Patrick: Wheldon row good for series

The Andretti-Green driver argued with Wheldon in the pit lane after a collision in the race, ending the confrontation by shoving the former champion.

The incident received significant coverage in the American media during the build-up to last weekend's Texas round, in which Patrick took her first ever podium finish.

"As far as Dan and I, we handled it like drivers and like people on the track that need to respect each other, and it was everything on the outside that seemed very, very exciting, or something like that," Patrick said.

"Like I said, it's fun though. I like it when we get something going on in the series and people are paying attention.

"When I turn on ESPN and see a whole bunch of stuff on our race coming up that day or that night, that's good. That's the stuff we need. So I get a kick out of it."

She said the press interest in the Milwaukee row had not affected her preparations for Texas, and that she had avoided prolonging the controversy.

"I can't honestly say it was a distraction really," said Patrick. "I didn't do that much more than I normally do. It wasn't like we were trying to feed this. It just ran its course."