All Four Team Cars Are Locked Into the Indy 500; Sato Will Re-Qualify for a Top-12 Start Sunday & DeFrancesco to Start 18th, Foster 22nd & Rahal 30th

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

109th Running of the Indianapolis 500

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – May 17, 2025

ALL FOUR TEAM CARS ARE LOCKED INTO THE INDIANAPOLIS 500; SATO WILL RE-QUALIFY FOR HIS TOP-12 SPOT ON SUNDAY AND DEFRANCESCO WILL START 18TH, FOSTER 22ND AND RAHAL 30TH IN THE RACE

1) Alex Palou 4-lap avg. speed of 233.043 mph

9) Takuma Sato 4-lap avg. speed of 232.415 mph

18) Devlin DeFrancesco 4-lap avg. speed of 231.575 mph

22) Louis Foster 4-lap avg. speed of 231.058 mph

30) Graham Rahal 4-lap avg. speed of 229.863 mph

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Two of the guys that ran there at the end – Rinus and Marco – are two of the guys I respect the most around there. Both guys have been exceptionally fast and extremely talented at this place. You just never know what you’re going to get here. I think we improved our car. I’ve got to tip my hat to the No. 15 United Rentals guys, but this day didn’t start well. The last couple of days have been tough but we found a lot and improved a lot. Had we gotten another shot at it, I think we would have gone faster but the reality of the situation is our guys kept their cool today and kept their heads down. I’ll say this, that beer is going to taste good tonight. All day I was praying that something like this would happen. Thanks to the team for making it happen. Also, a tip of the cap to Honda and HRC because they gave us a good bullet this year and I can guarantee it made a big difference for us.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his 18th Indy 500. His best qualifying position in the Indy 500 is fourth in 2009 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and best finish is third with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in 2011 and RLL in 2020. Was bumped in qualifying for the 2023 Indy 500 by then-teammate Harvey but competed in the race as a replacement for the injured Stefan Wilson and finished 22nd after mechanical issues on the starting grid. Detailed Indy 500 information available upon request… Has SIX INDYCAR SERIES wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and FIVE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2023 – IMS road, Portland) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is 13th in INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 92.

DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, No. 30 Dogecoin Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Qualifying is done for us for the Indy 500 and we line up 18th for the race and I’m happy with that. Obviously, we want more and I think we had potential to be in the Fast 12 today but you really have to nail every little detail at this place and really execute on all angles. Until Lap 4, we were there (top-12) but we just had too much degradation and picked up too much understeer but everyone has worked really well on the No. 30 Dogecoin Honda. I’m appreciative of Ash (Ashley, race engineer) for all the work the boys have put in this month. I think we can race our way forward from there.”

FAST FACTS: This will be his third Indy 500 and his best start in the race. His previous best Indy 500 start is 24th in 2022 and his best finish is 13th in 2024. After one year away from the series, DeFrancesco matched his best INDYCAR start of fifth place in the 2025 Sonsio Grand Prix at the previous race – for his second fifth place start on the IMS road course after also starting fifth here in 2023. He is ranked 25th in the INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 44 points.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a good day overall. After our second attempt we’re walking out with a 22nd place start which is pretty strong I think. We had been struggling a little bit on the No 45 Desnuda Honda with a little bit of straight line speed the last few days so definitely big props to my teammates since all of us are locked in, with Takuma up in P9 going again on Sunday.”

FAST FACTS: Will be Foster’s first Indy 500. His best series start to date is third at the previous race – the Sonsio Grand Prix and his best finish is 11th – also at the Sonsio GP… He is ranked in 23rd place in the point standings with 49.

TAKUMA SATO, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We almost lost confidence and kind of panicked. The practice session in the morning kind of indicated that the car had a balance issue that we really needed to fix and there was no more practice and we had to go straight into qualifying. I’m really proud of the 75 crew and engineers that made this happen. I’m so happy, so relieved that it was a strong run. Now we built up confidence and the second attempt was another great run where we saw that the potential speed was there. I had to lift on the last two laps but I think we had a good data so it was a productive day. Huge congrats to the whole team for being able to qualifying for the top-12 on Sunday. It was great teamwork. The first time I was able to do four laps flat (on the power) was my four laps in qualifying. I wasn’t able to do so on Fast Friday and this morning it was virtually impossible, so I lost confidence, but this is the name of the sport. You really need to build character and have a supportive group around you. I had to nail it and they gave me a good car to do so. I am very proud of the team.”

FAST FACTS: The two-time Indy 500 champion started 10th for his 15th Indy 500 in 2024 and sixth with the team and finished 14th. He competed for RLL full time in 2012 and from 2018-2021 and won the Indy 500 with RLL in 2020. He has earned six NTT INDYCAR SERIES wins, four of which have come with RLL, including the team’s second Indy 500 win in 2020. Prior to that, Sato competed in oval races with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023. Other Indy 500 highlights with RLL include the 2012 where he was alongside eventual winner Franchitti in Turn 1 on the final lap but his race ended due to contact after he was squeezed down on the apron and lost control of his race car. He also finished third for RLL in 2019 and was a contender in the final laps… Has SIX INDYCAR SERIES wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval, 2018 – Portland road, 2019 – Barber road, Gateway oval; 2020 Indy 500 ) and 10 poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval; 2019 Barber road, Texas oval; 2020 St. Louis – Race 2).

NEXT UP: Qualifying will take place tomorrow from 4:00-7:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on FOX.