Practice 1 is Complete for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingChevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
PRACTICE NOTES/QUOTES – June 3, 2022


PRACTICE 1 IS COMPLETE FOR THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX

1)     Kyle Kirkwood             1:16.1345 / 111.119 mph       
18)   Christian Lundgaard   1:17.6968 / 108.885 mph       
19)   Graham Rahal              1:17.7188 / 108.854 mph
20)   Jack Harvey                 1:18.2212 / 108.155 mph

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The car was really, really harsh in the first run. I thought maybe we got a little bit better but the tire degradation is quite poor. We’ve just got a bit of a challenge on our hands here which is frustrating. We didn’t run new tires and I think some guys did, but not everybody, but we certainly expect to be up a lot higher up than that. Obviously Christian got to run two sets so we’ll go back and look at his data. Our first run, I think we were a second up on them so obviously they gained a lot in the second run so we need to figure out what that is. It’s a hand full, but we’ll go back to the drawing board today.”

  • FAST FACTS: The event will mark Rahal’s 18th race here. In 2021, he finished fifth in both races here. In 2019, he earned two seventh place finishes. Rahal’s most successful race weekend came in Detroit in 2017 where he won Dual 1 from pole and won Dual 2 from a third place start. His other podiums in the race came in 2014 with second place in Dual 1 and third place in Dual 2 in 2015.  Overall, he has two wins, four podiums and one pole in 15 races here…  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 14th in series standings with 130 points.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 30 PeopleReady Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s a bumpy, fun track. Some sections of the track definitely had more grip than the others. We’re trying to find this balance. It’s fun, we will get there. I’m sure we will move forward and make sure the car is good for tomorrow and then see where we are at.”

  • FAST FACTS: This is Lundgaard’s first race here. He has competed in seven 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 103.

JACK HARVEY, 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The baseline was a little different from where I thought it might put us. We are maintaining the optimism and are getting down to work to come back stronger tomorrow. Let’s go get it.”

  • FAST FACTS: This will mark Jack’s third race on Belle Isle. He competed in the 2021 INDYCAR doubleheader for Meyer Shank Racing where he started 19th, ran as high as ninth and finished 16th after five stops to the winner’s two due to a puncture and alternate strategy. He started 18th in Race 2 and finished 19th. His highest overall series start is second place and he has accomplished the feat three times (2020 – IMS road course, Road America Race 2; 2021 – St. Pete). His highest series finish is third place at the IMS road course in 2019. He is ranked 22nd with 73 points.  

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT DETROIT: The 2022 event will mark the 22nd year for Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) Racing to compete at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park and the team’s 30th race here.  The team’s highest start of pole came in 2017 with Graham Rahal earning his first pole since 2009 in Race 1Bobby and Graham Rahal have earned a combined total of three wins for the team here. Bobby won the inaugural race in 1992 and Graham is the only driver to have won both races on the same weekend, which he did in 2017. In total, the team has earned eight podiums (2nd – G. Rahal 2014, Jakes 2013 & Max Papis 2000), (3rd – G. Rahal 2015, Takuma Sato 2019) 12 top-five finishes and 24 top-10’s here (chart available).

NEXT UP:  Qualifying will take place tomorrow from 12:35-1:50 a.m. ET and will be broadcast live on Peacock and also on the AAPIRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis). The Chevrolet Grand Prix of Detroit will be televised live on USA Network beginning at 3:00 PM ET Sunday, June 5.