Rahal Earned His First Podium Since 2023 With Third Place in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix; Schumacher and Foster 24th and 25th

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix
Round 4 of 18 in the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES / QUOTES – Sunday, March 29, 2026

RAHAL EARNED HIS FIRST PODIUM SINCE 2023 WITH A THIRD PLACE FINISH IN THE CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX; SCHUMACHER AND FOSTER FINISHED 24TH AND 25TH

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was great day for the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank team and Honda did a wonderful job today as did our guys all weekend. I felt like this was coming. I just got too loose on the reds. The first set of primaries felt great but on the last set of primaries the rears never felt there from the get go. So having to fend off Christian there at the end was quite hard and in the end he got me. I wish we had enough in the end there to fight a little harder but I was pretty much capped out. I just didn’t really feel like I could push hard enough, I was getting so loose. But we’re pretty pleased with this; it feels good. We’ll take it.”

• FAST FACTS: Rahal started third in his 16th race here and ran as high as second place in the race. He was able to get past Lundgaard, after he had come out of the pits but once Lundgaard’s tires were up to temp, he took second place from Rahal later. Rahal held off David Malukas in the closing stages of the race to earn his first podium finish of third place since he finished second on the road course at IMS in 2023… His best start here is second place in 2019 to bring the team a 1-2 start and his best finish is second, two times (2015-2016) in his previous 15 races here. He played a major factor in the most exciting races of the 2015 and 2016 seasons as he challenged for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama win but earned his best finish here of second place both times… 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 five poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2023 Indy road course, Portland road course) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “There is not a lot to say about the race really, it just didn’t go our way. I’m confused about what happened but luckily we have a bit of time off to understand. Massive congratulations to Graham and the 15 crew. I’m looking forward to Long Beach and getting a reset.”

• FAST FACTS: Started 22nd and finished 25th. The 45 crew set the second fastest accumulative time in the pits for the race… Foster qualified 12th here in his rookie season last year but a late race, off course excursion limited his result to 26th. He has competed at Barber in two INDY NXT races with a best finish of fifth place. In 2023, he qualified third but retired in 14th place after contact after completing 25 of 35 laps. His top finish of fifth came in 2024 after starting last in the field in 21st due to electrical issues.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 ENVE Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “First and foremost, great job from Graham; I think that’s really what we all aim to do as a team and Graham managed to do it. Now it’s up to us to step up. I think the race was tough. Obviously, the stall didn’t help our approach to it, but nonetheless, we learn from it and we keep understanding what we need to do better and then we’ll manage to get there too. There are promising things on the horizon. It’s just a matter of putting it all together now.”

• FAST FACTS: Started 20th and finished 24th in his first road course race this season… His best series start is fourth place and best finish is 18th – both at Phoenix 2026.

FIRST IN FIRESTONE PIT CREW STANDINGS: The 15 crew retained the lead in the pit crew standings after four of 18 races. They are four points ahead of Andretti Global’s 28 crew (122-118).

NEXT UP: The series will take the next two weekend’s off and return to action for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 17-19.