Practice is Complete for the 2022 Indy 500; The Team Will Continue Preparations for Friday’s Carb Day

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing106th Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
FINAL PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – May 23, 2022

PRACTICE IS COMPLETE FOR THE 2022 INDY 500; THE TEAM WILL CONTINUE PREP FOR CARB DAY ON FRIDAY

1)         Alex Palou                   229.441 mph   
12)       Christian Lundgaard   225.616 mph   
23)       Jack Harvey                 224.463 mph
26)       Graham Rahal              224.389 mph

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The United Rentals car was not bad today. I think it’s going to be quite challenging in the back of the pack and I think we are going to have to work really good on strategy and stuff to be able to find our way forward. The biggest thing is to not make any mistakes and get ourselves further back. I think our car was fairly competitive today. We ran similar downforce as what we are going to see in the race and a lot of guys looked like they ran much higher downforce levels which I think is going to be tricky for them come race day when you can’t match that. All in all it was a solid day. We’d like to be quicker but so far so good.”

  • FAST FACTS: Will be his 15th 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 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 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 currently 12th in series standings with 98 points.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 30 PeopleReady Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Practice is done and we were P12 but I’m not necessarily that happy with the car’s performance but we will work on it. We have Carb Day to go and I’m confident that we can work forward. The time didn’t seem to be that bad in terms of speed but it’s all about being comfortable. It’s a long race. We got there towards the end, we were moving in the right direction. Obviously P12 is not bad position wise, the two other guys are very happy with the car so we are going to do a debrief and speak about the differences in the car and make sure that we are the ones that come out on top.”

  • FAST FACTS: This will be Lundgaard’s first Indy 500 and second oval race. He started 24th and ran in the top-10 in his oval racing debut at Texas Motor Speedway in the late stage of the race but ultimately retired I 19th after contact with Herta. He has competed in six INDYCAR SERIES races with a best start of 4th place (IMS road course 2021) and best finish of 9th (IMS road course, 2022)… He is the highest ranked rookie in 17th place in the point standings with 79.

JACK HARVEY, 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “So that’s the last practice before Carb Day. I think we made pretty good progress today with our race car. We ended not too unhappy, I think we found a good direction path to spend the next few days talking about, looking at and exploring, and be ready for Carb Day. I think we ended with some promise and I that’s a really good place for us to be to have a nice little break here for a few days. We will come back and figure out how we turn our No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda from looking not too shabby to really good.” 

  • FAST FACTS: The race will mark the sixth time for Harvey to compete in the Indy 500. His best start in the Indy 500 is 20th, two times (2020-2021) and best finish is ninth (2020). His highest overall series start is second place and he has accomplished the feat three times, including here (2020 – IMS road course, Road America Race 2; 2021 – St. Pete). The IMS road course is also the site of his highest series finish of third place in 2019. He is ranked 21st with 61 points.  

NEXT UP: Carb Day practice will take plac from 11-1 p.m. ET on Friday, May 27. Get a behind-the-scenes look at preparations for the 106th Indianapolis 500 via the Digital Ally Garage Camera on www.rahal.com. NBC will televise the Indy 500 on Sunday, May 29 beginning at 11 a.m. ET.