Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingChildren’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix
Round 4 of 17 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – Saturday, April 29, 2023

LUNDGAARD TO START SIXTH IN THE CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX; RAHAL AND HARVEY 19TH AND 24TH

1)     Romain Grosjean       1:05.8396 / 125.760 mph     (Group 1, Round 3)
6)     Christian Lundgaard  1:06.1601 / 125.151 mph     (Group 2, Round 3)
19)   Graham Rahal             1:06.2504 / 124.980 mph     (Group 1, Round 1)  
24)   Jack Harvey                 1:06.7181 / 124.104 mph    (Group 2, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 One Cure Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I thought that we were decent. I was surprised to see how slow we were, relative to the others, but it was a pretty tight group. We came up a bit short. We still have some issues in some corners that are haunting us. We’ve just got to try to close that gap, which likely means just going back to Christian’s setup and seeing how it is tomorrow.”

• FAST FACTS: Rahal will compete in his 13th race here… His best start here is second place in 2019 to bring the team a 1-2 start… He played a major factor in the most exciting races of the 2015 and 2016 seasons as he challenged for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama win but earned his best finish here of second place both times… 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.

JACK HARVEY, No. 30 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Heading into qualifying, we were optimistic about being on the cusp of transferring. I felt we were anywhere from P12 to a P18 kind of car so I’m disappointed  with where we finished. It’s not crystal clear to me where the speed was because the car didn’t feel too terrible, so it’s just got to be a sum of all the parts. I’m pretty disappointed in the end. Tomorrow is when it counts so we just need to try and build a good race car now. We need a little more stability at the rear and see what the guys can do to help us on strategy.”

• FAST FACTS: It will be Harvey’s fourth INDYCAR race at the track and eighth overall.  He competed in Indy car races here in 2019 and 2021 with a best start and finish of 11th in 2021. He also competed in two doubleheader Indy Lights events here in 2014 and 2015 where he started second twice and earned three podiums in four races with his top finish being second place in Race 1 and 2 in 2015.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We made the Fast Six, we like that! It was an amazing day in Barber and an awesome weekend so far. The pace has been great. The No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda has been fast and we got into the Firestone Fast Six and will be going for it tomorrow and I’m quite excited. I will get a good night’s rest and we’ll get after it tomorrow. The last time I was in the Firestone Fast Six and qualified sixth, we finished on the podium (second place in the Indy GP 2, 2022) but we want to be up one further than that so we’ll aim for that tomorrow.”

• FAST FACTS: This is Christian’s best start of the season with sixth place. He is returning to the site of his first experience in an Indy car (July 26, 2021).  Last year, he started 14th here and ran as high as ninth before his first stop, which was delayed by David Malukas entering the pit ahead of him as he needed to depart which dropped him many positions and he ultimately finished 15th. 

RLL AT BARBER: In 2019, the team qualified 1-2 for the race here, which was the first time the team locked out the front row of an Indy car race since the September 11, 2005 race at Chicagoland when Danica Patrick won pole and Buddy Rice started second. Sato led 74 of 90 laps en route to victory. The 2023 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix will mark the 11th INDYCAR SERIES race for the team at Barber Motorsports Park (BMP).

NEXT UP:  The pre-race warm-up will take place from 12-12:30 PM. The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix will be televised on NBC from 3:00-6:00 PM ET Sunday, April 30.