Lundgaard and Harvey Finished 14th & 15th in the Detroit GP; Rahal Retired After Damage From Contact With the Wall on Lap 2

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – June 5, 2022

LUNDGAARD AND HARVEY FINISHED 14TH AND 15TH IN THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX; RAHAL RETIRED AFTER DAMAGE FROM CONTACT WITH THE WALL ON LAP 2

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was an uncharacteristic mistake. I bottomed hard in Turn 2 and got a big wiggle. It was a big moment, crashed the wall and broke the right rear. It’s a pretty frustrating time so for me to make mistakes like that is not helping. We’ve just got to hit the reset button I think overall. The biggest disappointment about not racing is getting these laps to try and develop the setup further to try and find something for Toronto, Nashville, and everywhere else. I’m sorry to United Rentals, and all our partners.”

• FAST FACTS: Rahal started 23^rd but broke his right rear toe link when he hit the Turn 2 wall on Lap 2 and retired in 26^th place. It was Rahal’s 18th race here. In 2021, he finished fifth in both races here. In 2019, he earned two seventh place finishes. Rahal’s most successful race weekend came in Detroit in 2017 where he won Dual 1 from pole and won Dual 2 from a third place start. His other podiums in the race came in 2014 with second place in Dual 1 and third place in Dual 2 in 2015.  Overall, he has two wins, four podiums and one pole in 15 races here…  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 is ranked 15^th in series standings with 135 points.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 30 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a tough day. We had the same problem as in St. Pete on our first stop which made us come in early. We had a piece of tape stuck in the ECU cooling so the thing was overheating and we had to come in to survive. In St. Pete it was a leaf. It obviously made life a lot tougher but the pace just wasn’t necessarily there, track position definitely wasn’t there. Being up front is where we want to be. Generally I’m quite disappointed at the moment but we’ve got to look at the positives. We learned some stuff so that’s positive. We just have to translate it to the next race.”

• FAST FACTS: He started 19^th and had worked his way up to 9^th place when he had to pit a little earlier than planned to clear debris that was blocking airflow from his overheating car. The team hoped to stay on the more durable primary tires longer in order to gain more positions. He took on alternate tires for the next stint and then primary one for the final stint. He was running in 15^th place on the final lap but took the checkered flag in 14^th after Veekay crashed…  This was Lundgaard’s first race here. He has competed in seven INDYCAR SERIES races with a best start of 4^th place (IMS road course 2021) and best finish of 9^th (IMS road course, 2022)… He is the highest ranked rookie in 17^th place in the point standings with 119.

JACK HARVEY, 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “So that’s the final race at Belle Isle. We were lacking pace this weekend. I think the best car we had was the one from the race. It was quite a big balance shift over what we had. We have work to do on the street circuits as a team, but we are working at it. Thanks Belle Isle, we will see you in downtown Detroit next year.”

• FAST FACTS: He started 20^th and finished 15^th… This was Jack’s third race on Belle Isle. He competed in the 2021 INDYCAR doubleheader for Meyer Shank Racing where he started 19^th, ran as high as ninth and finished 16^th after five stops to the winner’s two due to a puncture and alternate strategy. He started 18^th in Race 2 and finished 19th. His highest overall series start is second place and he has accomplished the feat three times (2020 – IMS road course, Road America Race 2; 2021 – St. Pete). His highest series finish is third place at the IMS road course in 2019. He moved up two places in the standings and is ranked 20th with 88 points.  

NEXT UP:  The Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America will take place next Sunday, June 12.