Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Verizon IndyCar Series
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – August 2, 2015
STEAK ‘N SHAKE DRIVER RAHAL EARNED HIS THIRD CAREER INDYCAR WIN AND SECOND OF THE SEASON AT THE HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO TO CLOSE ON SERIES POINTS LEADER MONTOYA
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Steak ‘n Shake Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Honestly, if I’d won a lot of races in my career but I never won this one, I think I’d be pretty disappointed. For me and the Steak ‘n Shake team, that win means more to me than anything else, means more than my first win to me. This is the best day. Strategy just worked today. Sometimes things just go your way and today was one of those days. For the Rahals, when it goes back to Jim Trueman and everyone else, this track has been pretty special to us for so, so many years. Jim was the man who founded this place, got this place going. He was also the one who got my dad started in racing. It’s come full circle. I used to go to the Steak ‘n Shake about 5 to 8 miles from here and play around, eat a lot of cheese fries and stuff. It’s funny how this whole thing has come together. I’ve got the Buckeye helmet; this is all amazing. The tires were awesome; reds, blacks, it didn’t matter for me. Used reds were good for me, particularly at the end, I was just able to just absolutely gap anyone I needed to at the end. I didn’t have any push-to-passes left on that last restart so I was pretty nervous (Justin) Wilson would get me. I can’t thank all the fans enough. The crowd today was absolutely unbelievable. This hometown crowd was amazing and I appreciate the support so much. I remember standing on the podium with my dad here way back, I think it was his last year (racing here). There is a picture of me on the podium with him as a little kid. I was joking a couple of days ago that I have been on the podium at Mid-Ohio before but never on my own. There is no better way to go than to get to the top step I guess.”
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT MID-OHIO … The Honda Indy 200 marked the 18th Indy car event for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) here. The team also competed in the Atlantic Series race in 2003 with Danica Patrick and has competed in ALMS races here in 2007 and from 2009-2012. The highest IndyCar finish for the team here is today’s win by Graham Rahal. In addition the team has two third place finishes (Rahal 1997, 1998) and the highest start is pole (Herta 1997). Another front row start came in 1999 (Herta; 2nd). Prior to the 2015 event, the team prepared a total of 27 Indy car entries for drivers Bobby Rahal (1992-98), Mike Groff (1994), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Jimmy Vasser (2002), Michel Jourdain Jr. (2002-03) Ryan Hunter-Reay (2007-2008), Takuma Sato (2012), Graham Rahal (2013-2014) and James Jakes (2013). The team has earned TWO podiums (3rd – Rahal 1997, 1998), 10 top-five’s and 14 top-10 finishes at the track. The No. 15 entry for Graham Rahal brought the Indy car total to 28 entries in 2015.
NEXT UP: The series will take the next two weekends off before the ABC Supply 500 on August 23.
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