Rahal Qualified 10th for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach; Foster and Schumacher 17th and 21st

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Round 5 of 18 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – Saturday, April 18, 2026

Rahal Qualified 10th for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach; Foster and Schumacher to Start 17th and 21st

1) Felix Rosenqvist 1:07.4635 / 105.017 mph (Group 1; Round 3)
10) Graham Rahal 1:07.6619 / 104.709 mph (Group 2; Round 2)
17) Louis Foster 1:07.9024 / 104.338 mph (Group 1; Round 1)
21) Mick Schumacher 1:08.2471 / 103.811 mph (Group 1; Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 One Cure Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I thought everybody did a great job putting our qualifying together. I didn’t quite put it all together in round two; I did my best lap on the second lap versus the third and on the third, the tires just went over a little bit and I started to lose the rears. I do feel better about the race car than the qualifying car so we’ll see what tomorrow brings. We have a couple of sets of new alternate tires and couple of sets of new primary tires so we have good tires overall although I think it will be the same for everybody so we’ll see how strategy plays out.” •FAST FACTS: Will start 10th for his 19th Champ/Indy car race here and 20th overall. His best IndyCar start here is fifth in 2007 and best finish is second place in 2013. In 2025, he started 16th and finished 22nd. On his second of three pit stops, there was a false read on the fuel level and he returned to the track four gallons short of the intended fuel amount. In 2024, he started 12th and pit from fifth place on an alternate strategy for his second stop and a fueling issue added an additional 12 seconds, which dropped him four spots at the time and cost valuable track position. A top-10 finish was in sight, but he had to settle for 17th place. In 2023, he started 24th and finished 12th and in 2022, he started 13th and finished seventh. He ran as high as second place two times in 2021 and led four laps by utilizing an alternate strategy after starting 19th but the timing of a caution for contact between teammate Askew and Daly while he was on his in-lap for his final pit stop dropped him to 20th. He came back to finish 16th… 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; 2024 IMS road course 2, Portland) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015. He finished third in the previous race in Barber.
LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We don’t have the car we need right now. I think Graham did a good job with what he had. I probably could have matched him had I ran his set up earlier. Myself and Mick both switched to his set up right before qualifying. It doesn’t really help from a perspective of consistency. Graham did a good job but still our cars just aren’t in the window overall. It’s a bit of a headscratcher. The qualifying this year has not been as good as last year and that’s something I don’t take lightly. We’re working towards fixing that. We have a good amount of tires for tomorrow at least and we have a good looking Desnuda Tequila car so hopefully that gives us more speed. We’re going to see what we can do tonight and go fast tomorrow.” •FAST FACTS: The team changed the hybrid component on his engine after Practice 2. Although he has been racing in the US for years, Foster will compete in only his second race in Long Beach this year. In his debut at the track last year, he started 20th and finished 16th. The Los Angeles area is one of his favorite places to visit in the US after having lived there while attending college. His highest start of the season so far is ninth place on the streets of St. Pete, which is also the team’s best start on a street course this year, and Foster is hoping to build upon that.
MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 Liquid Death Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was not awfully easy out there with minimal driving time. I think that really hurt us in multiple ways today unfortunately. Nonetheless I think we’ve got to understand and look back at this at some point when we have a little more time. We can’t do it tonight because obviously tonight the focus us going to be more about making sure the race car is good. I think that’s what we’re focusing on now – making the right changes that work for us and we’ll hopefully be in a better place tomorrow.” •FAST FACTS: On Friday, after only two laps, Schumacher’s car came to a stop after the fountain area in the first practice session. The team changed the engine late Friday. He found the limit of the car in approximately the same location on Saturday. The team repaired the left front .… This will be his first time to race on the streets of Long Beach and third street race of the season. His highest start and finish this season has come on the Phoenix oval of fourth and 18th, respectively.

3 POLES, 6 PODIUMS FOR RLL IN 26 INDY CAR RACES AT LONG BEACH: The 2026 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (AGPLB) marks the 26th time for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) to compete in the event.
In total, the team won three poles (Herta 1998, Vasser 2002, Jourdain, Jr. 2003); made five front row starts including an all-Team Rahal front row in 1998 (2nd – Rahal 1998, Brack 2001); earned their best finish of second place four times (Rahal 1992-1993, Vasser 2002, G. Rahal 2013) and earned six podiums here (2nd – Rahal 1992-1993, Vasser 2002 & G. Rahal 2013; 3rd – Herta 1998-1999).

NEXT UP: Race morning warm-up will take place Sunday from 10:10 – 10:40 a.m. PDT and be broadcast on FS1 live from 1-2 PM ET. Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com. The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will be televised live on FOX beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, April 19.