Rahal Led the Bitnile.com Grand Prix Three Times and Finished Fourth; Foster Was 13th After Being Hit Early and DeFrancesco Was 18th

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

RACE NOTES / QUOTES – August 10, 2025

RAHAL LED THE BITNILE.COM GP OF PORTLAND THREE TIMES AND FINISHED FOURTH; FOSTER WAS 13TH AFTER BEING HIT EARLY AND DEFRANCESCO WAS 18TH

GRAHAM RAHAL, No, 15 Hendrickson Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a great day. We had good stops and good fuel mileage from Honda. When we needed to run, we could and when we got free air, we were able to build a gap and get by Newgarden in the pit cycle. And the Firestone tires degraded but if you took care of them, they went. I was worried on that last set of used alternates about going 25 laps to the finish, but they hung in there. We’ll take it for Hendrickson and for everyone on the RLL team and particularly the No.15 crew. It’s nice to be rewarded and nice for everything to come together and the strategy to work. This one is for these guys as they have put in a lot of effort this year. This is definitely a good way to go into the last two races.”

FAST FACTS: He qualified 22nd and pit during the first caution on Laps 3-6. The alternate strategy paid off and he ultimately led the race three times and was able to leapfrog many cars through good on-track maneuvers and flawless pit stops to earn his best finish of the season of fourth place. It was the 10th overall race for Graham at PIR and eighth in the headline event. His highest NDYCAR start here is POLE in 2023 and highest finish is fifth in 2022… Last year, he qualified sixth but had a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change and started 12th. He lost two spots at the start but gained them back before a caution came out for Dixon, who had an incident with Kirkwood, which led to contact with Fittipaldi. He moved into ninth before his first of three stops and ultimately finished there… 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 – IMS road course, Portland road)… Rahal moved from 19th to 15th place in series point standings with a total of 246.

DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, No. 30 Dogecoin Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We started on primary tires. It was hard to keep people behind me, but I was doing what I could at the time. We received two penalties that I don’t think we’re justified. I don’t understand why or who they were on or what the deal was. That really killed our day.”

FAST FACTS: He qualified 14th and started 12th after two cars in the field served six-spot grid penalties. In the race he ran as high as fifth but was penalized two times for blocking and forced to drop three spots and then five. He ultimately finished 18th… This marked Devlin’s third INDYCAR race at PIR and his highest qualifying position here. His previous highest start is 20th in 2023, and his highest finish is 16th in 2022 – both with Andretti Steinbrenner Racing… Is ranked 26th in series point standings with 145.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The field got bottled up on the start and I got hit unfortunately. I got spun around and managed to keep the car going. From there it was just about trying to claw back as many positions as possible. We moved back up to P13 in the end so I’m happy with that. It’s a good result, at least from where we were after the incident. It’s disappointing from the sense that it was another weekend with an issue that was out of our control. Congrats to Graham on finishing P4 just off the podium but I feel we should have been up there somewhere near here. But its good points so we’ll move on to the next one.”

FAST FACTS: He qualified 17th and started 14th after three cars in the field served 6-spot grid penalties for various reasons. In the race, he was hit by Simpsons, who received an avoidable contact penalty and sent to the back of the field, where Foster was. He tried to capitalize on strategy and ultimately finished 13th… Made his first INDYCAR start at the track, but he competed at PIR in INDY NXT and the USF Pro 2000 series and has four podiums in five events. In INDY NXT, he won from pole in 2023 and finished second from pole in 2024. In the three races at PIR in the 2022 USF Pro 2000 series, he won from pole in Race 1, finished second after starting second in Race 2 and finished sixth after starting second in Race 3. He aims to maximize the weekend and gain ground in the Rookie of the Year standings, where he holds a four-point lead over Robert Schwartzman, 172-168… He dropped from 22nd to 23rd place in the point standings with 189 and is six points ahead of fellow Rookie of the Year candidate Schwartzman.

NEXT UP: The series will take next weekend off before returning to action on August 24 for the Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250.