Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge – Thermal, California
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – Sunday, March 24, 2024
LUNDGAARD, RAHAL AND FITTIPALDI ALL EARNED SPOTS IN THE 12-DRIVER FIELD FOR THE $1 MILLION CHALLENGE; LUNDGAARD WAS HIT ON LAP 1 AND RAHAL AND FITTIPALDI HAD ISSUES
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Code 3 Associates Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The first race, the car finished third but it was just really, really loose. It was a real handful for me. The second race was not bad necessarily, but the stuck throttle started really early — like lap two or three I started to feel it. It’s just so dangerous. I mean, I just don’t know where you press on from then. I tried to save tires, save the car but the throttle was getting worse. Even at that pace it was getting worse and worse and worse. Ultimately, it’s just a danger that really doesn’t make any sense to continue and harm something — let alone myself. So, we decided to come in a little bit early. You go two laps down and ultimately that’s it. We had to retire from there which is a share because we made good strides in the Code 3 Associates car this weekend.”
PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a good start in the heat race. We were aggressive and then we went to P5. We had a bit more pace than (Linus) Lundqvist in front. We were just kind of thinking ‘We’re P5 so let’s finish there and qualify for the final race,’ which we did. Then we went out for the final race and had a really good start. I think we were 8th or 7th and unfortunately, we had a fueling issue and didn’t put as much as fuel as we thought we did. Basically, we were about half of a tank of fuel and I had to coast the whole race just to be able to make it and not go a lap down. Then INDYCAR deemed that because we weren’t full fuel that we had to be disqualified for the second race. I’m very disappointed because I think we had something there. I mean, we obviously were not fighting for a top three but fighting for a top-six finish was definitely in the bag. So yeah, I’m disappointed but we’re gaining momentum and we’re fighting where we should be. Although I only know four of the 16 tracks we will race on, it’s important the more laps I do, the more confident I get in the car so we just have to keep this momentum going.”
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “My race was basically done on the opening lap of my heat race when I was hit and my sidepod was severely damaged. We were penalized two times after that for trying to repair the car. We showed good pace, which should bode well for upcoming races and help us get the Hy-Vee Honda a win.”
NEXT UP: The team will test two different times between now and the next race — The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 19-21. The team’s first test with the hybrid engine will be Thursday, March 25 at the road course at IMS. Lundgaard will test on Thursday, Fittipaldi on Friday and Rahal on Monday, April 1 – all utilizing the same race car each of the days. The following week, all four Indy 500 entries — including Takuma Sato — will test on the oval at IMS on April 10-11.