Sato, Foster, Rahal and Schumacher Focused on Qualifying Runs Today and Were Pleased With Progress Ahead of Fast Friday and Indy 500 Qualifying

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

110th Running of the Indianapolis 500

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

PRACTICE NOTES / QUOTES – May 14, 2026

SATO, FOSTER, RAHAL AND SCHUMACHER FOCUSED ON QUALIFYING RUNS TODAY AND WERE PLEASED WITH THE PROGRESS AHEAD OF FAST FRIDAY AND QUALIFYING FOR THE INDY 500

1) Pato O’Ward 227.308 mph 8th on the no tow chart

17) Takuma Sato 223.876 mph 1st on the no tow chart

29) Louis Foster 222.293 mph 16th on the no tow chart

31) Graham Rahal 222.034 mph 26th on the no tow chart

32) Mick Schumacher 221.902 mph 20th on the no tow chart

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a good day; I think it was on target as far as what we want to accomplish. We’re competitive. Are we as fast as maybe we would like to be? No, but I think we’re in a mix with everybody. Most cars are all about the same speed, to be honest. So that’s a good sign, though. We’re not scrambling for speed. We’ve just got to have a good day tomorrow. When the boost goes up, we’ve just got to try to make sure the balance of the car stays relatively the same, and if it does, I think we’ll be looking really good. I would image the increase will equate to about 10 miles an hour or thereabouts. It’s been a great week so far, so we’ve just got to continue on down this path and try to make sure we put a solid day together tomorrow.”

FAST FACTS: Rahal was 6th on the timesheets Tuesday and 4th Wednesday… Will be his 19th Indy 500. His best qualifying position in the Indy 500 is fourth in 2009 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and best finish is third with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in 2011 and RLL in 2020. Detailed information is 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, Portland) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is 9th in INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 141 and his pit crew leads the Firestone Pit Stop Challenge.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a decent day. I think we got three or four runs in maybe. I got a good feel for the car. We had some issues, but they are things that we know had to fix pretty easily, but the car felt good and the speed was there. I think we made a big step forward from last year generally. You can really see the progress the team has made over the last 12 months.”

FAST FACTS: Will be Foster’s second Indy 500. In 2025, he qualified 20th and finished 12th. His best series start to date is pole at Road America in 2025 and his best finish came at the previous race — the Sonsio Grand Prix – of seventh place… He is ranked in 19th place in the point standings with 86.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 ENVE Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was it was a positive day. We got through a lot of our program and the qualy sims (qualifying simulations) at the end were very fun. I learned a lot with lots to still to digest and understand.”

FAST FACTS: This will be his first Indy 500. His best INDYCAR start came on the Phoenix oval with 4th place and his best series finish also came there with 18th place despite having an issue with a wheel gun on a pit stop. He is ranked third in the Rookie of the Year standings and 25th in series standings with 54 points.

TAKUMA SATO, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a solid, good day. It was good preparation for Fast Friday and qualifying. There were a lot of things on our list to check for the race setup but, for now, we needed to concentrate on the qualifying package and it worked really well. The conditions today are almost perfect and it’s only Thursday but it was looking good today.”

FAST FACTS: The two-time Indy 500 champion earned his second front-row start for the team (third overall, after 2020) with a career-best starting position of second. He led the first 51 of 88 laps — the most in the race — before a pit error dropped him to a ninth-place finish. Despite the setback, he was the highest-qualifying Honda-powered driver among the 15 Honda entries, starting second. In 2024, he started 10th for his 15th Indy 500 and finished 14th. He competed for RLL full time in 2012 and from 2018-2021 and won the Indy 500 with RLL in 2020. He has earned six NTT INDYCAR SERIES wins, four of which have come with RLL, including the team’s second Indy 500 win in 2020. Sato competed in oval races with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023. Other Indy 500 highlights with RLL include the 2012 where he was alongside eventual winner Franchitti in Turn 1 on the final lap but his race ended due to contact after he was squeezed down on the apron and lost control of his race car. He also finished third for RLL in 2019 and was a contender in the final laps… Has SIX INDYCAR SERIES wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval, 2018 – Portland road, 2019 – Barber road, Gateway oval; 2020 Indy 500 ) and 10 poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval; 2019 Barber road, Texas oval; 2020 St. Louis – Race 2).

NEXT UP: Fast Friday practice will take place tomorrow from 12-6 p.m. ET. FOX Sports 2 will carry coverage between 12-4 p.m. ET and FOX Sports 1 will carry coverage from 4–6 ET.