Graham Rahal

Graham Rahal

Rahal at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May 2010.
Nationality American
Born January 4, 1989 (1989-01-04) (age 23)
Columbus, Ohio
2012 IZOD IndyCar Series
Debut season 2007
Current team Chip Ganassi Racing
Car no. 38
Former teams Newman/Haas Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Rahal Letterman Racing
Sarah Fisher Racing
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Starts 44
Wins 1
Poles 2
Best finish 8th in 2009
Previous series
2007
2006
2005
Champ Car World Series
Champ Car Atlantic
Star Mazda Championship
Awards
2011 24 Hours of Daytona winner

Graham Rahal (born January 4, 1989 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American race car driver. He currently participates in the IZOD IndyCar Series. He is the son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal.

Contents

[hide]

Racing Career

Early racing

In 2005, he won the Formula Atlantic class at the SCCA Runoffs and finished fourth in Star Mazda Series standings. He drove in the last two rounds of the 2005–2006 A1 Grand Prix season for A1 Team Lebanon as he is of Lebanese descent. He moved to a full-time ride in the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2006, where he won five races and finished second in the season standings. He also drove in the Indy Pro Series event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in conjunction with the United States Grand Prix and finished second. SpeedTV reported in August 2006 that Graham would drive for Newman/Haas Racing in the Champ Car World Series in 2007.[1]

2007

On January 27 Rahal drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona. One of four drivers of the Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley, the car ran into early troubles and finished 62nd out of 70 entries. On March 18, he drove in the 12 Hours of Sebring American LeMans Series race for his father's Rahal Letterman Racing team. He drove a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR with two other drivers, finishing 6th in the GT2 class and 15th overall.

On March 27 news reports from the previous summer were finally confirmed when he was announced as the second driver for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in the Champ Car World Series[2] and drove the #2 Panoz DP01 sponsored by MEDI|ZONE alongside his teammate, three-time series champion Sébastien Bourdais.

On April 8 in his debut in the Champ Car World Series at the Vegas Grand Prix, Rahal hit the wall on the front stretch on the first lap. He was knocked out of the race. On April 15 at Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach he finished his first Champ Car race, ending up 8th.

On April 22, in just his 3rd Champ Car race, he became the youngest ever podium finisher in Champ Car history after finishing 2nd in Houston. Rahal completed his rookie season in 5th place in series points with four podium finishes but without a race win.

2008

With the creation of a single American open wheel racing series for 2008, Rahal and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team became part of the IndyCar Series, including Rahal's first Indianapolis 500.

He missed the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 due to a crash in testing after which his team could not get his car repaired in time for the race. He made his series debut at the second race of the season, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and despite an early spin in the race, Rahal won the race by 3.5192 seconds from two-time defending winner of the race, Hélio Castroneves. He is currently the youngest person to win a major American open wheel race[3] and the fourth to win in his first appearance in the IndyCar Series. The best finish Rahal would manage the rest of the year was a pair of 8th places at Watkins Glen and Infineon and he finished 17th in points, 4th among series rookies.

2009

Rahal returned to Newman/Haas/Lanigan for the 2009 IndyCar Series season, taking over the #02 car with Mc Donald's as his sponsor. He began the season by taking pole position at St. Petersburg, his first in his IndyCar career and the youngest ever polesitter at 20 years and 90 days old. This was the first time a Rahal had won an IndyCar pole since his father started first at Toronto in 1992, which was Bobby's third in a row that season.[4] He finished seventh after damaging the car in a first lap clash. His season was also undermined by bad relations with his team-mate Robert Doornbos – when the Dutchman left midseason, Rahal commented "We could certainly have a second driver who is more of a team player."[5] He finished the season 7th in points with two podium finishes.

Rahal was linked with USF1, the American based Formula One team set to debut in the 2010 World Championship. The team's sporting director, Peter Windsor, has mentioned Rahal as a potential candidate for a seat with the Charlotte based outfit.[6] However, Windsor later decided against hiring either Rahal or Marco Andretti due to fears they may not be able to get their F1 Superlicenses in time for the 2010 season. Eventually, the team failed to answer the bell for the 2010 Formula One season.

2010

Graham Rahal did not return to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, due to McDonald's discontinuing their sponsorship to focus on the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

On March 10, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced Rahal would pilot Fisher's #67 Dollar General car in the first two North American events of 2010, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Sarah Fisher was originally planning on driving the races herself (in addition to seven ovals) before deciding that putting Rahal in the car could be a benefit to everyone, including her sponsor Dollar General, whose home office is in Goodlettsville, Tennessee (near the Alabama track).[7] On April 6, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced they will be adding the Grand Prix of Long Beach to Rahal's schedule. Rahal's placing in those three races were ninth, 17th, and 22nd (retired) respectively.

After the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Rahal was signed to drive for his father's team, Rahal Letterman Racing, in the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Graham qualified in the seventh position for the race, and finished 12th.

On June 10, 2010, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced the signing of Rahal for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway, filling in for the injured Mike Conway in the #24 entry. It was his only start for the team.

Rahal returned to Newman/Haas Racing for 6 of the remaining 8 races of the 2010 season, starting with Toronto and returned to Sarah Fisher Racing for the Kentucky Speedway race. Rahal's 2010 totals include 12 starts for four different teams and a 20th place finish in points.

On October 10, 2010, Rahal finished runner-up at the RoboPong 200 all-star kart event at the New Castle Motorsports Park with teammate Conor Daly.[8]

2011

Rahal has signed to drive the #38 car for Chip Ganassi Racing with Service Central sponsorship beginning in 2011 as the team will expand from two to four cars.[9]

Rahal, co-drove the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates car to victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona along with Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, and Joey Hand. It came 30 years after his father, Bobby, along with Brian Remond and Bob Garretson won the race.

Personal life

Rahal attended New Albany school systems in Ohio and graduated in June 2007 with plans to attend Denison University.

Motorsports career results

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing
2004 Formula BMW USA Vitesse Farm Racing 14 0 0 63 7th
2005 Star Mazda Series Bobby Rahal Automotive Group 12 0 1 370 4th
2005–06 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Lebanon 6 0 0 6 23rd
2006 Champ Car Atlantic Conquest Racing 12 0 5 242 2nd
Indy Pro Series Kenn Hardley Racing 1 1 0 43 28th
2007 Champ Car World Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 14 0 0 243 5th
2008 IndyCar Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 19 0 1 288 17th
2009 IndyCar Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 17 2 0 385 8th
2010 IndyCar Series Sarah Fisher Racing 4 0 0 235 20th
Rahal Letterman Racing 1 0 0
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 1 0 0
Newman/Haas Racing 6 0 0

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2005–06 Lebanon GBR
SPR

GBR
FEA

GER
SPR
GER
FEA
POR
SPR
POR
FEA
AUS
SPR
AUS
FEA
MYS
SPR
MYS
FEA
UAE
SPR
UAE
FEA
RSA
SPR
RSA
FEA
IDN
SPR
IDN
FEA
MEX
SPR

13
MEX
FEA

14
USA
SPR

Ret
USA
FEA

Ret
CHN
SPR

18
CHN
FEA

11
23rd 0
2006–07 NED
SPR
NED
FEA
CZE
SPR

12
CZE
FEA

12
CHN
SPR
CHN
FEA
MYS
SPR
MYS
FEA
IDN
SPR
IDN
FEA
NZL
SPR

NZL
FEA

AUS
SPR

AUS
FEA

RSA
SPR

RSA
FEA

MEX
SPR

MEX
FEA

CHN
SPR

CHN
FEA

GBR
SPR

GBR
SPR

23rd 0

American open–wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Champ Car Atlantic

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2006 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing
LBH
5

HOU
15

MTY
1

POR
Ret

CLE1
1

CLE2
1

TOR
Ret

EDM
2

SJO
12

DEN
1

MTL
1

ROA
Ret
2nd 242

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2006 Kenn Hardley Racing
HMS

STP1

STP2

INDY

WGL

IMS
2

NSH

MIL

KTY

SNM1

SNM2

CHI
28th 43

Champ Car

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
2007 N/H/L Racing
LVG
Ret

LBH
8

HOU
2

POR
9

CLE
8

MTT
7

TOR
Ret

EDM
3

SJO
6

ROA
3

ZOL
3

ASN
9

SRF
11

MXC
4
5th 243

IndyCar Series

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2008 N/H/L Racing
HMS
Wth

STP
1

MOT1
DNP

LBH1
13

KAN
12

INDY
33

MIL
25

TXS
11

IOW
10

RIR
18

WGL
8

NSH
12

MDO
16

EDM
26

KTY
25

SNM
8

DET
13

CHI
19

SRF2
9
17th 288
2009 N/H/L Racing
STP
7

LBH
12

KAN
7

INDY
31

MIL
4

TXS
22

IOW
11

RIR
3

WGL
13

TOR
20

EDM
7

KTY
5

MDO
8

SNM
21

CHI
5

MOT
3

HMS
11
7th 385
2010 Sarah Fisher Racing
SAO

STP
9

ALA
17

LBH
22

KAN

KTY
20
20th 235
Rahal Letterman Racing
INDY
12

TXS
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
IOW
9

WGL
Newman/Haas Racing
TOR
5

EDM

MDO
20

SNM
9

CHI
10

MOT
8

HMS
10
2011 Chip Ganassi Racing
STP
17

ALA
18

LBH
13

SAO
2

INDY
3

TXS1
9

TXS2
30

MIL
2

IOW
15

TOR
13

EDM
25

MDO
24

NHM
26

SNM
8

BAL
10

MOT
12

KTY
12

LVS
9th* 320*
* 2011 season in progress.
1 Run on same day.
2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)
Top 10s
(Non-podium)
Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
4 6 62 2 1 5 20 0 0
** Podium (Non-win) indicates 2nd or 3rd place finishes.
*** Top 10s (Non-podium) indicates 4th through 10th place finishes.

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2008 Dallara Honda 13 33 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2009 Dallara Honda 4 31 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2010 Dallara Honda 7 12 Rahal Letterman Racing
2011 Dallara Honda 30 3 Chip Ganassi Racing

References

  1. ^ Miller, Robin, Graham Rahal Set for Newman/Haas Ride in '07, SpeedTV.com, August 13, 2006
  2. ^ GRAHAM RAHAL TO DRIVE THE NO. 2 MEDI | ZONE RACE CAR FOR NEWMAN/HAAS/ LANIGAN RACING IN THE 2007 CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP, CCWS press release, March 29, 2007
  3. ^ Cavin, Curt. Rahal's victory sets open-wheel record, Indianapolis Star, April 6, 2008
  4. ^ http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/RahalBobby.htm
  5. ^ Doornbos quits, Philippe rejoins, Crash.net, 5 August 2009, Retrieved 2010-03-11
  6. ^ Autosport.com. USF1 open-minded on engine partner, Autosport.com, February 24th, 200
  7. ^ Ryan, Nate. Graham Rahal to drive two IndyCar races for Sarah Fisher, USA Today, May 10, 2010, Retrieved 2010-3-11
  8. ^ IndyCar: Jay Howard, Bill McLaughlin Jr. win all-star kart race, AutoWeek, October 11, 2010, Retrieved 2011-01-31
  9. ^ Spencer, Lee. Chip Ganassi Racing expanding, FOX Sports, December 16, 2010, Retrieved 2011-01-31

External links