Will Power finished second behind Alexander Rossi at Pocono Raceway in a race marred by a violent crash that sent IndyCar rookie driver Robert Wickens to the hospital.
Rossi was as worried as the rest of the field when the Honda of Robert Wicken was sent airborne, ripped up the catch fence and left the tub of the rookie driver's car toppled on the asphalt.
"It's part of our job, right? You've got to compartmentalise," Rossi said. "You've got to accept it and deal with that emotion after the race."
Wickens was airlifted to a hospital with what IndyCar called "orthopedic injuries" and the race was stopped for nearly two hours to repair 80-feet of fence and leave at least one driver grumbling about safety.
IndyCar said Wickens was awake and alert as he was airlifted from the track to the hospital and he was still being evaluated Sunday night.
Once the race restarted, Rossi got rolling.
He dominated and led 180 of 200 laps to win his second straight race and third of the season, slicing into Scott Dixon's grip on the championship lead with three races left in the season.
New Zealander Dixon finished third and his points lead over Rossi was cut to just 29 points.
"We've been a bit blah. They've been excelling," Dixon said
Power was aiming for a third successive victory at Pocono and made a hard charge down the stretch, his second placing keeping him fourth in the drivers' standings.
The championship race was tinged with worry over the 29-year-old Wickens.
He was attempting to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay when the two cars slightly touched just six laps into the race.
It resulted in Wickens' car soaring over Hunter-Reay's and into the fence, spinning round and round like a top, before the tub came to a rest on the track along an interior wall.
For Rossi, his thoughts were with Wickens.
"It's tough to really celebrate after what happened," hesaid.
Dixon echoed the thoughts of the rest of the paddock when he said IndyCar was a "close-knit family" and he was thinking of Wickens.
"That's the worst thing you can see. He's hurt. He's awake and alert and at least he's alive," Sebastien Bourdais, who finished fourth, said.
The Frenchman raised concerns about the quality of the repairs and condition of the fence and did not want to get back in the car.
Track President Ben May said: "It may not be the prettiest job but it's going to be safe."
Bourdais called the repairs, "pretty lousy."
