Patrick puts Briscoe tangle behind her

Patrick's encounter with Ryan Briscoe in the pits overshadowed much of the late-race duel between Scott Dixon and Vitor Meira, turning what should have been the buzz of the race - Meira's wild pass on a restart with 40 laps remaining - into a soap opera involving Patrick, security and reporters.

When asked on Friday if it's difficult to forget last week and move on, Patrick insisted it isn't.

"I don't know if any of us have that hard of a time with that," she said. "We go on to the next event. All we're concerned about is performing at that next event and thinking how we're going to do well and thinking about the car and the track.

"I definitely forget the weekend before pretty quickly. It's not that difficult. It's just kind of my nature. The nature of me just goes on to the next one. I think a lot of us drivers are probably the same."

Patrick was on the outside lane in the pits when Briscoe left his pit stall and entered the inside lane.

However, as he hit the throttle, the rear end of his No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara swung out to the right and struck Patrick's No. 7 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara. The damage knocked both cars out of the race.

After she climbed from her car's cockpit, Patrick began walking toward Briscoe's pit stall as Briscoe sat in his car while his crew members attempted to repair the car. Patrick was intercepted by IRL security official Charles Burns, who urged Patrick to get over the pit wall. Eventually, she obliged.

"Charles and I are friends," Patrick said. "He was looking out for me. He is not intimidating to me, but I do listen."

Briscoe and Patrick spoke the night of the race, but at Monday's awards banquet, it appeared as if tensions were still high. Briscoe insisted he was innocent, as did Patrick. During his acceptance speech for finishing 23rd in the race, Briscoe started with a joke: "I'd like to thank Charles."

Patrick said on Friday she didn't hold a grudge, even though she and Briscoe have a history of running into each other. In 2005, she lashed out at Briscoe after a crash at Infineon Raceway.

"Every incident is its own," she said on Friday. "I don't think it's fair to compile them unless it's a horrible trend. I react to each situation as it comes up.

"No matter what would have happened, I would have been disappointed in the way that it happened and how it happened, no matter who it was."