Australian driver Will Power has dismissed Kiwi Scott Dixon's allegations of gamesmanship by his injured pitcrew after securing his third IndyCar victory at Sonoma Raceway in four years.
Power's first victory of the season was soured by a dramatic incident when race leader Dixon hit a tyre being held by one of the Australian's crew as he exited pitlane directly behind Power's car, copping a drive-through penalty.
The tyre holder went flying into another crew member, and a third member was injured by an air gun. All three crew members said they were okay to continue after a bit of ice.
New Zealander Dixon thought Power's crew got in his way on purpose, leaving him angry and confused by IndyCar's latest call against him.
"That's probably the most blatant thing I've seen in a long time," Dixon said.
"You watch most pit guys, they try to get out of the way of other people, so that was a bit of a dick move, to be honest. ... If that's the way they want to try and win, that's pretty bad."
Power scoffed at the notion any gamesmanship occurred in his first victory since early last season in Sao Paulo. He's the only multiple IndyCar winner in Sonoma, where he's been dominant since he broke his back in a crash at the track in 2009.
"It reminds me of so many things that's happened to us in the last three years, so we'll take it," Power said.
"I would be very surprised (if it was intentional). I haven't seen it. It's not even worth commenting on.
"I really thought we'd win before (now), but we just kept at it and worked hard and were fast all weekend."
Race director Beaux Barfield defended the move to penalise Dixon saying that the safety of pit crew was paramount.
"You look at risk versus reward. The risk of hurting somebody in the pitlane versus gaining a couple of tenths of a second leaving the pitlane is certainly not worth it," he said.
The pitlane incident happened with 15 laps to go and Dixon's penalty dropped him 19 seconds behind Power into 21st as Power carefully maintained his lead for victory.
Power's rear tyre holder had the tire dangling from his left arm while Dixon attempted to get around him, and the resulting contact sent two other crew members sprawling while the tyre bounced away.
"The guy turned his back and carried the tyre into Dixon's side," claimed Dixon's Chip Ganassi Racing team manager Mike Hull.
"He walked into us, so if that sets the precedent, in the next race, that means somebody can walk into us with a tyre in their hand."
Seeking a third IndyCar series title, Dixon lost ground on overall IndyCar leader Helio Castroneves, who finished seventh.
Justin Wilson was second, and pole winner Dario Franchitti was third - although the Scot was furious at race control, saying Power drove him off the track with no penalty.
Castroneves finished behind Marco Andretti, Simon Pagenaud and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Dixon has been burned by IndyCar's penalty decisions before.
In Milwaukee last year, IndyCar acknowledged it looked at the wrong replay and got the decision wrong when it ordered Dixon to serve a drive-through penalty for jumping a restart.
