Speeds Increased on Fast Friday in Preparation for Indianapolis 500 Qualifying

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
109th Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
FAST FRIDAY NOTES / QUOTES – May 16, 2025

SPEEDS INCREASED ON FAST FRIDAY IN PREPARATION FOR INDIANAPOLIS 500 QUALIFYING

1)         Scott McLaughlin        233.954 mph    5th on the no tow chart
12)       Takuma Sato               231.365 mph    12th on the no tow chart           
17)       Louis Foster                230.987 mph    17th on the no tow chart
28)       Graham Rahal              229.527 mph    27th on the no tow chart           
30)       Devlin DeFrancesco    229.166 mph    29th on the no tow chart

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We have enough speed, we’ve just got to make the car more consistent. What’s a little weird is that when we try to run what Louis and Devlin has, my car never changes; the balance is always the same. We tried some things at the end of the session, and I do think we made it a little bit better We’ve still got work to do tomorrow. We didn’t complete our four laps because I thought I heard ‘checkered flag’ on the radio and was confused. We’ve got a little work to do in the practice and then see what we get in qualifying.”

• FAST FACTS: Will be his 18th 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. Was bumped in qualifying for the 2023 Indy 500 by then-teammate Harvey but competed in the race as a replacement for the injured Stefan Wilson and finished 22nd after mechanical issues on the starting grid. Detailed Indy 500 information 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 13th in INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 92.

DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, No. 30 Dogecoin Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We seemed to have done our running in the heat of the day but generally I think we’re in a good spot with the car. Honestly, doing it in the heat of the day isn’t very beneficial and it won’t be that representative of tomorrow. We put together four good laps in difficult conditions and the track clearly got much faster towards the end of the day. Competitors that were around us that weren’t quite as strong as we were jumped us at the end of the day (on the timesheets) but I think that’s mainly due to track conditions. I think we’re going to make a good step forward tomorrow on the No. 30 Dogecoin Honda.”

• FAST FACTS: This will be his third Indy 500. His best Indy 500 start is 24th in 2022 and his best finish is 13th in 2024. After one year away from the series, DeFrancesco matched his best INDYCAR start of fifth place in the 2025 Sonsio Grand Prix at the previous race – for his second fifth place start on the IMS road course after also starting fifth here in 2023. He is ranked 25th in the INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 44 points. 

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a really good day actually. We set a good time and the Desnuda car feels great so all of the credit goes to the guys at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The engineers have worked their tails off today to get the car in the window so us on the No. 45 car and we’re feeling confident going into tomorrow. Dev, Takuma and I feel pretty good, Graham less so but they improved at the end of the day. We started off the test Tuesday not in a great spot, came together with the engineers and mechanics, who all have put in long hours so it just shows how much of a team effort this event is. We’ll see where we stack up tomorrow.”

• FAST FACTS: Will be Foster’s first Indy 500. His best series start to date is third at the previous race – the Sonsio Grand Prix and his best finish is 11th – also at the Sonsio GP… He is ranked in 23rd place in the point standings with 49.

TAKUMA SATO, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a quite challenging day with windy and hot conditions. We weren’t happy with the first few attempts in terms of the balance; we needed to get all the pieces together. Later in the day, I had the opportunity to try it out and ran four laps and the balance was a lot more improved.”

• FAST FACTS: The two-time Indy 500 champion started 10th for his 15th Indy 500 in 2024 and sixth with the team 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. Prior to that, 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: Qualifying will take place tomorrow from 11-5:50 p.m. ET.