Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Iowa Corn Indy 300 – Iowa Speedway
Verizon IndyCar Series
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – July 11, 2014
RAHAL QUALIFIED 15TH FOR THE IOWA CORN INDY 300 AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
POLE: Scott Dixon 2-lap avg. speed of 186.256 mph (L1: 17.2662, L2: 17.2962)
15th: Graham Rahal 2-lap avg. speed of 183.201 mph (L1: 17.5681, L2: 17.5670)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 National Guard Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The National Guard car was very good in practice. At the end of the session I think we found a lot of good things that helped us. And I thought that the car was absolutely planted in qualifying; it was absolutely perfect. We just didn’t trim enough so we were too slow. We got the car where it needs to be but we didn’t get aggressive enough in qualifying so it put us in the back. I think the car will be alright in the race. Its always tough starting at the back at Iowa though.”
RLL AT IOWA SPEEDWAY: The Iowa Corn Indy 300 will mark the fifth event for Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) Racing here. The best finish for the team is third in 2007 by Scott Sharp who also earned the top start for the team of fourth the same year. Prior to the 2014 event, the team prepared a total of six entries for drivers Scott Sharp (2007), Jeff Simmons (2007), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2008), Takuma Sato (2012) Graham Rahal (2013) and James Jakes (2013). The team has earned ONE podium (3rd, Sharp 2007) and three top-10 finishes at the track. The No. 15 National Guard entry for Graham Rahal will bring that total to seven in 2014. In addition to Rahal’s run in 2013 at Iowa (details above), James Jakes was fourth in Heat Race 2 in Iowa when he made contact and finished sixth to earn a 21st place qualifying spot but ultimately started 24th in his backup car due to an unapproved engine change. He struggled with the handling of the car in the race and finished 18th.
NEXT UP: The 300 lap Iowa Corn Indy 300 will take the Green Flag at 7:50 p.m. CT. Live coverage will begin at 8 PM ET on NBCSN.
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