Foster, Schumacher and Rahal to Start 18th, 20th and 23rd for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Streets around Washington, D.C.’s National Mall
Round 15 of 18 in the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – Saturday, August 22, 2026

FOSTER, SCHUMACHER AND RAHAL TO START 18TH, 20TH AND 23RD FOR THE FREEDOM 250 GRAND PRIX OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

1)     Alex Palou              56.8993 / 107.558 mph              (Group 1, Round 3)
18)   Louis Foster           57.7457 / 105.982 mph              (Group 2, Round 1)
20)   Mick Schumacher   57.8405 / 105.808 mph              (Group 2, Round 1)
23)   Graham Rahal        57.8697 / 105.755 mph              (Group 1, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Gaylor Electric Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “My mistake earlier today cost us for sure. But the reality is that as a team, we are not in the ballpark. My teammates qualified ahead of me, but their times are the exact same as me. My group was just half a second faster than theirs. I’m highly disappointed. This race is going to be a bit of a free for all, so I’m not super worried about that so long as there are yellows and I’m not involved in them, I think the strategy can be turned on its head a little bit. So, I’m not crazy worried about that. I think we’ve just got to be on our toes and be ready for whatever this race throws at us.”

• FAST FACTS: Calling Graham Rahal a proud American could be deemed an understatement. On race weekends, Rahal can be seen featuring his American heritage on the parts of his uniform that each driver utilizes to show their personality — the helmet, shoes and gloves. He is understandably excited to get back to D.C. after a quick visit to the area in July with Honda where he was also able to meet President Trump with his father, Bobby Rahal. After earning three podium finishes on road and street courses this season, Graham Rahal is hoping to also make his mark on the historic race in Washington, D.C….  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; IMS (road) 2023 August, Portland (road) 2023) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is ranked 13th in series point standings with a total of 258 points.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Desnuda Organic Tequila Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Practice 2 was not good so although we are P10, which obviously is not great, especially compared to last weekend on a street track, I thought we’d be way more off than that. At least tomorrow, we can actually fight, because this morning we weren’t fighting anymore. So, it’s just been a tough one for us this weekend. It’s super bumpy; the track’s damn hard to drive. The team has worked super hard today to try and get the car in a window that I can be happy with. And now we qualified as the top RLL car, so I’m relatively happy with that. It would be nice if we could have some consistency on these street courses. We qualified on pole last week with a margin, and this week we’re back on the grid. We’re working hard to get there.
            “The overtaking is going to come more from the fact that, it’s not necessarily that the track is great for overtaking. Moreso it will be because A: this race means a lot to a lot of people. It’s a big race for us, and everyone is going to want to win it. And B: also because of the length of it; it’s going to be long. I think you’re going to see fatigue and see mistakes. And it is also a hard track to drive. So, I just think from outside factors, there will be some overtakes.”

• FAST FACTS: Louis Foster earned his second career INDYCAR pole last Saturday in Markham, Ontario, Canada by an impressive margin of four-tenths of a second over second place qualifier Lundgaard.  He led what became a race-high 32 laps before he was one of the last two drivers to make his first stop, doing so under caution following an incident for Armstrong. Foster charged from ninth to third place before he made contact with the wall after he took over second place from eventual winner Ericsson and ultimately retired after completing 42/90 laps. He is hopeful of carrying that competitiveness into another new street course…. He is in 19th place in series standings with a total of 200.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 NEREUS™ Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s obviously a privilege to be able to race here with INDYCAR, which is amazing for the sport. On our side obviously it’s not been amazing. We’re not quite sure why, but we lost over a second from FP2 to now and so we’ve got to analyze that. We’re going to take an engine change penalty and go to the back. I think this race is going to create a lot of yellows. which will be pretty interesting to then race. You could go all the way from the back to the front. We’ll find out tomorrow.”

• FAST FACTS: He ran in the top-10 at the previous street race in Markham and is looking forward to applying that experience in D.C. He was in ninth place in the race when he brought out the first of six cautions after he made contact with the Turn 4 wall on Lap 14/90. His chances of making it to his first Firestone Fast Six were looking good but the timing of a red flag limited his opportunity. He is hoping for another competitive run in Washington, D.C…. He has continued to gain valuable experience this season and is hoping to better his existing top start of fourth place in Phoenix and eighth in Nashville. He earned his best INDYCAR career finish at Nashville Superspeedway (oval) with eighth place. He is 24th in series point standings with 151 points. 

NEXT UP: Warmup will take place tomorrow from 9:15 – 9:45 a.m. ET tomorrow and air live on FS1 beginning at 9 a.m. ET. A pre-race show will air on FOX from 11:30 – 1:00 and the 147-lap Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington will air live on FOX.<