The pair were left with broken cars after separate incidents that ultimately cost them both a podium shot.
McLaughlin and Power had been running third and fourth respectively when the decisive moment happened on Lap 78.
Power dived to McLaughlin’s inside and overshot the exit of the corner, which allowed the Team Penske driver to pull off a switch-back.
McLaughlin left Power no room and forced the Andretti Global driver into the wall, which launched the #26 car into the air.
Power suffered damage to his car’s right rear corner, reporting via radio that “something is broken”.
On Lap 79, he locked up entering Turn 3. McLaughlin tried to go down the inside, but Power shut the door and they made contact again.
Power appeared to cast McLaughlin wide at the Turn 5 apex before their final collision at Turn 7 when the New Zealander got into the back of the preceding Australian.
It was that final hit that damaged the #3 car as McLaughlin slid into the outside wall, breaking its right rear.
Power pitted to retire in 24th while McLaughlin had repairs and finished four laps down in 19th.
Speaking post-race, McLaughlin expressed his frustration at the incidents and foreshadowed a conversation with Power.
Appearing on MotorSport New Zealand’s Inside Line, the former Supercars star said he has a new view having seen the onboard footage.
“It’s all heat-of-the-moment stuff,” said McLaughlin.
“After I watch the footage back… I had a little bit of a loose moment when I put him in the wall and I probably should have got out of the throttle.
“I spoke to Will about that and we shook hands and we talked about it.
“I’ve got so much respect for him, he’s done so much for my IndyCar career here and helped me so much as a teammate.
“I regard him as a friend, so you hate to see that or have that battle.
“It was a bit of a miscommunication because when I watched his footage back after our incident, he was obviously broke (sic).
“I don’t think he had any control of his race car when in the moment I felt like he was actually deliberately trying to hit me.
“It just wasn’t the case, it was wrong place wrong time and I apologised for my part of the incident that we had on the exit of Turn 3 there, but then the lap after that was really difficult.”
McLaughlin is seventh in the standings and 135 points in arrears of championship leader Alex Palou.
His teammate David Malukas has been the standout performer for Team Penske in third while Josef Newgarden sits just behind McLaughlin in eighth.
“I feel like as a team we’re executing well,” said McLaughlin.
“Definitely from a Team Penske perspective, I think we’re chasing a couple of things right now as team, but we’re working really hard to do that.
“It’s just so hard right now. I can’t even explain how hard the competition level is right now.
“When I do a silly mistake like that and ruin a day that we could have been a solid podium or top five at least, it hurts.
“It’s hard to rebound from that, but we’re making strides. We’re getting better and better, but the pace hasn’t exactly been where we want it to be.
“We’re executing pretty well, it’s just a matter of getting a little bit more speed.”
IndyCar continues with the Bomarrito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway on June 8 (AEST).
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