Lundgaard, Harvey and Rahal Finished 13th, 19th and 20th in Race 2 of the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Hy-Vee One Step 250 Presented by Gatorade
Iowa Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – Sunday, July 23, 2023

LUNDGAARD, HARVEY AND RAHAL FINISHED 13TH, 19TH AND 20TH IN RACE 2 OF THE HY-VEE INDYCAR WEEKEND AT IOWA SPEEDWAY

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Blue Compass RV Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think we made an improvement on the Blue Compass RV car for the race. Today, we all agreed to take a big chance on strategy and unfortunately that one yellow, the first yellow I think it was, just came at the perfectly wrong time. But as I said to the guys, I have no regrets about that because we needed to try something. Ultimately, I think it’s what took us 10th or 11th to the first pit cycle to 5th and I think it was going to play out for us, honestly. So, you know, that’s the way it goes. We certainly need to improve a lot on the short oval package. But, at least we took a small step forward.”

• FAST FACTS: Qualified 6th for Race 2 and dropped back in the field while trying to dial in his race car on stops. The team elected to gamble and undercut the field by stopping a little earlier which was working out until a caution came out for Canapino. He ultimately finished in 20th place.  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 dropped to a 16th place rank in the series point standings with a total of 182 points.

JACK HARVEY, 45 HUB International Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I thought we were more competitive yesterday. If we could take the first 200 laps of yesterday’s race and just kind of roll that everywhere I think we’d be okay. I don’t think the yellow’s helped us, particularly today. That being said, we really could’ve used the high line even a little bit and that just boxes you in here. We came back in one piece and scored some points. Not great points but we scored some points. It’s not been our weekend for RLL. That being said, I do believe we will go to Nashville and be okay. If our street course car’s have shown anything it’s that they’ve got some speed. So, we can say thanks to Hy-Vee for an unbelievable race weekend, and see you next year!”

• FAST FACTS: Qualified 22nd for Race 2 and he finished 19th…  Made 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.  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 124 points. 

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a much better race car today which is great. It’s what we needed as a team. It was a bit of a motivation boost. Some things we need to understand and understand better for the future and even pre-race weekend. It’s been a tough weekend but it’s better to finish on a good note rather than a bad one. We will see how it goes in Nashville in a couple of weeks.  Hy-Vee had a great event and I can’t wait until next year.”

• FAST FACTS: Qualified 21st and finished 13th. 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 eighth to ninth in the series standings with 275.

UP NEXT: The series will take next weekend off before heading to Nashville for the Music City Grand Prix August 4-6.