Rahal Qualified Eighth for the OnlyBulls GP of Portland; Foster 13th and Schumacher 23rd

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – August 8, 2026

RAHAL QUALIFIED EIGHTH FOR THE ONLYBULLS GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND; FOSTER 13TH AND SCHUMACHER 23RD

1)         Felix Rosenqvist     58.4828 / 120.897 mph     (Group 2, Round 3)         
8)         Graham Rahal         58.8465 / 120.150 mph     (Group 2, Round 2)
13)       Louis Foster            58.5764 / 120.704 mph     (Group 1, Round 1)           
23)       Mick Schumacher   58.7043 / 120.441 mph     (Group 1, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was good enough to advance to Round 3. Unfortunately, I sent her into Turn 10 hard, like you do in qualifying, and she gave up so I started to lap down about a tenth-and-a-half (of a second) to myself. I made up a little bit of time in Turn 1, but for sure I think we had at least a tenth and a half more if Turn 10 had been ordinary so I’m a little disappointed in that, but, obviously, P8 is a good result. I’ve got to thank Louie, honestly, because I’ve been super unhappy since my very first run. The first run of the weekend was good, and then it kind of progressively got worse so I reverted in some ways back to Louie’s setup, and I’ve got to thank him. I hope we can have a good day tomorrow. He’s right there. I think he’ll be 12 with Malikas’s penalty, so he’ll be right in the hunt and hopefully we can have a good day.
“This place is tough place, and a lot of guys make a lot of mistakes here. It’s easy to drop a wheel, it’s easy to go wide, it’s easy to get a moment. drop off of Turn 6. We all know what Turn 1 (on the start) is all about. Hopefully, we just make it through there clear and then go battle for 110 laps so this isn’t an easy one. As we showed last year, you can pass here if you’re in a better car, particularly down the back straight, you’re able to make some moves. We’re going to try to do that tomorrow.”

• FAST FACTS: It will be the 11th overall race for Graham at PIR and ninth in the headline event. His highest INDYCAR start here is POLE in 2023, his highest finish is fifth in 2022, and he has led a total of 67 laps here the past five years (2021 – 36; 2023 – 21; 2025 – 10). Portland was the site of Rahal’s top finish in 2025 where he led three times for a total of 10 laps and finished fourth after starting 22nd. In 2024, 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. More results are available upon request.… 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 is ranked 12th in series point standings with a total of 229.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was frustrating, really. I was super happy with the car all through practice; we rolled off with an absolute rocket ship. And even with our limited time testing with the issues we had in FP1, we did a really good job this weekend. It was just gradually slipping away from us. We rolled off with a really good car, but when it mattered, we just didn’t get the car right, simple as that. It was too loose. I did all I could, but there really wasn’t much more in it. We maximized what we had, there.  It’s disappointing, because we should have transferred, but we’re in an okay starting position. We’ve got decent tires tomorrow, so we’ll focus on tomorrow and the race car. We moved forward here last year quite well, so I’m going to try to do the same.”

• FAST FACTS: On Friday, he only ran 1 lap in the full-field group session due to a fuel pressure issue. The team found a loose fuel line and was able to get back out for the split group session… Will make his second INDYCAR start at Portland. Last year, he qualified 17th and started 14th after three cars ahead served 6-spot grid penalties for various reasons. At the start of the race, he was hit by Simpson, who received an avoidable contact penalty and was sent to the back of the field, where Foster was. He tried to capitalize on strategy and ultimately finished 13th. He earned career-best finished of seventh place on the IMS road course and Detroit street course this year and hopes to carry over that success to Portland…  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… Is ranked in 18th place in the point standings with 173.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 NEREUS™ Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The car I don’t think anyone’s car was perfect. The thing that sucks is that we’re losing a lot of time on the straits for no real, clear reason. We’re losing alone on the back straight two-tenths (of a second) to our own teammates. We’ve got to try and understand that and see where that issue lies, and hopefully find a solution quickly because, obviously, every hundredths (of a second) matter here, and to be leaving tenths on the straits, where there is nothing we can really do is a little upsetting.”

• FAST FACTS: It will be his first race here. He earned his best INDYCAR career finish at the previous race at Nashville Superspeedway (oval) with eighth place and is aiming to better that mark this weekend on a road course.  He is in 24th place in series point standings with 132 points. 

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT PORTLAND … The event will mark the 20th time for RLL to compete in an INDYCAR race here. The team’s best starting position of pole here was by Bryan Herta in 1998, Max Papis in 2001 and Graham Rahal in 2023 and best finish of first place came in 2018 by Takuma Sato and in 2001 by Max Papis. RLL has earned a total of four podium finishes here (3rd – B. Rahal 1995, Herta 1998) and has led a total of 182 laps (1998: Herta, 20; 2001 Papis, 69; 2018: Sato, 25; 2021: Rahal, 36; 2023: Rahal, 21; 2025: Rahal, 10). In addition, the team competed in the Toyota Atlantic races here in 2003 (Danica Patrick, Jon Fogerty) and 2004 (Patrick and Chris Festa).

NEXT UP: The OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland will be televised live on FOX beginning at 4 PM ET Sunday, August 9.