Rookie Foster Won His First INDYCAR pole at the XPEL GP at Road America; Rahal Rounded out Fast Six and DeFrancesco 19th After Interference

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
NTT INDYCAR SERIES – Round 9 of 17
QUALIFYING QUOTES – Saturday, June 21, 2025

ROOKIE FOSTER WON HIS FIRST INDYCAR POLE AT THE XPEL GRAND PRIX AT ROAD AMERICA; RAHAL ROUNDED OUT THE FIRESTONE FAST SIX AND DEFRANCESCO WAS 19TH AFTER INTERFERENCE

1)         Louis Foster                          1:44.5141 / 138.263 mph            (Group 2, Round 3)
6)         Graham Rahal                       1:45.4877 / 136.987 mph            (Group 1, Round 3)
19)       Devlin DeFrancesco             1:45.3317 / 137.189 mph            (Group 1, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Hendrickson Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Qualifying was good. It was a good day for the Hendrickson team and a good day for the team overall. I would have liked to be further up in the Fast Six but we made the strategy play to run the primary tire (in Round 3) because we didn’t need them for tomorrow because we’ve got so many tires. We didn’t use a lot in practice so it was like ‘Well, we’ve got an extra set so we might as well use these freshies and we’ll try to keep the reds for the race in case it magically turns into a red race.’ It’s good. I’m very happy for Louis but I’m just happy for the whole team.”

• FAST FACTS: Rahal almost matched his best start of fourth place here from 2007 and will start sixth. Will be his 12th Champ or Indy car race here and 16th overall. 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. In 11 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). A full list of results is available upon request… He is 18th in the series point standings with a total of 123.

DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, No. 30 Manitou Group Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a disaster of a day. With the speed that we had, we were easily just as fast as my teammates. We seemed to be a little strong than the other two in both practice sessions, on both compounds. Big congrats to Louis for pole and for Graham being in the Firestone Fast Six. I think it was a huge missed opportunity for us because I think we should have been fighting Louis to be on pole.”

• FAST FACTS: INDYCAR ruled that Dixon impeded Devlin in qualifying and dropped him to the back of the field from a top-six time in Round 1. It will be his third INDYCAR race at Road America. His best INDYCAR start is 12th in 2023 and his best finish is 18th in 2022 – both with Andretti Steinbrenner Racing. He matched his best career start of fifth place at the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS in May and is hoping to make another return to the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying at Road America to set he and the team up for a good finish in the race. He is ranked 25th in series standings with 78 points. 

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight / Desnuda Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I don’t really know what to say. Obviously a massive thank you to the team. They’ve done an amazing job. Yes, I guess it’s the moustache. I don’t know, man. If I’m honest, we kind of struggled a little bit throughout the three practices. When we got through to the Fast 12, I was surprised because I messed up my lap. We were sitting there before the group stage, the Fast 12 stage. I said to the guys, ‘I don’t think I have the car to make it through the Fast Six. Do you want throw some used tires on and maybe get a sport or two and see how it goes?’ They were confident in the ability of the car and myself to be able to push into the Fast Six, which obviously was the right call in the end. When we did the last run, again, we were just conserving reds. We were in the Fast Six. Top six starting spot for us is awesome alone. We just ran out, did the out-lap and pushed on the used reds. By the time I went through turn one, I was about 2/10ths up, then maintained that throughout the lap. Gained about a 10th or so in a couple corners. The reds held on really, really well clearly. Yeah, still a little bit in shock.
“The boys have been working their asses off, I’ll be honest. We had the crash in Detroit with the suspension failure. Then last weekend at St. Louis. Massive props to the 45 Droplight / Desnuda boys. They needed this to kind of push themselves through the summer stretch. All credit to them because, yeah, they worked endlessly these last two weeks. They’ve rebuilt the car twice. My target now is to focus and be with the team and make sure that we’ve got the race car to be able to battle up front and try to retain our position as long as possible up front. We’ll go for a win if we can. We have a fast car. Full focus on the race. We have to bring in some solid points. It will probably sink in after this weekend, for sure (smiling).
“I think teamwork is really the key for us at Rahal Letterman Lanigan. As soon as Graham finished his group stage, he jumps out of his car, the first thing he does is runs to me, let’s me know about certain things that he learned in the session. If that’s not teamwork, I don’t know what is. I don’t see any teams or drivers doing that. It’s really a family feeling at RLL. All three of us are super close. I think that really helps us push the program forward.”

• FAST FACTS: Earned his first INDYCAR SERIES pole in his ninth start. His previous best start is third for the Sonsio GP at IMS in May. It is the first pole for the team since Rahal won the top starting spot in Portland in 2023. During Foster’s two seasons in the INDY NXT series, his best start and finish at Road America came last year when he started and finished second. He qualified fifth and finished sixth in his rookie season. His best INDYCAR start this season came on the IMS road course of third and he is hoping to carry over that performance to Road America… He is 24th in series point standings with 82.

NEXT UP: Warm-up will take place from 9:02-9:27 a.m. CT tomorrow and coverage of the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX.