Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES / QUOTES – March 10, 2024
FITTIPALDI, RAHAL AND LUNDGAARD FINISHED 15TH, 16TH AND 20TH IN THE FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETE
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We took a big strategy gamble, and it was working absolutely, perfectly. It looked like we were going to sneak into the top 10. Our pace was good, and we had the fastest laps of the race in that mid stint; we were almost a second a lap faster than the leaders at that time and it was cycling us perfectly towards the front and that last yellow with Linus came at the perfectly wrong time and that ruined our strategy. We had to take a gamble. We had a faster car than the results showed and unfortunately, we had to try something and went off sequence. The boys did a wonderful job with the strategy today and the Fifth Third Bank crew did an excellent job in the pits. Thanks to the boys for all their hard work. I’m looking forward to Thermal.”
PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 OAKBERRY / Pneustore Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “So the weekend went perfectly, exactly how we wanted it to go. Obviously, we were being super safe in practice and qualifying and taking it step by step. We knew that we were going to grow in the race as the race went on and the more laps that we did. As a group, everyone is new to each other. There’s a lot of new guys on the No. 30 car and we only had two days of testing to prepare. So, by the race we were able to gel better together and we executed perfectly pit stops and the strategy. It was amazing and I’m so happy with the work that the whole team did. I lost my cooling tube in the beginning of the race and I was like I’m not sure I was going to finish because I was overheating but we did. I’m super happy about that and it’s a good start. Let’s keep working.”
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It wasn’t the greatest of starts here in St. Petersburg, but I think the positive is that the Hy-Vee Honda was faster than the winning car on the first stint. We showed a lot of potential this weekend. Even though the result doesn’t show it we’re leaving here with a lot of positives and in a positive mindset, but I feel like we’re in the hunt. The next time out we’re going to fight for $1 million bucks so that’s exciting for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. I’m disappointed about today but I’m happy about the improvements we made to the performance throughout the weekend.”
NEXT UP: The series will take next weekend off before The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge outside Palm Springs, California on March 24. The events is a made-for-TV, non-points race that will be televised live on NBC beginning at 12:30 PM ET.