Lundgaard, Rahal and Fittipaldi Qualified 11th, 14th and 16th for the Chevrolet Detroit GP

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix – Streets of Downtown Detroit

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – June 1, 2024

LUNDGAARD, RAHAL AND FITTIPALDI QUALIFIED 11TH, 14TH AND 16TH FOR THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX

1) Colton Herta 1:00.5475 / 97.808 mph (Group 2, Round 3)

11) Christian Lundgaard 1:01.1663 / 96.818 mph (Group 2, Round 2)

14) Graham Rahal 1:01.1336 / 96.870 mph (Group 2, 7th in Round 1)

16) Pietro Fittipaldi 1:01.3684 / 96.499 mph (Group 2, 9th Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 iPacket Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s disappointing to miss transferring to Group 2 by half of a tenth (of a second). I wish we could have gotten the iPacket car through to Round 2. Ultimately, we have a big grid penalty (-6 spots) anyway, but I wanted to at least gain a little bit of ground and make our lives easier tomorrow. I think the lockup just killed the left front tire and it was to start my best lap and it just roasted the left front at the very beginning. My loss to Christian (in lap time) is literally all in brake zones. It’s Turn 8, which you see, if I press later, I’m already locking where I’m at, and also in Turn 1 and those are huge chunks – half-of-a-second between those two. It’s very frustrating because all weekend that’s been the loss and I can’t seem to get the car to be acceptant of a later brake zone.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his 20th race in Detroit. He will serve a six-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change for his fifth engine. In 2023, he started 27th and retired in 25th place after making contact with the wall on Lap 50 of 100. In 2022 on Belle Isle, Graham’s race came to an early end after he bottomed out in Turn 2, lost traction and hit the wall on Lap 2 and retired from the race. 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 14th in series standings with 86 points.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, 30 5-hour ENERGY Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I was on a push lap and we were going quite a bit quicker than the one I had set and we had to back off to make a gap for the next one and then I got held up. I couldn’t push through Turns 6-7 and through the final chicane because he backed up. Whether it was his (Dixon) fault or he had people backing off in front of him, I don’t know. I respect Scott a lot; he knows what he’s doing but he cost us a good lap. The car is great. The team has done a fantastic job. It’s a new track for me so there is a lot of learning involved but I think we’ve executed reasonably well.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his first race here. He is 22nd in series standings with 50 points.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We’re all disappointed that we weren’t able to maximize the potential we had shown in practice but on the positive side we know we have a fast car to be able to capitalize on any opportunities presented in the race to get to the front.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his third race in Detroit. He started 18th and finished 16th here last year… In 2022, he had worked his way up to 9th place from a 19th place start but had to pit earlier than planned to clear debris that was blocking airflow from his overheating car. The team had hoped to stay on the more durable primary tires longer in order to gain more positions, but he had to compete his mandatory stint on the alternate tires on the next one before returning to the preferred primary tires for the final one and finished 14th. After starting from pole at the previous road course race at Indianapolis and finishing fourth, he is looking forward to returning to a street course to continue the trajectory that saw him finish sixth on the road course in Barber and fourth at the GMR Grand Prix… He is 11th in the series point standings with 102.

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT DETROIT: The 2024 event will mark the 24th year for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) to compete in Detroit after 22 years of competition at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park. It is the team’s 33nd race here. The team’s highest start of pole came in 2017 with Graham Rahal earning his first pole since 2009 in Race 1. Bobby and Graham Rahal have earned a combined total of three wins for the team here. Bobby won the inaugural race on Belle Isle in 1992 and Graham is the only driver to have won both races on the same weekend, which he did in 2017. In total, the team has earned eight podiums (2nd – G. Rahal 2014, Jakes 2013 & Max Papis 2000), (3rd – G. Rahal 2015, Takuma Sato 2019) 12 top-five finishes and 24 top-10’s here (chart available).

NEXT UP: Warm-up will take place tomorrow from 9:30-10:00 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on Peacock Premium and also on the INDYCAR Radio Network and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis). The Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit will be televised live on USA Network beginning at 12:00 PM ET Sunday, June 2.