Saturday Night’s Bommarito Auto Group 500 Up Next for Rahal, Fittipaldi and Lundgaard

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Illinois
Pre-Race Notes
Round 13 of 17 in the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES

DATE:     August 16-17, 2024

RACTICE BROADCAST:     Live on Peacock Premium on Saturday from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. ET and 8:30 – 9:30 p.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).

QUALIFYING BROADCAST:     Live on Peacock Premium, the IRN and www.indycar.com from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST:     Live on USA on Saturday, August 17 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. ET. And also on Peacock, IRN, Sirius XM INDYCAR Nation 218 and SiriusXM NBC Sports Audio 85.

TRACK LAYOUT:     1.25-mile oval
RACE LENGTH:     260 laps / 325 miles

2023 WINNER:     Scott Dixon
2023 POLESITTER:     Josef Newgarden (180.040 mph)

RAHAL’S BEST WWTR START / FINISH:     7th in 2018 / 10th in 2018 & 2022; will be his 10th race here
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH:     5 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023 August, Portland (road) / 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017

FITTIPALDI’S BEST START / FINISH AT TORONTO:     First event here
FITTIPALDI’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     10th at Phoenix (2018) / 9th at Portland (2018)

LUNDGAARD’S BEST START / FINISH AT WWTR:     19th in 2022 / 17th in 2023; will be his third race here
LUNDGAARD’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     2 Poles – IMS (road course) 2023, Toronto (street) 2023 / 1 Win – Toronto (street) 2023

RLL’S BEST START / FINISH AT WWTR:     1st in 2020 (Race 2) by Takuma Sato / 1st in 2019 by Takuma Sato – 12 races (1997-2000, 2003, 2017-2019, 2 in 2020, 2021)

NOTES & QUOTES:

RLL AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY
The team returns to the 2024 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 in search of another pole and win in their 14th event at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR). In Race 1 in 2020, Sato was 0.14-seconds from becoming the first driver in almost two decades to earn back-to-back wins after winning the Indy 500 and finished second. The 1.25-mile oval hosted CART-sanctioned races from 1997-2000 and IRL races from 2001-2003 before the IndyCar Series returned in 2017. The team competed in all four CART races from 1997-2000 and one of the three IRL races (2003).  The best starting position for the team came in 2020 in Race 2 when Takuma Sato started from pole and the best finish came in 2019 when Takuma Sato won.  Prior to 2024, the team prepared a total of 26 Indy car entries for drivers such as Bobby Rahal (1997-1998), Bryan Herta (1997-1999), Max Papis (1999-2000), Kenny Brack (2000, 2003), Graham Rahal (2017-2020, x2, 2021-23), Takuma Sato (2018-2020, x2, 2021), Christian Lundgaard (2022-23), Jack Harvey (2022) and Conor Daly (2023).  The No. 15 Code 3 Associates entry for Graham Rahal, the No. 30 Mi-Jack entry for Pietro Fittipaldi and the No. 45 Hy-Vee entry for Christian Lundgaard will bring that total to 29 in 2024.

GRAHAM RAHAL AT WWTR
The 2024 race will be Rahal’s ninth at the track. His highest start is seventh place in 2018, and highest finish is 10th – in 2018 and 2022. In 2023, he qualified 23rd in the morning session and started 21st after several competitors served grid penalties for unapproved engine changes. The team attempted different strategy plays and he ultimately finished 20th. In 2022, he started 17th and worked his way into the lead for two laps (211-212) before his fourth and final pit stop on Lap 212 in the 260-lap race but right after he stopped, a caution came out for weather conditions on Lap 214 and the race was red flagged at 6:55 p.m. CT with Rahal in ninth. After a two-hour delay for lightning and to dry the track from a shower, the field restarted their engines at 9:05. Ericsson and Dixon, who were ahead of Rahal, pit for fresh tires and fuel as did Palou, when the pits opened. Rahal took the green flag from seventh place but was passed by Dixon and Ericsson on the restart and Palou a few laps later. He held his position and took the checkered flag in 10th place. In 2021, he was looking forward to the race after having a strong performance on long runs in the practice session where he ended fourth fastest. He qualified ninth and made a conservative start and dropped back to 12th. Ed Jones appeared to lose traction in the rear of his car and slid up into Rahal in Turn 1 and the two collided. Jones stopped on track and Rahal was able to continue to the pits but had substantial damage. The team tried to repair the car, first behind pit lane and then later in the garage area but had to retire from the event. Rahal is looking forward to getting back on track after the three week break.
“The break was good. It was a busy time with a lot going on with the family, but it was good to get away for a minute and get a lot of things done. The timing worked well because my business was able to move into our new facility. It’s great to be back in action this week. We’re excited for the final races with four on ovals and the final road course race. We had a great car at Iowa (oval), it’s just unfortunate having had the grid penalty but hopefully we can have the same type of car when we get to St. Louis – have a good car that is very competitive, very fast, start up front and make our lives lot easier. And have the same situation at the Milwaukee doubleheader and in Nashville. And Portland is coming up and is a track we were on pole last year so that has us optimistic of a good weekend. I have very high expectations there. It’s important to get as many points as possible. We’ve been very competitive this year in a lot of places, but we haven’t been able to put all of it together so it would be nice to finish up front with a win, or even a podium in this final stretch. Racing in the evening is always good. Having cooler track temps, it makes things more exciting for the fans and drivers. I’m excited to get going and have a great weekend for Code 3 Associates in St. Louis.”

PIETRO FITTIPALDI AT WWTR
It will be Pietro’s second time to race at this track. In 2018, he started 21st and finished 11th with Dale Coyne Racing. He enjoys racing on short ovals and is aiming to earn a top finish after coming close to matching his top career finish of ninth place this season.
“My break was pretty good. It was shorter than normal because I went to Spa in Belgium for my duties with the Haas F1 Team after Toronto, which has a fun. But then I stayed for two weeks in North Carolina with my family just enjoying the time there with my siblings, my parents and the dogs at home. I spent a lot of time on the simulator we have at home and played a lot of pickle ball and went biking with my brother, which we enjoy.
“We’ve had chances for good top-10, top-12 finishes recently but have unfortunately been hit with some adversity, most of which was out of our control to be honest. We’ve just got to keep pushing and keep executing because I’m sure the results will come. We’ve been preparing for St. Louis and was in the simulator on Monday. We’re getting ready for another short over race which I really enjoy so we’re all excited for that. There was good overtaking at St. Louis last year, but as we saw in Iowa, it was quite hard to overtake so we’re going see how it is this year in practice, but I hope that the overtaking is better than at Iowa. If not, then the goal will be on qualifying well because that will be a big factor in where you finish. But you need to have good starts and restarts, so that’s something we’re working on as well.”

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD AT WWT RACEWAY
Lundgaard heads to WWTR for his third race here. Last year, he qualified 20th and started 19th after grid penalties ahead of him. He cycled as high as fourth at one point during pit stops and ultimately finished 17th. In 2022, he started and finished 19th. His best oval finish to date is 10th place in Race 1 of the 2022 Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend doubleheader and he hopes to surpass that this weekend.
“It’s been a good few weeks off, with a lot of relaxation. I got to go back to Europe to see my family and grandparents and play a ton of golf. I’m feeling mentally calmer for the final stretch. Having a lot of ovals to come in this final stretch will be a challenge. I feel as a team, we made a step forward at Iowa on pure pace. We still have more pace to find but it’s reassuring that we found a direction that we’ve been able to move towards doing the break. Having four of the final five races be on ovals definitely favors those that have strong oval packages and could help them make steps forward in the standings, but I also feel like we’re capable of also moving forward. It’s going to be one hell of a race Saturday. St Louis is a fun track where a lot can happen in a short period of time. Having it be a night race will make it easier for the drivers in terms of temperatures, so I think good racing is to come. And having Juri race with us in Portland for the final road course of the season will help us get more data to have a good result there.”

POINTS BATTLE AFTER 12 OF 17 RACES
Heading into Round 15 at WWTR, Lundgaard is in 11th place in the series standings with a total of 229 points, Rahal is 17th with 197 and Fittipaldi is 19th with 135.