Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Verizon IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – August 1, 2015
STEAK ‘N SHAKE DRIVER RAHAL QUALIFIED 13TH FOR THE HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO AFTER A CHALLENGING ROUND
POLE: Scott Dixon 1:04.5814 / 125.869 mph (Round 3; Group 2)
13th: Graham Rahal 1:05.9650 / 123.229 mph (Round 1; Group 1)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Steak ‘n Shake Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Sage (Karam; qualified 19th) cost us that lap which would have been second or third quickest and we would have advanced to Round 2. The Steak ‘n Shake car was really good, we got it fixed for qualifying. I caught him and it absolutely just killed the entire momentum and I lost the entire lap. It’s just a shame, this is a huge, huge race for us and we’re going to start 13th. We’ve got to win this. I’m not saying it can’t be done from there but I definitely think we had a car good enough to be in the top six. With everybody that we are competing against, it’s a shame when back markers like that get in the way of the championship. I’m pretty frustrated. Obviously this is a home crowd, home race and we want to get a win for Steak ‘n Shake and Honda. We’ve got some work to do tomorrow.”
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT MID-OHIO … The Honda Indy 200 will mark 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 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 will bring the Indy car total to 28 entries in 2015.
NEXT UP: The morning warm-up will take place tomorrow from 9:45-10:15 a.m. ET and the 90-lap race will take the Green Flag at 2:07 p.m. The Honda Indy 200 will be televised live on CNBC beginning at 1:30 PM ET Sunday, August 2.
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