Rahal, Lundgaard and Fittipaldi Finished 10th, 11th and 16th in the XPEL GP at Road America

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

XPEL Grand Prix at Road America

NTT INDYCAR SERIES – Round 8 of 17

RACE NOTES / QUOTES – Sunday, June 9, 2024

RAHAL, LUNDGAARD AND FITTIPALDI FINISHED 10TH, 11TH AND 16TH IN THE XPEL GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Hendrickson Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was an awesome day; it was fun. Physically I felt good; I felt like I could attack the whole time which was awesome. Yesterday in the rain, it was a bummer to not have a better result in qualifying because I felt all three of us had solid cars. Today, I thought we had a wonderful race car and everybody on the No. 15 Hendrickson Honda did a great job. It’s nice to get a top-10. Top 10’s in this sport are hard-earned every time. I feel like we should legitimately have six of them this year. It’s a nice boost for us to get this result. The car was great today. I think everybody in the engineering department did a wonderful job and the guys in the pits did a great job. The stops were super solid. After getting spun on the start, I didn’t really know what to think but right away those first few green laps, I could tell that we had speed and were able to pass guys right away, so it was awesome.”

FAST FACTS: Started the race on the alternate tire and planned to take an early caution to switch to the more durable primary tires. That opportunity came after a Lap 1, Turn 1 incident set off by the top-three cars which contributed to other contact through the field, include Ghiotto hitting Rahal and putting him in the gravel. Ghiotto was given an avoidable contact penalty for the action. Once he got back on track, he pitted to replace his damaged tires. After a total of four stops and three caution periods, Rahal took the checkered flag in 10th place and was presented with the Josten’s Biggest Mover award for gaining 14 positions…. Was his 11th Indy car race here and 15th overall. Last year, he started 14th, ran as high as 10th and finished 11th in the race. On his first of three stops, fuel sprayed from the top of the fuel rig and extended his stop, which cost him multiple positions. He charged his way back up the field and finished 11th in his 10th Champ / Indy car race here and 14th overall. In his previous 10 Indy car races here, his highlights include two third place finishes (2007, 2016), a fourth place (2019), sixth (2018) and two eighth places (2017, 2022). In 2022, he started 22nd and utilized the third caution to pit early which later helped him run as high as second and gain valuable track position. He was running seventh in the final restart with three laps to go and lost a spot to McLaughlin and took the checkered flag in eighth place. A full list of results is available upon request… He moved up one position in the series point standings to 15th with a total of 121.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 5-hour ENERGY Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We struggled on a stop when a wheel nut was lost and that cost us. All in all, the car was pretty decent. We had a bit more downforce than other cars, so it was hard to overtake so when we were in clean air, we were super quick and after the stop that we had the issue, we got stuck behind a group of cars which took me a while to overtake. We got by them, but we ended up losing a lot of time which could have put us a few spots better. All in all, a decent recovery.”

FAST FACTS: He started 25th and finished 16th in his first race here. His grandfather, Emerson, won here in 1986, 1988 and 1992 while Christian Fittipaldi, son of Pietro’s grand uncle Wilson Fittipaldi, earned his first series win here in 1999. He moved up one position in series standings to 20th place with 81 points.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a long, tough race. The car balance was nothing like it was this morning in the warmup. We tried something this morning for the warmup that we didn’t run on Friday in Practice 1 so I think that changed the car a lot for the race and I had a pretty inconsistent balance which is why I made a lot of mistakes in the race. I didn’t really understand what the balance really was, so it was a task. We will keep working together to improve. I look forward to returning to Laguna Seca.”

FAST FACTS: Started the race from 13th place on primary tires and moved into eight on the opening lap. He ran a three-stop strategy and finished 11th in his third race here. Was his third race here. In the previous road course race this season at IMS, he qualified second and finished third. Last year here, he started seventh, ran as high as fifth and finished seventh. In his debut at the track in 2022, he started 13th, conserved his fuel while maintaining a strong pace and cycled into the lead for his second of three stops on Lap 30 of 55 and went on to take the checkered flag in 10th place. His best series finish is second place at the IMS road course in July 2022… He maintained his 11th place rank in series point standings with 141.

NEXT UP: All three drivers will participate in the INDYCAR Open Test at the Milwaukee Mile on Tuesday. The team will also test with Graham Rahal at Nashville Speedway on Friday, June 21.