Harvey and Lundgaard Finished 18th and 20th in Race 1 of the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend; Rahal Retired in 28th Place After Contact

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Hy-Vee Homefront 250 Presented by Instacart
Iowa Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – Saturday, July 22, 2023

HARVEY AND LUNDGAARD FINISHED 18TH AND 20TH IN RACE 1 OF THE HY-VEE INDYCAR WEEKEND AT IOWA SPEEDWAY; RAHAL RETIRED IN 28TH PLACE AFTER CONTACT

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Blue Compass RV Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The race was a struggle, which was disappointing. We were fighting the rear unbelievably badly and just kept taking the front wing out. I was full stiff on the bar, all the way as far right as I could go on the jacker. There was just no way to get the rear of the car to be in the ballpark. It was incredibly aero sensitive. Anytime somebody got in front of me or near me, it was struggling unbelievably. That’s obviously not the way we want to end it for Blue Compass RV and for everybody. It’s a major rethink we need overnight.”

• FAST FACTS: Qualified 13th for Race 1 but struggled with the handling of the race car and brought out the only caution of the 250-lap race on Lap 152 when he lost control of his race car in Turn 4 and made contact with the wall. He retired in 28th place.  The Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend doubleheader will mark Rahal’s 17th and 18th races here. He has earned 11 top-10 finishes in 16 starts with his best being fourth in 2015.  Last year, in Race 1 he started 16th, fell to the back of the field early on and worked his way back up to a ninth place finish. In Race 2, he started 23rd, fell to the back in 26th and then worked his way back up to 13th in the closing stage of the race but was passed by Palou with six laps to go and took the checkered flag in 14th. 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 THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He maintained his 14th place rank in the series point standings with a total of 172 points.

JACK HARVEY, 45 HUB International Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Finishing P18 is not awesome, honestly. Three-quarters of the race was mega. Everything up until about lap 200 felt excellent. You know, kind of in the top-13, running 13th. I thought we could’ve been a little better but after that we lost some pace. The tires got super free on the last two sets. I can’t really explain it but I hope we don’t do that tomorrow to make it a long day. We will live to fight another day and keep pushing.”

• FAST FACTS: Qualified 17th for Race 1 but was given a 9-place, starting spot penalty after the INDYCAR stewards served him with an “avoidable contact” penalty for his role in an accident on Lap 1 one week ago in Toronto so he started 26th.  He ran in the top-10 but the handling of his car wasn’t as good in the final stint and he finished 18th…  Is making his fifth and sixth INDYCAR SERIES starts here. Last year, Harvey was the top qualifier for the team in seventh place for both races. For Race 1, he started seventh and finished seventh 18th and in Race 2 he qualified seventh but Herta served a nine position grid penalty and he started sixth. He held a position in thetop-10 for the first 26 laps but ultimately finished in 20th place.  Jack also competed in the doubleheader at Iowa Speedway in 2020 and earned seventh place finishes in both races with a best start of sixth place in Race 2 and ninth in Race 1. He also competed at Iowa Speedway in the 2015 Indy Lights race where he started third and finished fifth. He maintained his 23rd place rank in series standings with 113 points.  

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “That was probably the toughest and longest race I’ve experienced. Nothing went our way today. It’s disappointing that we’re winning one race weekend and we come to the next and struggle. As a team, we just don’t feel that’s good enough so we’re trying to understand the situation and it’s  frustrating right now. But I’m sure we will figure it out. We’re going to work hard to figure it out and then we will see how it goes in Race 2.”

• FAST FACTS: Qualified 20th and started 19th due to a grid penalty for Harvey. He ultimately finished 20th. He is making his third and fourth start at Iowa Speedway. Last year, in Race 1, he qualified and drove to his highest career oval finish to date of 10th place. In Race 2, he qualified 17th and was running 15th when he pit due to brake issues after completing 112 of 300 laps. The team was unable to repair the car i time to return to the race and he retired in 26th place.  He dropped from seventh to eighth in the series standings with 258.

RLL AT IOWA: The 2023 Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend will mark the 15th and 16th events for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) at Iowa Speedway. The best finish for the team is third place (2020 Race 2 by G. Rahal, 2018 by Sato and 2007 by Scott Sharp. The Hy-Vee One-Step 250 Presented by Gatorade will be televised on NBC beginning at 2 pm ET on Sunday, July 23.  Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com and includes commentary by the INDYCAR Radio Network.