Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
105th Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
CARB DAY NOTES/QUOTES – May 28, 2021
INDY 500 CARB DAY IS IN THE BOOKS AND THE TEAM IS READY TO DEFEND THEIR 2020 INDIANAPOLIS 500 VICTORY
1) Scott Dixon 228.323 mph
9) Takuma Sato 225.701 mph
19) Graham Rahal 224.872 mph
27) Santino Ferrucci 223.884 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Carb day has come to an end for us and it was pretty good for the United Rentals car; I thought it was exceptionally fast. We had pretty high downforce early on and were able to work our way through the field quite quickly. Once we got to the front with Dixon and those guys we needed to figure out the trim level that we could go to so the very last run we did that, and yeah, the car understeered a little bit more, we struggled a little bit more, but we know how to fix it – it’s simply a COP thing. I feel good, I do, I feel good, I feel really good. I see a lot of guys up at the top of the charts that I was around that their cars didn’t look quite as good in traffic as us so I’m excited by the prospects. I think there’s a good chance that we’re able to get to the front and be able to go race at the end of this thing.”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Panasonic / PeopleReady Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Carb day was very cold! I think it’s just below 60 degrees so it’s very cold, but the weather prediction on race day is 70ish so still cooler than a normal 500 but it was good to get the data under the very cold conditions with wind and steering. The track and downforce demand is a bit different. It was a tough run, but I think we checked quite a few things between the 15 and 45 car so I think we collected quite good data. Now we need to gather everything and pick the best of the best Sunday.”
SANTINO FERRUCCI, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Today was an interesting day for us. Our Hy-Vee 45 definitely picked up some speed. We got in the pack and definitely learned a lot on our car. We made a ton of changes and I’m feeling really good for Sunday. And then we got to lead a couple of laps in the train and nobody could really pass us so I think that shows well for our Honda-powered Hy-Vee car. I can’t wait to get back out there.”
NEXT UP: The 105th Indy 500 will take place on Sunday, May 30 and will be televised live from 11-4 p.m. ET on NBC. Get a behind-the-scenes look at preparations for the 105th Indianapolis 500 via the Digital Ally Garage Camera on www.rahal-staging.ktnlcqy7-liquidwebsites.com.