Rahal, Schumacher and Foster to Start 20th, 23rd and 24th for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

XPEL Grand Prix at Road America

NTT INDYCAR SERIES – Round 10 of 18

QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – Saturday, June 20, 2026

RAHAL, SCHUMACHER AND FOSTER TO START 20TH, 23RD AND 24TH IN THE XPEL GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA

1) Alex Palou 1:43.6615 / 139.400 mph (Group 2, Round 3)

20) Graham Rahal 1:44.4601 / 138.334 mph (Group 2, Round 1)

23) Mick Schumacher 1:44.4556 / 138.340 mph (Group 1, Round 1)

24) Louis Foster 1:44.7699 / 137.925 mph (Group 2, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 MSC Industrial Supply Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The performance and the pace just hasn’t been there at all this weekend for Louis and I, and obviously even Mick in qualifying. It’s disappointing to not have a better result. We’ve got work to do. And I’m not sure what we can do because we’ve already tried a lot of things, literally almost every area on the car in some shape.”

FAST FACTS: Will be his 13th Champ or Indy car race here and 17th overall. He has a best start of fourth place here in 2007 (NHLR) and 2020 (RLL; Race 1) and a best finish of third in 2007 & 2016. In 12 Indy car races here, his highlights include two third place finishes (2007, 2016), a fourth place (2019), sixth (2018), two eighth places (2017, 2022) and 10th (2024). In 2025, Rahal started from sixth place on primary tires. The team had one set of new, faster alternate tires which they used on the second stint. Multiple strategies were at play and Rahal ultimately finished 20th in a race that saw five caution periods. In 2024, he drove to a 10th-place finish from a 24th place start. He started on the alternate tire and planned to take an early caution to switch to the more durable primary tires. That opportunity came after a Lap 1, Turn 1 incident set off by the top three cars, which contributed to other contact through the field, include Ghiotto hitting Rahal and putting him in the gravel. Ghiotto was given an avoidable contact penalty for the action. Once Rahal got back on track, he pitted to replace his damaged tires. After a total of four stops and three caution periods, Rahal took the checkered flag in 10th place and was presented with the Josten’s Biggest Mover award for gaining 14 positions. Other race information is available upon request. Graham has earned three podium finishes in the past six races and hopes to continue that momentum at one of his favorite road courses… He is 11th in the series point standings with a total of 193.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s been a frustrating weekend so far. Luck hasn’t been on our side and we just haven’t had the car we needed and we’re not sure why. We need to look into a bit more. We’re not going to lose our minds over it; we’re going to be smart about it. We did the best we could with what we had after not really getting much running at all in FP1 and FP2. On my last lap on reds (alternate tires), I had to get over for some traffic and I had one lap at it, but my tires weren’t ready. I couldn’t get them ready because I had to keep backing up. We’re just going to try and see what we can do tomorrow and get our heads down and work at it. This is a pretty stark contrast from last year but, look, the guys work hard. We’ll figure it out overnight and we’ll figure out something to move forward tomorrow.”

FAST FACTS: In Practice 2, the team encountered an issue that forced Foster to stop on course. The car was placed behind the wall and not returned until after the session. Once returned, the team got to work changing the engine in the short time before qualifying. Foster earned his first series pole in his INDYCAR debut at Road America last year. It came days after he agreed to shave his moustache for a $1000 donation to Racing for Kids on the previous Thursday so many thought gesture led to good luck. In the race, he led the field until he was passed by McLaughlin on a restart on Lap 3. On Lap 9, he was passed by Lundgaard and made the first of three stops during a caution on Lap 11 from third place. Multiple strategies were at play and the fact he had less new alternate tires due to opting to use those in qualifying, factored into the race. He ultimately finished 11th to match his best series finish at the time of 11th place (IMS road). During Foster’s two seasons in the INDY NXT series, his best start and finish at Road America came in 2024 when he started and finished second. He qualified fifth and finished sixth in his rookie season. His best INDYCAR start this season of sixth place came on the IMS road course and he is hoping for another appearance in the Firestone Fast Six on Saturday at Road America… He is 19th in series point standings with 131.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 ENVE Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Unfortunately qualifying was not great. We had a couple of issues here and there. It just wasn’t the cleanest of runs, it’s just been difficult. We’ve got to understand where we’re at and put the full focus on the race now. It’s a long race. It’s a track where we can overtake; it’s just not ideal that we’re starting so far back, because we’ve done that too much already this year. I was hoping that with a track like this, which I really like, and after some strong practice times that we set, we would be higher up there. Just seems like we have to be perfect in every single corner to be able to even just get marginally through (each round). There is not a lot of breathing room for us here.”

FAST FACTS: It will be his first INDYCAR race at Road America. He was 8th fastest in Practice 1 and 15th fastest in Practice 2. He earned his best series finish of 16th place at the previous race at World Wide Technology Raceway and is looking forward to the next two road course races at Road America and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to continue his progress during his rookie season. He is ranked 25th in series standings with 89 points.

NEXT UP: The pre-race warm-up will take place from 10:05-10:35 a.m. CT tomorrow. Coverage for Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix of Road America will begin on FOX at 2:00 p.m. ET.