Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
MAVTV 500 – Auto Club Speedway
Verizon IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – Friday, August 29, 2014
RAHAL EARNED HIS BEST STARTING POSITION AT AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY OF 10TH FOR THE MAVTV 500
POLE: Helio Castroneves 2-lap avg. speed of 218.540 mph (L1: 32.8576, L2: 33.0342)
10th: Graham Rahal 2-lap avg. speed of 216.299 mph (L1: 31.1869, L2: 33.3877)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 National Guard Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think our run was good. In the practice earlier, our car struggled in the heat. But at night, the other night in the test, I felt our car was really strong compared to those I was around. It’s hot here obviously for qualifying; everybody knows that the track temp is probably the hottest that we’ve seen. The wind was picking up and it made it tricky in Turns 1 and 2. And in Turns 3 and 4 it was pretty loose because the wind was on the nose (of the car). But our National Guard car is good. I thought the 17.0 (qualifying lap 1) was strong and on the second lap I had to lift too much in Turn 1 but I think at night we’ll have a pretty good race car. We’ve just got to do well tomorrow. Its not only the last race for us with the National Guard, it’s also their last race in Indy car racing and we want to make them proud.”
RLL AT FONTANA: The 2014 MAVTV 500 will mark the 13th IndyCar race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) here. The team was entered in seven CART/Champ Car races from 1997-2003 but the 2003 event was cancelled due to wildfires. In total, the team competed in six CART/Champ Car races (all scheduled as 500-mile races; five run as such) and six Indy Racing League/IndyCar Series events (2002-2005, 2012-2013). The team won ONE RACE (Jimmy Vasser 2002), made TWO front row starts (2nd: Max Papis 1999, Kenny Brack 2003), earned FOUR podiums (2nd – Papis 1999 & 2001; 3rd – Vitor Meira 2005), and led 407 laps (chart available). The team entered cars for Bobby Rahal (1997-1998), Bryan Herta (1997-1999), Max Papis (1999-2001), Kenny Brack (2000-2001, 2003), Jimmy Vasser (2002 – both CCWS & IRL), Michel Jourdain (2002-2003), Buddy Rice (2004-2005), Vitor Meira (2004-2005), Danica Patrick (2005), Takuma Sato (2012), Graham Rahal (2013) and James Jakes (2013). The No. 15 National Guard entry for Graham Rahal will bring that total to 23 Indy car entries in this race.
NEXT UP: NBC Sports Network will begin coverage at 9:00 p.m. ET Saturday and the MAVTV 500 will take the Green Flag at 7:20 p.m. PT. Streaming video and Timing and Scoring information is available for all practice sessions from www.indycar.com and includes commentary by the IMS Radio Network.
PHOTO AND VIDEO AVAILABLE: Media members who register on the IndyCar Series media site have access to photography as well as video. Register for access to photos at: http://www.indycarmfedia.com/pages/ApplyforAccess