Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 – The Milwaukee Mile
Pre-Race Notes
Round 16 of 18 in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series
NEWS & NOTES:
DATE:
August 16-17, 2014
QUALIFYING BROADCAST:
August 16 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and live from 6:00-7:15 ET on www.indycar.com (timing & scoring w/radio commentary)
RACE BROADCAST:
Live on Sunday, August 17 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network
RADIO BROADCAST:
The race will air on IMS Radio Network, XM 209 & Sirius 213
TRACK LAYOUT:
1-mile oval
RACE LENGTH:
250 laps / 250 miles
2013 WINNER:
Ryan Hunter-Reay
2013 POLESITTER:
Marco Andretti (42.8584, 170.515 mph)
RAHAL’S BEST OVAL START/FINISH:
Pole (Kansas 2009) / 2nd (Texas 2012 and Milwaukee 2011)
RAHAL’S BEST START/FINISH AT MILWAUKEE:
2nd in 2008 & 2009 / 2nd in 2011
RLL’S TOP START/FINISH AT MILWAUKEE:
1st by Rahal (1992), Brack (2001), Meira (2004) /1st by Brack (2001) and Jourdain Jr. (2003)
NEWS & NOTES:
2 WINS, 3 POLES, 4 PODIUMS & 4 FRONT ROW STARTS AT MILWAUKEE MILE FOR RLL RACING: The ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 will mark the 20th event for RLL at the legendary Milwaukee Mile oval. The team WON here twice (Kenny Brack 2001 & Michel Jourdain Jr. 2003), started from POLE three times (Bobby Rahal 1992, Kenny Brack 2001, Vitor Meira 2004), made four FRONT ROW STARTS (2nd – Jourdain Jr. 2003) and earned FOUR PODIUMS (2nd: Rahal 2004, Rice 2004). Prior to the 2014 event, the team prepared a total of 36 entries for drivers such as Bobby Rahal (1992-98), Mike Groff (1993-94), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Kenny Brack (2000-2001), Jimmy Vasser (2002), Michel Jourdain Jr. (2002-03), Buddy Rice (2004-06), Vitor Meira (2004-05), Danica Patrick (2005-06), Jeff Simmons (2006-07), Scott Sharp (2007), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2008), Takuma Sato (2012), Graham Rahal (2013) and James Jakes (2013).The team has earned 10 top-five finishes and 19 top-10’s at the track. The No. 15 National Guard entry for Graham Rahal will bring the total number of entries to 37 in2014.
GRAHAM AT MILWAUKEE
The 2014 ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 will mark Graham’s sixth race here. He narrowly missed winning his first pole in 2008 by 2/10ths of a second over a four lap average and started a career best second to Andretti in what was the first Andretti/Rahal front row since 1992 in Loudon, NH. He ran between second and fourth until L130 when he drove over “marbles” and lost control of his car after trying to go around the slower car of Darren Manning and retired in 25th place. He qualified second in 2009 and briefly took the lead at the start but dropped to third by the end of the lap and ultimately finished fourth, his highest finish on an oval at the time. In 2010, he ran a partial season and did not race at Milwaukee. In 2011 he qualified 12th and earned his best finish at Milwaukee to date of second. In 2012 he qualified 17th, started 11th after many ahead served an engine change penalty and finished ninth. In 2013 he qualified 23rd but started 24th due to a 10-grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. The team constantly worked to improve the car with each stop and he finished 16th.
“It’s a really tough track, probably the toughest oval because it’s flat. It has huge cornering loads and makes for some difficult racing. It’s one track that gives you great reward if you put in a good lap, so that will be our goal time and time again this weekend.”
BOBBY RAHAL AT MILWAUKEE
Team co-owner Bobby Rahal competed in 18 IndyCar races at the Milwaukee Mile between 1982 and 1998. His best start was pole in 1992 and best finish was second place, three times (1982, 1987, 1992).
GRAHAM ON HIS HIGH’S AND LOW’S AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE
Rahal finished second at the Milwaukee Mile in 2011 and that finish, coupled with his second place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in 2012, ranks as his highest on an oval in his Indy car racing career. He is hoping to get back to that form at Milwaukee this weekend.
“I have had some great highs and lows at Milwaukee. Starting up front two years in a row and finishing second were the highlights but then we’ve had some challenging times (there) lately. We need to get back on the right foot from my earlier days and have a great run this weekend.”
GRAHAM ON THE GOAL WITH THREE RACES LEFT IN THE SEASON
“Everyone has worked incredibly hard this year and we need rewarded for those efforts. Lately we have shown we can run and compete up front. Now we have to take that momentum into the final few races and put in a few good results.”
GRAHAM ON THE CHALLENGES TO SWITCH FROM SHORT OVAL TO ROAD TO SPEEDWAY
The final three races of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season will be back-to-back-to-back between the short oval race at Milwaukee, the road course race in Sonoma and the super speedway race in Fontana. This provides a challenge for every member of the team.
“Set up is the biggest issue,” said Rahal. “Our guys will be working very hard to get the cars switched around, but I believe we have the best guys out there so I have no worries.”
GRAHAM ON THE MILWAUKEE TEST AND PREPARATION FOR THIS WEEKEND SINCE THEN
The team tested at the Milwaukee Mile on June 11 but has gained valuable knowledge at short oval events such as the one at Iowa Speedway on July 12 where Rahal finished seventh. He believes this information will be the starting point for practice at Milwaukee.
“The test was challenging but we’re still learning. We will take a lot from (our setup for) Iowa to be better, and I can’t wait to get running.”
– RLL –