Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingXPEL 375 – Texas Motor Speedway
Round 2 of 17 in the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – Sunday, March 20, 2022


FERRUCCI FINISHED NINTH AS HARVEY’S REPLACEMENT IN THE XPEL 375 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY; LUNDGARD AND RAHAL RAN IN THE TOP-10 AND RETIRED IN 19TH AND 22ND

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fleet Cost & Care Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a disappointing end to our day here in Texas. We had made quite a move forward. I thought things were shaping up pretty good to battle here at the end. These things happen, but I’m obviously frustrated to be in that scenario. I was being a little bit cautious on the start. But I thought we gave him room (DeFrancesco), but I need to see it. Third man in needs to be first man out. I was trying to give Helio room on top too and being stuck in the middle was a little tough. We’re going to soldier on here. I feel bad for the team, Fleet Cost & Care, and everyone that worked awfully hard to get us here. But it’s part of the game unfortunately. We dug ourselves quite the hole here in points so we are going to have to put our heads down and battle forward.”

• FAST FACTS: Was running 10^th in the middle of three-wide with Castroneves (high side) and rookie DeFrancesco (low) and the latter made contact with Rahal and set off a multi-car crash after 128/248 laps… In Graham Rahal’s previous 15 races here, his best start came in 2012 of third and best finish is his win in 2016 that still stands as the closest finish in TMS history at 0.0080 of a second. In total, he has four podium finishes (1^st 2016; 2^nd in 2012; 3^rd in 2019 & 2021), seven top-five’s and nine top-10s in his 15 races and has finished sixth or better in six of his past seven races here. Last year, Rahal finished fifth (Race 1) and third (Race 2)… He 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 THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is ranked 12th in series point standings with 34. 

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 30 PeopleReady Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The first oval race is done here in Texas. It was a tough one to swallow at the end, (I) had some contact with Colton. In the end I’m happy to have the car in one piece, but it was one hell of an experience. I think the car was great all day, dirty air definitely makes a difference, but the car was just awesome in clean air. By the end we were catching up to everyone pretty quickly. We were basically the fastest car on the track at that point for quite some time. So I think as a first experience I can be satisfied, be happy. I came back in again because the car just didn’t feel right afterwards. I wasn’t going to put the car on the line, we were 4 laps down anyway at that point so we will take the experience and look forward to Long Beach.”

• FAST FACTS: Ran in the top-10 in his oval racing debut at TMS in the late stage of the race but ultimately retired after contact with Herta. He is ranked 15th in series point standings with 30.

SANTINO FERRUCCI, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Alright guys, so there you have it. Considering I was going to be racing my couch today, I am pretty happy to be racing for RLL and the Hy-Vee Honda. I had six laps of warmup this morning in a seat that wasn’t mine – I couldn’t see over the steering wheel, that was fun! I strapped in for the race and it was full send from there. I can’t be more happy with how everything turned out, and it was a lot of fun.”

• FAST FACTS:  Returned to the team as the replacement for Harvey, who was not cleared to drive by the INDYCAR medical team after a crash on Saturday. He started last (27^th) and was running 10^th on the final lap but took over ninth when VeeKay ran out of fuel.  

NEXT UP:  The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach will take place on April 10.