NTT INDYCAR SERIES
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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Pre-Race Notes
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Streets of Detroit
Round 7 of 17 in the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES
DATE: May 30 – June 1, 2025
PRACTICE BROADCASTS: Live on FS2 on Friday from 3:00–4:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1 on Saturday from 9:00–10:00 a.m. ET and live on FS1 on Sunday from 9:30–10:00 a.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).
QUALIFYING BROADCAST: Live on FS1, the IRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis) from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET Saturday.
RACE BROADCAST: Live on FOX Sunday, June 1 from 12:30-3:00 p.m. ET. And also on IRN and Sirius XM
160.
TRACK LAYOUT: 1.7-mile, 9-turn temporary street course
RACE LENGTH: 100 laps / 170 miles
2024 WINNER: Scott Dixon
2024 POLESITTER: Colton Herta (97.808 mph)
RAHAL’S BEST DETROIT START / FINISH: 1st in 2017 in Race 1 / 1st in Race 1 and Race 2 in 2017 – both at Belle Isle; will be his 21st race in Detroit
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH: 5 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023 August, Portland (road) / 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017
DEFRANCESCO’S BEST DETROIT START / FINISH: 17th / 12th – both on the downtown course in 2023; will be his third INDYCAR race in Detroit
DEFRANCESCO’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH: 5th at the IMS road course (August 2023; 2025) / 11th at the Indy 500 (2025)
FOSTER’S BEST DETROIT START / FINISH: First INDYCAR race here; in three INDY NXT start’s here he has THREE POLES (2024, 2023 – Race 1, 2023 – Race 2) / his top finish is an INDY NXT WIN in 2024
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH: 3rd at IMS (road) 2025 / 11th at the Indy GP
RLL’S BEST START / FINISH AT DETROIT: 1st – Graham Rahal (2017, Race 1) / 3 wins: Bobby Rahal (1992 inaugural Belle Isle event), Graham Rahal (2017, Race 1 & Race 2)
NEWS & NOTES:
DETROIT DOMINATION IN 2017 & PODIUM FINISHES FIVE OF THE PAST 12 EVENTS IN DETROIT
The 2025 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix will mark the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ 15th visit to Detroit, and the 13th since 2008. The Motor City hosted Indy car racing from 1989-91 in Downtown Detroit. The race moved to Belle Isle Park from 1992-2001 and 2007-2008 and returned from 2012-2022. The 2022 event marked the 22nd year for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) to compete at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. This will be the team’s third year to compete downtown and their 33rd race in Detroit overall. IMSA’s GTP class was added to the event schedule in 2024 so it will be a doubleheader weekend for RLL with Saturday’s race for BMW M Team RLL’s two-car program.
The team’s highest Indy car start of pole came in 2017 with Graham Rahal. Bobby and Graham Rahal have earned a combined total of three wins for the team here. Bobby won the inaugural race on Belle Isle in 1992, and Graham is the only driver to have won both races on the same weekend, which he did in 2017. In total, the team has earned eight podiums (2nd – G. Rahal 2014, Jakes 2013 & Max Papis 2000), (3rd – G. Rahal 2015, Takuma Sato 2019) 12 top-five finishes and 24 top-10’s here (chart available). Prior to 2025, the team prepared a total of 51 entries for drivers such as Bobby Rahal (1992-1998), Mike Groff (1993-94), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Kenny Brack (2000-01), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2007-08) Takuma Sato (2012, 2018-2019. ‘21), Graham Rahal (2013-2019, ’21-24), James Jakes (2013), Oriol Servia (2017), Santino Ferrucci (’21), Jack Harvey (’22-23), Christian Lundgaard (’22-24) and Pietro Fittipaldi (2024). The No. 15 JJ Curran Crane Honda entry for Graham Rahal, the No. 30 EVTEC Honda for Devlin DeFrancesco and the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda for Louis Foster will bring that total to 54 in 2025.
GRAHAM AIMS FOR THIRD WIN IN DETROIT
The event will mark Graham Rahal’s 21st race in Detroit. His father Bobby won the inaugural race on Belle Isle in 1992 and Graham won the doubleheader there in 2017. In 2024, he qualified 14th, served a six-grid engine penalty and started 20th. He gained five spots on the opening lap to run 15th after a multi-car crash blocked part of the track. Alternate tire strategies and mixed conditions due to medium-to-heavy sprinkles midway through the race, coupled with eight caution periods made for an eventful day and he ultimately finished 15th. Highlights in Detroit include two fifth place finishes in the doubleheader in 2021 and in 2019, he earned two seventh place finishes. Rahal’s most successful INDYCAR race weekend came in Detroit in 2017. In Dual 1 in 2017, Rahal earned his first pole since Kansas 2009 and led a dominating 55 of 70 laps en route to his fifth series victory and first ever from pole. He handily held the lead with the exception of pit cycles and built a gap of more than 13 seconds at one point before he ultimately won by a six-second margin over Scott Dixon. For Dual 2, Rahal set the second fastest time in his qualifying group 2 to Sato to start third. In the race, he passed Hunter-Reay on Lap 8 and closed the gap to pole sitter and leader Sato but could not pass. Sato pit one lap earlier than Rahal, who took the lead on Lap 23 before he made his first of two stops on Lap 24 and returned to the track behind Newgarden who was on a three-stop strategy. Once Newgarden pit on Lap 29, Rahal took over the lead and steadily built his gap to second place to 16 seconds over Sato before his second and final stop on Lap 47. He then proceeded to build an 18 second gap over second place before he caught traffic. That reduced his lead to new second place runner Newgarden to 5.5 seconds before a red flag came out for the car of Pigot, who experienced a smoky end. All race cars were stopped in pit lant for approximately 10 minutes while the track was cleared and an attempt to remove marbles was made. The race resumed with a two-lap shootout and Rahal utilized his 57 seconds of Push to Pass over Newgarden’s 36 to keep the lead on the restart before he was able to pull a slight gap before the checkered flag to become the first winner of both races in Detroit. In total, he led 41 of 70 laps. His other podiums in the race came in 2014 with second place in Dual 1 and third place in Dual 2 in 2015. Overall, he has two wins, four podiums and one pole in 20 races here. After qualifying second for the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS — the previous races on a road or street course, Rahal is looking forward to returning to the streets of Detroit to attempt to carry the momentum over.
“Last year we made big gains over the year before in Detroit and were significantly more competitive. We saw some promise this year in St. Pete with our street course package so we’re hoping that continues to progress in Detroit. It would be great to have a solid weekend coming off the Indy 500. The hybrid will be a new element for Detroit. We’ll probably use it on the long straight, a little hit of it on the corner before the pits and a little bit on the front straight. We’re getting into the heart of the season and want to build a little momentum.”
DEFRANCESCO’S PREVIOUS CAREER BEST FINISH IN DETROIT
Prior to finishing 11th in Sunday’s 2025 Indy 500, Devlin’s previous best career finish was 12th at Detroit in 2023. He has competed in two INDYCAR races in Detroit – in 2023, he raced on the new circuit in downtown where he started 17th and finished 12th and the 2022 race on Belle Isle where he started 21st and finished 18th. After matching his best career start of fifth at the Sonsio Grand Prix on May 10, he is looking forward to seeing how much of that performance will carry over to Detroit.
“The team was quite fast in Detroit last year with Christian and I’m optimistic we can continue that. I don’t see why we can’t carry on the momentum that we had from May when all three of us were in the Fast Six at the GP at IMS. We had a strong showing, but an unfortunate pit stop hurt us there. We’ll take the positives of both the Grand Prix and the Indy 500 on to Detroit and reflect on the things we should do better and keep improving as a team. I recall from racing on the streets in Detroit in 2023 that it’s very bumpy and not forgiving. I will spend time on the simulator, going through onboard video and doing everything we need to do to prepare before we get to town.”
FOSTER’S POLE STRING IN DETROIT
Louis has competed in three INDY NXT races on the downtown streets of Detroit and started from pole in all three. In 2024, he won the race from pole. And in Race 1 of a doubleheader weekend in Detroit in 2023, he started from pole but contact limited his finish to 19th.. In Race 2, he finished third after starting from pole. He earned his top series start to date of third place at the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS and is looking forward to the challenge of driving an Indy car on the tight, bumpy circuit.
“I’ve gone well at Detroit in the past. I like street circuits and the city of Detroit; it’s always been pretty kind to me. I’m looking forward to the weekend and turning right again. I think it should be a good weekend for us. The team was strong there last year so we have a good foundation to build on. Now that we’ve done two street circuits, I have a feel for the car and what I need to drive it so I’m feeling quite confident going into this one. We’ve put a lot of effort in the last couple of weeks, we’re all in a groove, all in a zone. I think we’re going to be stronger and stronger as each round comes up. This is definitely the bumpiest track on the calendar which makes it very challenging for the drivers and engineers to set up the car perfectly but we should be able to roll out with a good package and get some serious points on the board.”
THE POINT STANDINGS
Graham Rahal is ranked 12th in the series standings with 105 points. Louis Foster is 21st with 67 points and Devlin DeFrancesco is ranked 24th with 64 points.
