Will Power gets honest about thorny battle with Kyle Kirkwood at IndyCar Road America race

Will Power and Kye Kirkwood found themselves involved in a hairy moment for the second IndyCar race weekend in a row on Sunday. At the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, the two ran each other off the track on separate instances.

On lap 4 of 55, Power was defending fifth place from Alex Palou behind him. The two went wheel-to-wheel on the run down to Turn 12, aka Canada Corner. In an attempt to hold on to P5, Will Power made an aggressive lunge on Kyle Kirkwood, who was in P4.

The Team Penske driver braked way too late and went off the track on the exit of Turn 12. Kirkwood was forced to slow down a bit to avoid colliding with him. Consequently, Alex Palou went past both drivers to secure P4.

"The f**k was that," Kirkwood said on his team radio. "They (Power) should give us that position back."

In the next caution period, Kirkwood drove beside Power's car and made a hand gesture to question his aggressive move. On Lap 17, both drivers were in the middle of the 27-driver grid after their first pit stops on Lap 11. The Andretti Global driver got back at his Penske rival with a similarly aggressive overtake.

"Should be a penalty for Kirkwood. Banged me off the track," Will Power said on his team radio.

After the grueling 55-lap race, Kirkwood finished in P4, while Power found himself in P14, as the caution-laden race decided the fate of the ultimate results. In a post-race interview with FrontStretch, the two-time IndyCar champion spoke about the Kirkwood battle and the disappointing race.

"I understand Kyle getting me back (laughs)," he said [0:07 onwards]. "I was racing with Palou, and I locked up a bit, so I was like, 'Arghhh!' I mean, he did a good job to avoid an incident. Just an overall rough day, man."

Kirkwood's P4 finish helped him surpass Pato O'Ward for second place in the IndyCar standings. But because Alex Palou won, the gap between him and Kirkwood increased from 75 to 93 points.

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Will Power looks forward to Mid-Ohio after "frustrating" race at Road America

Will Power showed promising pace to kick off the Road America race weekend, going third-quickest in both practice sessions. In qualifying, however, the two-time IndyCar champion failed to make the Fast 6 and started the race in eighth.

Unfortunately, his No. 12 Team Penske squad found itself on the wrong side of the grid after failing to get the strategy right amid the multiple caution periods. He summed up his feelings in an Instagram post. The caption to it read:

"Not ideal. Pretty frustrating day. Time to bounce back at Mid-Ohio."

It was yet another subpar weekend for Team Penske, extending its unfortunate and winless run this season. Josef Newgarden spun and crashed out on Lap 30. Scott McLaughlin was the team's best finisher, with a lowly P12 result after starting in P4.