Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Rainguard Water Sealers 600 – Texas Motor Speedway
Verizon IndyCar Series
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – Saturday, June 10, 2017
RAHAL FINISHED FOURTH IN AN ACTION-PACKED RAINGUARD WATER SEALERS 600 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AFTER CLEARING MANY CRASHES
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Mi-Jack / Bobby Rahal Automotive Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a crazy night with a lot of guys taking a lot of chances. After Indy and after this race, drivers need to have to take a deep breath and realize that this is dangerous stuff. I’m glad that our car doesn’t have a ding on it. We weren’t the prettiest thing out here tonight but the Mi-Jack boys worked very hard and I’m pleased with the end result. We raised a lot of money for Turns for Troops and our United Rentals initiative. I would have liked to have won it and I actually felt like I had the car to do it but I struggled with track position all night and I got lucky to not get involved in all those crashed. I’m obviously disappointed in myself to stall on that last stop but I’m probably lucky because I cleared the incident right after that. We got lucky to miss and avoid those crashes because all of them were right in front of me. I’m looking forward to Road America, which should be a good one for us. Coming off three top five’s in a row, hopefully we can go have another good points race with a good result.”
- FAST FACTS: Graham drove to a 4th place finish after avoiding many crashes in an action-packed 248-lap race that saw a Red Flag stop to clear the track after a crash that collected eight cars and later, competition yellows for mandatory pit stops for new tires, among other events. Near the end of the race, Rahal pitted from fifth place on Lap 225/248 during a competition yellow and mandatory stop but stalled leaving the pits and returned to the track in ninth. He was in seventh place when Sato and Dixon made contact and collected other cars with four laps to go. The race ended under caution with Rahal in fourth place… In his previous nine races here, his best start came in 2012 of third and best finish is his win in 2016. The June 11, 2016 race was postponed until June 12 due to rain which again postponed the race to August 27 after the field complete 71 of 248 scheduled laps before rain came again. Rahal had qualified 13th for the race and was in 12th when it was halted. On August 27, he restarted on Lap 72 and quickly moved to sixth place. He maintained a top-five position the majority of the time except after pitting and never was lower than eighth. He ran second many times and only led once – the final lap – and won by a margin of victory of 0.0080-of a second in what is the fifth-closest finish in Indy car history and the closest finish at Texas Motor Speedway. In 2015, he qualified sixth and finished 15th. In 2014, he qualified 21st and finished 12th and in 2013 he qualified 19th and finished 21st after struggling with the handling of his race car. He qualified third in 2012, led 27 laps and looked close to earning what would have been his second series victory but a slight brush of the wall with two laps to go forced him to settle for second place with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing (SCCGR). He qualified 20th for the first of two heat races in 2011 and finished ninth with SCCGR. He drew the fourth starting spot for Race 2 in 2011 and finished 30th. He did not compete in Texas in 2010 during his partial season of competition. He qualified 12th with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) in 2009 but retired in 22nd place after contact. In 2008, he qualified 18th and finished 11th with NHLR… Rahal has a total of 283 points and trails leader Scott Dixon by 43 (326), second place Simon Pagenaud by 30 (313), third place Takuma Sato by 29 (312), fourth place Helio Castroneves by 22 (305), and fifth place Will Power by three (286).
NEXT UP: The series will take a well-deserved weekend off before reconvening for Round 10 at Road America for the Kohler Grand Prix June 25.
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