Rain Postponed Qualifying for the Sonsio GP of Indy to Saturday; Rahal, Foster & Schumacher Each Set Top-10 Times in One of Two Sessions

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Sonsio Grand Prix – Indianapolis Motor Speedway

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – May 8, 2026

HEAVY RAIN POSTPONED QUALIFYING FOR THE SONSIO GRAND PRIX OF INDY TO SATURDAY; RAHAL, FOSTER AND SCHUMACHER EACH SET TOP-10 TIMES IN ONE OF TWO SESSIONS

COMBINED SESSIONS

1) Alex Palou 1:10.0904 / 125.273 mph

2) Graham Rahal 1:10.1979 / 125.081 mph (P2 in Practice 1)

12) Louis Foster 1:10.5454 / 124.465 mph (P3 in Practice 2)

20) Mick Schumacher 1:10.7904 / 124.034 mph (P7 in Practice 2)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The first practice session was good for us; we were P2 overall but in the second session we had a clutch failure so that was a bummer. I’m glad we’re qualifying tomorrow so we can try to have a shot at this thing (a good qualifying and race result) because I feel like all of our cars are quick. Postponing it is better than not qualifying and going off of points (for starting position), that’s for sure.”

FAST FACTS: Has ONE POLE (2023), two FRONT ROW STARTS and THREE PODIUMS (2015, 2020, 2023) here… Will make his 18th INDYCAR start on the road course at IMS. Last year he led the team’s effort in taking three of the Fast Six spots with qualifying positions of second (Rahal), third (Foster) and fifth (DeFrancesco). In the race, he started second and took the lead at the start and ultimately led a race high 49 of 85 laps in the race. After taking the lead, he held it through two pit stops after the pit cycles shook out. During the second stint he closed on rookie Jacob Abel, who did not want to give up the lead lap, which closed Palou’s gap to Rahal by half and also caused Rahal to use up his overtake and tires. He had a slightly slower final stop and also had to use primary tires while those around him had the faster alternates and dropped to sixth place, which he held until the checkered flag for his best finish of the season to date. After a second-place finish on the road course at IMS in 2015 and 2020 (July) he hoped to breakthrough and win at IMS in August 2023 after starting from pole. He led the most laps at 36/85 but finished second to Scott Dixon in the closest INDYCAR SERIES finish ever at the IMS road course with a margin of -0.4779 to the winner. Dixon qualified 15th and spun due to an opening lap incident but utilized the early stop for repairs on Lap 5 and then chose a two-stop strategy after that which dictated fuel saving. In the closing stages, Rahal, in second, had a quicker pace than Dixon but was held up in traffic while trying to close the gap. He was also on used alternate tires for his final stint to Dixon’s new ones after flat-spotting a set in qualifying en route to pole. After getting around the lapped traffic between himself and Dixon with approx. 12 laps to go, he closed the gap from -3.5 seconds to -0.5 with a few laps to go but ultimately settled for second place with a margin of -04779 to the winner. In May 2023, Rahal battled from the back after opening lap contact from Kyle Kirkwood to finish 10th. Sixth place starter Kirkwood made contact with Rahal, who had pulled ahead in the first few turns of the opening lap. It sent him into other cars, and he ultimately had to pit to replace a right rear, punctured tire. A caution came out after that for two other cars, and he pit to top off before the race returned to green. He climbed into the lead for seven laps at one point and ultimately finished 10th to salvage his race… 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, Portland) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is currently 10th in NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 106.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think we had a good day. We were P7 and then P3 in practice one and two, in the dry. Obviously qualifying was going to be in the wet but hopefully we can have a good qualifying session tomorrow and see where we end up.”

FAST FACTS: This will mark Foster’s second INDYCAR race at the IMS road course. Last year he earned his top starting position to date of third place, which he later eclipsed at Road America with his first pole. In the race, he dropped to fourth on the start when teammate DeFrancesco passed him. He had started the race on new alternate tires but they fell off quicker than expected and instead of a planned pit stop on L22, the team called him in on L17. The team’s race pace and tire management wasn’t as expected, and he ultimately took the checkered flag in 11th place for his best INDYCAR career result to date. He also competed in three INDY NXT races on the road course at IMS with a best start of third in 2023 and a win in Race 2 in 2024.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 ENVE Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “My day started poorly I would say. We were in a very bad spot this morning with the car; it just didn’t felt awful. To have such a good turnaround was really good for practice two and to then be able to put a lap together even though we had new tires. I think we have a good package; we just need to fine tune it here and there and hopefully we’ll be able to go for a good qualifying tomorrow in the dry. I would have been keen to get out there and do a couple of laps in the wet; I think it would have been very good for me, for my knowledge of INDYCAR. From what I hear, you don’t really get that opportunity much to go drive in the wet. We’ll see when that next opportunity comes around. Hopefully it won’t necessarily be a qualifying session but still be somewhat of an official one just to get on the tires and track and build that knowledge.”

FAST FACTS: Mick returns to the site of his first INDYCAR experience — the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he first tested an Indy car for RLL on October 13, 2025. He has five series races under his belt since then as well as tests at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, WorldWide Technology Raceway and the IMS oval. Saturday’s event will mark his first INDYCAR race on a track his father Michael also raced on.

RLL AT THE IMS ROAD COURSE…. The Sonsio Grand Prix will mark the team’s 18th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 2.439-mile road course. The team’s highest finish is second by Graham Rahal in 2015, 2020 (July) and 2023 (August) and Lundgaard in 2022 (July). Lundgaard and Rahal also brought RLL their highest start of pole on the IMS road course in May 2023 (Lundgaard) and August 2023 (Rahal).

NEXT UP: FOX will begin coverage of the 85-lap race at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.