Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
Verizon IndyCar Series
RACE 2 NOTES/QUOTES – June 4, 2017
RAHAL DOMINATED WITH BACK-TO-BACK WINS AT THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX DOUBLEHEADERS; A PIT PENALTY LIMITED SERVIA TO 19TH PLACE
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 SoldierStrong / TurnsforTroops.com Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Buckeyes like to win in this state. It was just a good weekend – thanks to the crowd, thanks to Roger Penske, Bud Denker and everybody for putting this on. It’s a tremendous event. And thank Mother Nature – we’ve never had this kind of luck around here. It was a great day, I’m really proud to get another win for the United Rentals guys, Turns For Troops, PennGrade, Steak n’ Shake, Hyatt, Fifth Third Bank, Honda – everybody that makes this possible. It’s a special day for us. We’re the first one to win the double (in Detroit) and it means a lot. It feels great, trust me. Any day you can beat a Penske driver it means a lot. After the race and lead we had, it blew up in the last two laps and the red flag comes out. I’m glad we came out on top. I didn’t think he (Josef) had anything for us as long as we could clear traffic. Our lead went down from 18 seconds to six or so just due to traffic but in the clear I could gap them again. I knew it would be tough but I thought we could hold him off. The marbles were bad so those (last two) laps were ugly, they were ugly! But we won and it feels great. All around it was just a spectacular weekend for us.”
- FAST FACTS: Rahal set the second fastest time in his qualifying group to qualify third. In the race, he passed Hunter-Reay on Lap 8 and closed the gap to polesitter and leader Sato but could not pass. Sato pit one lap earlier than Rahal, who took the lead on Lap 23 before he made his first of two stops on Lap 24 and returned to the track behind Newgarden who was on a three-stop strategy. Once Newgarden pit on Lap 29, Rahal took over the lead and steadily built his gap to second place to 16 second over Sato before his second and final stop on Lap 47. He then proceeded to build an 18 second gap over second place before he caught traffic. That reduced his lead to new second place runner Newgarden to 5.5 seconds before a red flag came out for the car of Pigot, who experienced a smoky end. All race cars were stopped in pit lane for approximately 10 minutes while the track as cleared and an attempt to remove marbles was made. The race resumed with a two lap shootout and Rahal utilized his 57 seconds of Push to Pass over Newgarden’s 36 to keep the lead on the restart before he was able to pull a slight gap before the checkered flag to become the first winner of both races in Detroit. In total, he led 41 of 70 laps… Rahal led a dominating 55 of 70 laps en route to his fifth series victory yesterday and first from pole in Race 1 of the Detroit Grand Prix. Earlier in the day he earned his third series pole and first since Kansas 2009. He handily held the lead with the exception of pit cycles and built a gap of more than 13 seconds at one point before he ultimately won by a six-second margin over Scott Dixon… The event was Rahal’s 11th here. In his previous 10 races here, his best finishes have come in 2014 with second place in Dual 1 and third place in Dual 2 in 2015. Last year he finished fourth in Dual 1 and started seventh in Dual 2. He was on track for the pace laps when an issue with his brakes surfaced so he pitted and the team checked the car. As the field took the green, a multi-car accident happened and the caution flag came out. Rahal was sent back on track and stayed out until the pits opened then returned to the pits so the team could bleed the brakes. He returned to the track after the issue was fixed and had to catch up to the field but was able to stay on the lead lap due to the caution. Alternate strategy played out until he was running fifth as others cycled through their final stops. The team called him into the pits but before he could get to the entry, a caution flag was brought out on Lap 50/70 for Hawksworth’s crash and the pits were closed thus negating him to take advantage of the strategy that had worked out thus far. Only four cars had yet to pit, including Rahal who was now third behind Bourdais and Kimball. He held the position through the restart and went on to take the lead on Lap 59/70 before he pitted for a splash of fuel only and ultimately finished 11th… Rahal is sixth in the series point standings with a total of 251 and is only 51 points behind leader Scott Dixon (303).
ORIOL SERVIA, No. 16 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m very happy for the team and Graham and very disappointed in our day. We didn’t get the one lap in qualifying after the red flag and in the race we got a drive through penalty for speeding that we cannot understand. We looked through the data and think there may have been a problem with the cruise control because we never sped so, without a yellow, there was no way to recover from that. It was a tough day at the office but I’m really happy with the team and the work they have done. Graham had a dominating weekend and I’m very happy for him.”
- FAST FACTS: Servia had another challenging day after he was unable to complete a qualifying lap in the already abbreviated session after a Red Flag limited running and he started 20th. A drive through penalty for speeding in the pits hindered his attempt to get up front and he ultimately finished 19th… Yesterday Servia started the race in 22nd place and used a quick pace and alternate pit strategy to work his way into the top-10. After pitting from eighth place he served a pit speed penalty that dropped him to the back and he ultimately finished 20th… Today’s race was Servia’s fifth Indy car start here and and his return to the track for the first time since 2012. In four Indy Car races, his best start is third in 2008 with KVRT and best finish is third in 2000 with PPI, which was his first career podium finish. In four Indy car starts, he has a third (2000, PPI), fourth (2008, KVRT), fifth (2012, Panther/DRR) and sixth (2001, Sigma) place finish. He also competed in two Indy Lights races here in 1998 and 1999 for Dorricott Racing where his best start – pole — and best finish of second place came in 1999.
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT DETROIT … Graham Rahal brought the team its 25th victory today with back-to-back wins in Detroit.
NEXT UP: Graham Rahal will return to Texas Motor Speedway as the defending champion for the Rain Guard Water Sealers 600 on Saturday, June 10 after winning the 2016 race in the closest finish in track history.
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