Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
104th Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
FAST FRIDAY NOTES/QUOTES – August 14, 2020
PIGOT FIFTH, SATO EIGHTH AND RAHAL 14TH FASTEST ON FAST FRIDAY; QUALIFYING BEGINS SATURDAY WITH RAHAL, SATO AND PIGOT QUALIFYING FIRST, SECOND AND SEVENTH IN ORDER
1) Marco Andretti 233.491 mph
5) Spencer Pigot 232.116 mph
8) Takuma Sato 231.880 mph
14) Graham Rahal 231.239 mph
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s the end of day here at Indy on Fast Friday. I think we feel pretty good about where we stand. Our fastest no-tow lap is somewhere around 230.5 or 230.6 mph. Our four-lap average was the fourth or third fastest of everybody but there is one really critical thing as we go into tomorrow and it’s the draw. What time of day do you qualify? The key is, if you get an early draw and you’re a car that is right on that brink of making that top-nine or not, you’re going to be in. If you get a late draw and you’re a late car that’s on the brink, you’re not going to make it. We’re looking forward to tomorrow. I think we’ve got a good chance at advancing on and, my Lord, great job by Honda. The Honda’s look strong today. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. We will try to get the United Rentals in the top-nine and go into the shootout on Sunday.”
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Panasonic / PeopleReady Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Fast Friday was good, very exciting. There was a lot of boost, a lot of speed and 230 mph for the average. With the Aeroscreen obviously we lost downforce from last year but we’re going faster so it was very exciting. From my point of view and the team point of view, I think we made good progress. We’re not quite there yet. I’m a little worried about tomorrow in qualifying but hopefully overnight we will find some speed and the three of us will try to get in the top nine. Fingers crossed. It was a very productive day.”
SPENCER PIGOT, No. 45 Hy-Vee / Embrace Pittsburgh Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a pretty good day and ended up fifth overall. I think we were around the top-nine in the no-tow list. Overall, it was a solid day, we made some good gains in the Hy-Vee / Embrace Pittsburgh. Tomorrow is when it counts so it was good to get a good draw of seventh. The earlier, the better. I’m looking forward to qualifying.”
NEXT UP: Qualifying will begin at 11 a.m. ET tomorrow and be broadcast on NBC Gold from 8:30-93:0 (practice) and 11-5. NBC will air coverage from 3-5 p.m. Graham Rahal drew the first qualifying position, Takuma Sato drew the second and Spencer Pigot, seventh. Get a behind-the-scenes look at preparations for the 104th Indianapolis 500 via the Digital Ally Garage Camera on www.rahal-staging.ktnlcqy7-liquidwebsites.com.