Graham Rahal – Syndication Server

Touron pairs up with Rahal as race engineer for 2025 IndyCar season

Graham Rahal’s odds of returning to victory lane have improved with the signing of Yves Touron as race engineer for the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda. Regarded as one of the paddock’s best-kept secrets, Touron joins RLL after serving …

Graham Rahal’s odds of returning to victory lane have improved with the signing of Yves Touron as race engineer for the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.

Regarded as one of the paddock’s best-kept secrets, Touron joins RLL after serving as Juncos Holling Racing’s technical director, and previous stops include the former KV Racing team, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Carlin Motorsports. The Frenchman also spent time in IMSA at multiple teams, which complements RLL’s dual participations in IndyCar and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

With Rahal aching to end a winless streak that dates back to June of 2017 at Detroit, his pairing with Touron has great potential to move the veteran forward in the championship standings.

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“I really like a new challenge,” Touron told RACER. “I’ve known some people here at Rahal, and so I’ve been in contact with them. At Juncos, I was technical director, but I felt like the opening and the opportunity to join Rahal as race engineer was exciting. That’s why I accepted that position, and working with Graham is going to be nice. Being race engineer or technical director, for me, it is still technical. I’ve always been involved in development, and that makes it interesting for me.”

Rahal is coming off a 2024 season during which he underwent a mid-year race engineering change to the promising but inexperienced first-timer Ashley Higham, and finished 18th in the championship. Higham, who was praised by Rahal for how he handled the step up to the top-tier engineering role after the season began, has moved across to the No. 30 Honda with Devlin DeFrancesco.

For Rahal, whose IndyCar driving career is expected to wind down in the coming years, the onboarding of Touron speaks to a win-now approach being taken by the team he might lead in the near future.

“I was really interested in working Graham; he’s one of top drivers and been in racing for a long time, and I’m really looking forward to that,” Touron said. “I like working with a seasoned driver; working with someone like Oriol Servia was that way. Those very experienced drivers are so good.”

Touron lands with RLL at an important time. Having undergone constant change in its engineering department, bringing in a proven veteran whose technical director-level skills extend to all areas of vehicular performance fills an acknowledged void. The team moved fellow engineering veteran and Indy 500 winner Todd Malloy over from its factory BMW IMSA GTP program last season to act as its IndyCar technical director, and with Touron in the mix as a new ally, RLL bolsters its engineering corps in ways that should help to elevate the entire effort.

“Looking at what the team has built here from an outside perspective, and going into that part of the of team, I’m like the kid in the candy store,” Touron said. “There’s a lot of opportunities, a lot of development. It’s a bigger team than I’m used to, so for sure, it’s going to take a bit to get acclimated to that kind of environment, but it’s something I am really happy to jump into. The main focus for me is to do good with Graham, and get him up there and do our best and succeed.”

Rahal, Simpson penalized for unapproved engine changes

Graham Rahal and Kyffin Simpson will both carry nine-place grid penalties into this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series doubleheader at Iowa Speedway for unapproved engine changes following the July 7 race at Mid-Ohio. The No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan …

The No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda and No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda were both found to be in violation of Rule 16.1.2.3.2., which states that ‘A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.’

According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty for such infractions is six grid places on road and street courses, and nine places on ovals.

Both entries will serve their penalties in the first race of the weekend on Saturday evening.

Indy 500 Bump Day delivers drama in spades once again

Katherine Legge summed up the totality of her first experience of being at risk of failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 after being relegated to the Last Chance Qualifying session on Sunday along with Marcus Ericsson, Graham Rahal, and Nolan …

“Terrifying,” the Dale Coyne Racing driver said. “I feel sick and shaky and like I want to cry.”

The shakes and onset of tears visited the other three drivers in the LCQ, and when the one-hour session was over, it was her young teammate, 19-year-old rookie Nolan Siegel, who was bumped from the field of 33 after crashing on the final attempt to make the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing.”

“I’m fine, but I don’t really care if I’m fine at this point,” Siegel said. “That’s somewhat irrelevant. We’re going home because we did everything we could, and I think we can be very proud of that. I did the first run, and the balance was fine. If anything, it felt pretty maximized on the trim but we knew we had to have more speed; there was no speed in it as I was flat out for four laps and on the limit of being too loose and crashing the car. We took downforce out of it because we were going to be out of the race anyway. I wasn’t going to go home without lifting. It was the last run in qualifying and I was going to go flat, and I went flat. I hit the wall because we went too far but we tried.

“I want to thank the team for all their hard work. I appreciate everything the team has done. They wanted it too. It’s not like I was the only one in this. They wanted it as well and they worked really, really, really hard for a long time. Big thank you to them. They’re not thanking me for doing a good job. Everyone did a good job. I know ultimately the result doesn’t reflect that, but they worked really hard and I’m super appreciative of all the effort they put in. We were in it together; it’s like family.”

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Legge, Ericsson, and Rahal survived to fill out the final row of 11.

Rahal was understandably relieved to be in the show, but wasn’t cheering over how it happened. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Siegel in a RLL car in the near future based on the respect he’s earned from Rahal and his father Bobby Rahal.

“Today was similar to last year,” he said. “We knew he had the speed to get in and look at how close it is. Kat, Marcus, and me — the same time in essence. It’s a game of thousandths around here. If I can say anything, it’s just ‘Great job’ to Dale Coyne Racing because honestly, they were able to successfully find a lot of speed. If you looked at where Nolan was on Friday and even yesterday, they closed the gap to us considerably as we kept losing pace. We were hanging on by a thread. I’ve been talking about that plenty. Kat did a wonderful job finding a couple of miles per hour — something we have not been able to do, frankly. Those guys put up a valiant effort.

“Nolan. Most of you guys don’t know his name but you will. He’s won in every class and category he’s been in. I’ve watched him. I’ve known the kid for 10 years. He was a little, little guy then. But you’re going to know his name in the future. He’s a winner and will be winning at this level sometime soon.”

Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, nearly botched his chance to make it into the race after slowing at the conclusion of his third qualifying lap—one lap early—and having to make another attempt to get into the race.

“That was extremely tough, but this place just brings everything out of everyone,” the Swede said. “Today, I was sitting here waiting in pit lane for the chance to go out and get a speed to even make it into the race. It was just very tough mentally, but we did it. I’m very proud of my team. They’ve been fighting so hard the last few days and to finally get the reward of having the chance to fight in the race means a lot.

“The car has been a challenge since we had to go to the backup, but the team worked extremely hard trying to improve it and make it better. Today we had a car that should have safely put us in a guaranteed spot, but I made a mistake on the first run, so we had to dig deep. It was not easy in this heat to go for a second run but we made it work and pulled it off.”

McLaughlin resets Indy 500 pole record average with 234.220mph run

“To have them as close as we have them, that’s impressive,” Josef Newgarden said after Team Penske blitzed the field on Pole Day at the Indianapolis 500 where the three-car operation went 1-2-3 to lock out the front row. After posting the fastest …

After posting the fastest run in the Fast 12 earlier in the day, New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin led the group to earn his first Indy 500 pole with the No. 3 Chevy at a remarkable 234.220mph average in the Fast Six ahead of Will Power in the No. 12 Chevy (233.917mph) and Newgarden in the No. 2 Chevy (233.808mph).

“I felt like there’s two runs today were some of the best runs of my career,” McLaughlin said. “I thought the potential was there, even yesterday. It was just about getting the right balance. I knew my engineer would nail it, and they did, and when the first number came up, I just had to hold on. Got a little bit loose at the end but the Pennzoil Chevy held on. Super proud to put the Yellow Submarine back on the pole and sweep for Team Penske. What a great spot for the 108th Running [of the Indianapolis 500]. I’m really proud. I think it’s the first Team Penske clean sweep of the front row since ’88. In this day and age, that’s a proud moment.”

It was yet another statement for Kiwis after countryman Scott Dixon earned Indy 500 poles in 2021 and 2022, giving Antipodeans three of the last four top starting spots at the Speedway.

Teammate Power was rather dejected to lose out on earning his first Indy 500 pole, but went into the Fast Six with full knowledge that he was capable of going P1.

“I was going to be shocked if we weren’t on pole or fighting for it,” he said.

The story wasn’t over for Team Chevy as it captured the second row and two of the next three spots on the third row to give the oddsmakers a clear understanding of which engine supplier has the most horsepower.

Elsewhere in the top 12, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay put in a stellar performance to lay claim to seventh after crashing on Saturday.

“Seventh for the Indianapolis 500 after yesterday’s morning… sick!” said the Dutchman. “We were so close and were able to beat some fast cars today.”

The other big star of qualifying was found with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay who played the role of giant killer with the No. 23 Chevy to earn 12th ahead of much bigger and wealthier teams.

At the unfortunate end of Pole Day, there was also one driver who was sent home as Bump Day carved Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 18 Honda driven by rookie Nolan Siegel from the starting field. A crash on his final run in the Last Chance Qualifying session sealed his fate and saved Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal, who was on the bubble from being knocked out of consecutive Indy 500s in P33.

Siegel was unharmed in the crash and was frank in his assessment after falling short in the final minute of the session.

“I’m OK,” he said over the radio. “It was [way loose]. We tried.”

Katherine Legge (P31), Marcus Ericsson (P32), and Rahal weathered the gut-wrenching LCQ and will get to take part in the race.

Once the fast 12 activities commenced as the heat migrated over 80 degrees F, Hunter-Reay went first and recorded a 230.567mph average. VeeKay was next and shot to first with 232.620mph. Pato O’Ward was next and delivered a 232.584mph to go P2.

Takuma Sato motored to a 232.171mph to claim P3, and Santino Ferrucci was up next, but lost the cloud cover that cooled the track for O’Ward and Sato. It didn’t matter, though, as Ferrucci shot to P1 with an average of 232.723mph.

Rosenqvist was up sixth and had great cloud cover to use over his four laps to produce a 232.305mph run which moved him into P4. Kyle Larson also had good cloud cover for his blast and put up a 232.788 average to take P1 to the applause and delight of the fans.

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Kyle Kirkwood followed with the sun beating down on the track and delivered a 230.993 to go P7. Alexander Rossi had the same absence of cooler conditions for his run and, like Ferrucci, it made no difference as he registered the fastest run with a 233.071mph to take P1 from his teammate Larson.

Newgarden liberated P1 from Rossi with a stellar run of 233.286mph, and it was his teammate McLaughlin’s turn to make the penultimate attempt to transfer into the Fast Six and go for pole.

McLaughlin knocked Newgarden off P1 with a 233.492mph and then it was time for teammate Power to make the last run. Cloud cover emerged for Power’s last lap and held for his entire outing to miss P1 by a tiny margin at 233.483mph to take P2.

With McLaughlin, Power, Newgarden, Rossi, Larson and Ferrucci primed to go for pole, it was time for the LCQ group to run, led off by Nolan Siegel, who posted a 229.568mph.

Ericsson had a 230.653mph average through three laps but appeared to lift at start/finish at the start of the fourth lap —did he think the run was over?—to close the run with a 195.411mph lap that dropped his average to 220.702mph.

Legge dealt with more oversteer but held onto it to take P31 and lead the LCQ with a 230.092mph run. Rahal was the last to run before second attempts could be made and went 229.974mph to take P32 in front of Siegel in P33 and Ericsson in P34.

The Andretti team sat and waited to let Ericsson’s engine cool before sending him to try and bump Siegel out. With approximately 32 minutes left in the 60-minute LCQ session, Ericsson headed out and ran four slow laps averaging 168.986mph before pulling into the pits, putting on four new tires, and getting prepared to make a proper attempt to get into the show.

Ericsson rolled out with about eight minutes to go and went 230.027mph to grab P32, bumping Siegel out. Ericsson and Legge were in, Rahal was on the bubble, and Siegel’s car was pushed to the line and sent with two minutes left on the clock.

He wound the car up to 229.288mph on the first lap, nudged the wall on the exit of Turn 1, spun, and crashed. He was unhurt and, sadly, not going to participate in his first Indy 500.

The Fast Six started with Ferrucci up first and he held onto a sliding car to go 232.692mph before Larson registered a 232.846mph to move into P1. Rossi went third and dropped the fastest lap so far with a 234.062mph which generated cheers as he held onto a wiggling machine. His average of 233.090mph was enough to take P1 before the three Penske drivers went out to settle the pole.

Newgarden made a statement with his first lap—a 234.188mph—which led to more cheers. His second lap was almost as good—a 234.004mph—and his third was also good at 233.640mph and he closed it with a 233.400mph to shoot to P1 with a 233.808mph average.

Power was the penultimate pole runner and crossed the line with a 234.128mph and fell to a 233.955mph which looked like he’d stay behind Newgarden. The next lap was a 233.767mph, and on his final, a 233.819mph was enough to go P1 with an average of 233.917mph. It was up to McLaughlin to try and spoil Power’s party.

Lap one was the best of the day — a 234.526mph — and the battle was on. Lap two was another monster at 234.371mph and it was the Kiwi’s to take. Two more strong laps did the job; pole for McLaughlin and an explosion of cheers from fans on the front straight.

RESULTS

Rahal, Ericsson, Legge, Siegel staring down Bump Day at IMS

Either Marcus Ericsson, Katherine Legge, Graham Rahal, or Nolan Siegel will fail to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. For two of the at-risk drivers, it’s hard to fathom how they’ve ended up among the four slowest drivers vying for the …

Either Marcus Ericsson, Katherine Legge, Graham Rahal, or Nolan Siegel will fail to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

For two of the at-risk drivers, it’s hard to fathom how they’ve ended up among the four slowest drivers vying for the three available starting spots that are up for grabs as Rahal, who was bumped from the field one year ago, is once again relegated to the Last Chance Qualifying session with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The biggest shock of all came with 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, whose backup Andretti Global car just hasn’t been able to muster the same speed as his quicker teammates.

Dale Coyne Racing, the smallest team in the IndyCar Series, is also represented in the LCQ with Legge and Siegel, whose crash on Friday forced him into a spare car that has none of the aerodynamic or mechanical drag reduction techniques applied that would allow the car to post more competitive speeds.

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The quartet, all using Honda power, were between 0.497mph and 4.479mph shy of being safe in the top 30.

“For us, it’s flipped,” Rahal, who was 0.868mph from avoiding the LCQ, told RACER. “To start the week I was the quickest [RLL] car by what I thought was a little bit of a margin. All of a sudden, it’s not only swapped, but now I’m a mile an hour off, which makes zero sense at all. So we have to go back and look, and for sure when you look at and go, ‘RLL is in the same place,’ well, we’re not in the same place because the same place was five miles an hour off of Ganassi last year; we’re not five. But for sure, the Chevys are fast. It’s just a shock.”

For Ericsson, the crash on Thursday set his current situation in motion. If there’s a saving grace, it’s the fact that he was the fastest of the four slowest drivers heading into the LCQ.

“It’s strange that what we see out on track doesn’t match up with what it should be,” the Swede said. “It’s a backup car. For sure, [it’s] not ideal, but it shouldn’t be so far off. Our primary cars, our teammates are up there. We have fast cars and the team has been really, really doing a good job, so we don’t really understand how we can be struggling so much, but we have tonight to try and find out and then go out tomorrow and try and deliver.”

Rahal heads Palou, Newgarden in Long Beach warm-up

Almost all drivers tried out both Firestone compounds in the 64 degree F conditions, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden being the first to get under 68 seconds with a 1m07.6677s. However, this was soon eclipsed by many, including Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing who went top with a 1m07.0932s, a couple of tenths ahead of today’s polesitter Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing-Honda.

Will Power, who will start the race from the outside of the front row, practiced his start by hanging to the right on the exit of the hairpin, the final corner, and hugging the pit wall all the way down to the Turn 1 brake zone. On one occasion this didn’t work so well as he tried to outbrake Scott Dixon on the outside, and Power had to use the Turn 1 runoff, but he easily recovered and continued his endeavors.

With 12 minutes to go, Romain Grosjean put Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet into third, while teammate Agustin Canapino took a trip into the Turn 9 runoff but was bump-started without the need for a red flag, and kept on the gas to finish the session in the top half of the grid.

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Graham Rahal snipped 0.0447s off Palou’s benchmark time to go top with under 10 minutes to go, while Colton Herta moved into third to become top Andretti Global representative.

Dixon suffered a radio problem, Power lost the push-to-pass display on his dashboard, while Rosenqvist locked up his fronts over the bumps into Turn 9 and slithered into the runoff zone.

Will tire degradation play a major role in today’s race? 👀

Hear how it’s affecting @PatricioOWard and the No. 5 in Warmup.

📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/QfEuFupvg5

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 21, 2024

Worryingly for the opposition, Newgarden was able to clock third-fastest time while running the harder primary tires, although this became fourth when Dixon delivered a fine lap on his penultimate effort to claim second.

Engines fire at 12:38pm local (Pacific) time, and the 27 drivers will get the green flag at 12:45pm.

RESULTS

STARTING LINEUP & TIRE DESIGNATION

Rahal hot shoes Romer and Deonarine impress in Radical Cup Sebring practice

The 2024 Radical Cup North America season officially kicked off Friday at the bumpy and challenging Sebring International Raceway as more than 30 racers hit the track to start a new season. Runoffs winner Chip Romer instantly impressed, Rahal set the new standard with d’Orlando and Missig, and 14-year-old Mayer Deonarine shined in his debut. With the debut of new teams, the efforts of a few teams joining together, and new and returning drivers, the two practice sessions today gave a sneak peek at what is coming this weekend.

Leading the first of two practice sessions was former American LeMans Series and ONE Motorsports driver Jon Field, followed by another Field in Clint Field (ONE Motorsports) as the father and son duo controlled the pace. Behind them, it was SCCA Runoffs winner Romer (ONE Motorsports) in third whose son, Matt, is also competing in the Pro 1500 class, Wayne Williams (ESSES Racing) in fourth, and David Alban (WISKO Racing) who had the pace to solidify himself in the top five. Romer got the best of the Fields in practice two topping the charts in both the Platinum class and overall, with a monster lap. Jon Field led Clint Field for P2 and P3 on the results sheet with 2023 race winner Louis Schriber (WISKO Racing) in fourth, ahead of Platinum class rookie and 2023 Pro 1500 victor Gregg Gorski (WISKO Racing).

The series’ newest team, Graham Rahal Performance (GRP), led the Pro 1500 category as former USF Pro 2000 driver Jordan Missig led Nicholas d’Orlando in a GRP 1-2 result. RySpec Racing’s Danny Dyszelski, who had an uncharacteristic crash to end Thursday’s test session, rebounded Friday morning to finish third as Group-A Racing’s Jack Yang slotted himself just ahead of Cameron Racing with Radical Northwest competitor Evan Slater. D’Orlando bested the rest of the Pro 1500 drivers in practice two as he clocked a lap time that put him just over 0.3s quicker than 2023 vice-champion Dyszelski. Yang remained consistent and in the top five with a drive to P3 on the time sheets with the fastest driver from practice one, Jordan Missig in fourth, narrowly outpacing Slater.

Crown Racing with Apex dominated the Pro 1340 class as multi-time race winner Chris McMurry led teammate Seth Bacon. Sim racer and YouTuber turned road racer Suellio Almeida (RySpec Racing) clocked the third fastest lap of the session with Ben Blander (RYNO with Team Stradale) and Douglas George (RySpec Racing) rounding out the top five. McMurry was only able to complete a few laps in practice two opening the door for Bacon to earn the quickest lap of the session and build some momentum heading into a busy Saturday. Almeida slotted into the second position ahead of 14-year-old Mayer Deonarine (RySpec Racing), Ben Blander, and Brad Sutika (G-Tech Motorsports).

Notes:

This weekend marks the first Radical Cup event for both Romers with Chip in the Platinum class and Matt in Pro 1500. This weekend is only the second time that Chip has been in the car and looked good pacing practice two. Beginning racing in his 40s with karting, Chip immediately entered the Platinum ranks based on his previous race experience. Matt Romer is 27 years old and has come from SCCA FE a couple of years ago as he looks for success in sportscars.
Danny Dyszelski had an uncharacteristic crash at the end of Thursday but his RySpec Racing crew was able to get his car back together and near the top of the charts today.
The much-anticipated debut of the Graham Rahal Performance team is happening this weekend with three drivers including Jordan Missig and Nicolas d’Orlando, who took turns at the top of the Pro 1500 results.
Mayer Deonarine becomes the youngest Radical North America driver ever today by entering the weekend at just 14 years old.

Be sure to tune into the Radical Motorsport YouTube page to follow along and watch the Live Stream for qualifying and three wheel-to-wheel races this weekend.

Weekend Schedule – HERE

Live Stream – HERE

2024 Radical Cup North America Schedule:

Rd 1: March 1-3 // Sebring International Raceway // USAC

Rd 2: April 26-28 // Barber Motorsports Park // INDYCAR

Rd 3: June 6-9 // Road America // INDYCAR

Rd 4: June 21-23 // WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca // INDYCAR

Rd 5: July 19-21 // Streets of Toronto // INDYCAR

Rd 6: Sept 26-28 // Sonoma Raceway // USAC

World Finals: November TBC

Graham Rahal joins Radical Cup North America

Graham Rahal Performance, under the banner of Radical USA Indianapolis, has announced plans to join the Radical Cup North America in 2024. The team will be directed by NTT IndyCar Series veteran driver Graham Rahal, along with team manager Jeff …

“I’m incredibly excited to be joining the Radical Cup grid in 2024,” said Rahal. “Their cars are proven and reliable high-end race cars and I’m confident that through the veteran leadership of our team we’ll be able to provide a highly competitive platform for our drivers. I’m eager to get to work and can’t wait to see our cars hit the track in Sebring!”

A seasoned professional racing crew chief, Frederick adds a strategic edge to the program. His keen understanding of race dynamics, combined with a passion for precision, ensures that Radical Indianapolis is poised for success in every aspect of competition.

With his profound knowledge and unwavering passion for motorsports, Leach will serve as the heartbeat of the team. His technical prowess and commitment to excellence contribute to the fine-tuning of Radical Indianapolis, elevating the team’s performance to unparalleled levels.

“Radical Indianapolis isn’t just a new addition to the Radical Cup racing program, it’s a force to be reckoned with,” Rahal said. “Our team excels in technical expertise, leveraging state-of-the-art engineering, cutting-edge data analysis, and a commitment to driver performance. Every component of the program is meticulously crafted, ensuring that Radical Indianapolis stands out as a beacon of excellence on and off the track.”

The team will announce its drivers at a later date. The 2024 Radical North America season begins at Sebring International Raceway on March 1-3. Follow more team updates at www.radicalindianapolis.com.

Radical Cup North America events are open to local and regional Radical racers of all ages with eligible cars to participate. More information, including links to register for events and obtain licensing, can be found at www.radicalmotorsport.com.

Rahal nearing return to family team

In what must be the most protracted negotiations for the son of a team owner to sign a contract extension at a family-owned team where he’s driven for the last 11 seasons, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing co-owner Bobby Rahal says his son Graham Rahal is close to being confirmed for his 12th season and possibly more. He’ll have Christian Lundgaard and newcomer Pietro Fittipaldi as his teammates.

“We’re OK; I think we have an agreement,” the RLL co-founder and 1986 Indy 500 winner told RACER. “Everybody’s happy with that.”

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With an ever-increasing amount of personal and business interests to look after, Graham Rahal’s new contract with RLL could be his last – at least in a full-time capacity – as the 34-year-old continues to craft the next chapters in his life. Having earned two pole positions across the last four races of 2023 and produced a season-best second at August’s Indianapolis road course race, Rahal’s father says his son’s competitive fire continues to burn bright, which makes staying in the No. 15 Honda an easy decision.

“When you look at the kind of year he had last year, as did Christian, that’s the kind of competitive level that we all want,” said the elder Rahal. “And he wants that and we do too, just as Christian, and now Pietro want. So I think we’ve got a very good lineup of drivers for whatever the circuit may be; ovals or road courses or street courses, and I am excited about the new year.”

Rahal fires warning shot – Portland race setup better than qualifying

Graham Rahal, who captured his second straight road course pole position at Portland Saturday, says his race setup is even stronger than his qualifying setup. The IndyCar veteran edged last year’s pole-winner Scott McLaughlin by 0.033s, just two …

Graham Rahal, who captured his second straight road course pole position at Portland Saturday, says his race setup is even stronger than his qualifying setup.

The IndyCar veteran edged last year’s pole-winner Scott McLaughlin by 0.033s, just two races after outpacing the field on the Indianapolis road course. He’s now confident that his People Ready-backed Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda has the inherent pace to keep him at the front all day Sunday.

“I think our race car is going to be better than our qualifying car,” he said after using fresh primary Firestones to beat the opposition who all ran the softer alternates. “I said that at Indy GP, I think we showed that, and I think here we’re in pretty good position.

“Obviously it was nice to run the blacks [primaries]. I think Firestone has done a good job here. The tire is very, very tricky though, the red and the black, frankly. There’s big deg. The peak is very, very early. I think reds after lap two are pretty well gone.

“This morning [second practice] we decided not to run as many sets as most guys. I think everybody in the field except for the RLL cars used two sets of tires this morning or some used two yesterday [first practice], one this morning. We just used one per session, and we wanted to try to keep a set, and everything worked out today. Thank God for that.

“We’re excited for tomorrow and hopefully we can get People Ready a win, and man, it would just feel good after all these years and close calls to win again.”

Rahal, who is seeking his first race victory since capturing both rounds in the Detroit double-header in 2017, is hopeful that full course cautions do not come into play and that he’ll do the majority of the leading.

“I feel the level of the driver, the talent level has increased so much,” he said. “We don’t get as many yellows anymore, so hopefully tomorrow we can have a really clean start. We can control this race and make it pretty straightforward [on] strategy.

“I think the reds are going to throw a lot of people for a twist tomorrow. Obviously the track temp and everything should be cooler tomorrow, but this afternoon [final practice] will be very interesting to see how the degradation is. This race has always been a red race…and I think we might see some different stuff this year, which is why we were keeping all those blacks, frankly, to be able to go into the race with…

“The hotter the temp, I think it’s going to kill the reds. They saturate very quickly. I think they get very hot, and it creates further problems. But tomorrow is a cooler day, too, and if you’re up front, God bless we have a good start and we can do that. When you’re in that position, I think you can try to take care of them and maintain the reds a little bit better.

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“To do this [110-lap race] in two [pit stops], you’ve got to go, what, 35, 36 laps on your reds? That’s a lot to ask. I’ve already done it this weekend on blacks, so I know the blacks can do it and do it competitively, but it’s a lot to ask of the reds, I think. Most people won’t do it, too, to be clear, but if you tried…”

Rahal, who said he “really struggled with the reds – a lot of what we had to do today was just to get the car to rotate for those specifically” was asked by RACER to explain where and why he felt the primaries were superior.

“To be honest, it’s everywhere. I don’t think the tires are that different. The reason I went to blacks was because, on the very first outing, I was P1 in group one on the blacks, and I did like a 58.30s or something, so my red pace wasn’t much quicker at all. That’s why at the end I just felt, ‘Hey, I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that again on reds,’ and so I went for the blacks.

“I think that the front tire gets really heat-saturated and it gives up. It’s like [Turns] 10, 11 – 10 you’re flying, 11, and then you get to 12 and the tire is just hot and it gives up and is pretty lazy.

“To get it to rotate, you’re doing a lot of stuff that’s not very good for the race. Like I said, I think we’ve just got to go back on that a little bit.”

Asked if there was anything particularly responsible for his new-found pace in qualifying – this was only his fifth pole in 250-plus IndyCar races – Rahal explained: “Christian [Lundgaard, teammate] came up to me and said, ‘Oh, you’re the best coach I’ve ever been around,’ and that’s what hit me, and I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to close this…book and we’re going to move on!’

“Christian has done an exceptional job of bringing in speed, and you saw last year he struggled with race craft. He could be fast, but on race day I was always confident that we could get him. He’s come back this year, and not only has he had the speed, but his race craft has been amazing. Typically he’s been able to replicate what we’ve been able to do in the past, which is to go forward on Sundays and put himself in a good spot. A lot of this comes down to just being pushed hard.

“But again, you can be pushed hard. It doesn’t mean that the result is going to happen. You can feel the pressure. You can feel that you want to go faster, you want to get a pole, but ultimately all the pieces of the puzzle have to be together, and that’s what’s kind of nice right now is it just feels like the whole organization has come together and the engineering staff has done an amazing job, the mechanics who have had their backs up against the wall and dealt with a lot the last few years have stuck with it, so they deserve it.

“A culmination of all those things is equaling some results.”