile, IndyCar officials hit DeFrancesco with a stop and go penalty for what was deemed as avoidable contact.
Contact between @12WillPower and @DevlinDeFran pushed the championship leader into the wall.
The No. 12 pits for damage.
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?: INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA – https://t.co/vyuISIyifv#INDYCAR // #SonsioGP pic.twitter.com/A0RIBsCvlp— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 12, 2022