Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingPre-Race Notes
Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America
Round 8 of 17 in the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES


DATE:     June 16-18, 2023

PRACTICE BROADCAST:     Live on Peacock Premium on Friday from 4:00 – 5:15 p.m. ET, on Saturday from 10:45 – 11:45 a.m. and on Sunday from 10:15 – 10:45 a.m. ET.  Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).

QUALIFYING BROADCAST:     Live on Peacock Premium, the IRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis) from 1:45 – 3:15 p.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST:     Live on USA Network on Sunday, June 18 from 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET. And also on Peacock Premium, IRN, Sirius XM 160.

RACE BROADCAST:     Live on NBC on Sunday, June 4 from 3 – 6 p.m. ET. And also on Peacock Premium, IRN and Sirius XM 160.

TRACK LAYOUT:     4.048-mile, 14-turn permanent road course
RACE LENGTH:     55 laps / 222.6 miles
2022 WINNER:     Josef Newgarden
2022 POLESITTER:     Alexander Rossi (1:44.8656 / 137.799 mph)                 

RAHAL’S BEST ROAD AMERICA START / FINISH:     4th in 2007 (NHLR) and 2020 (RLL; Race 1) / 3rd in 2007 & 2016; will be his 10th Indy
car race here
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH:     3 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017
/ 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017

HARVEY’S BEST START / FINISH AT ROAD AMERICA:     2nd in 2021 – Race 1 of 2020 / 13th in 2022; will be his 6th race here
HARVEY’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH:     2nd – Indy GP & Road America (2020), St. Pete 2021 / 3rd at the Indy GP (2019)

LUNDGAARD’S BEST START / FINISH AT ROAD AMERICA:     13th / 10th – both in 2022; will be his 2nd race here
LUNDGAARD’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     3rd at Nashville & Portland 2022 / 2nd at the July Indy GP 2022

RLL’S BEST START / FINISH AT ROAD AMERICA:     1st – Kenny Brack (2001) / 2nd – Bobby Rahal (1996); 21 races here


NEWS & NOTES:

RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT ROAD AMERICA
The 2023 Sonsio Group Grand Prix at Road America will mark the 21st time for Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) Racing to compete in an Indy car race here.  The team competed in CART and Champ Car-sanctioned races here from 1992-2003 and again since 2016 with a best starting position of pole by Kenny Brack in 2001 and best finish of second place by Bobby Rahal in 1996. The team has earned a total of five podium finishes here (2nd – B. Rahal 1996; 3rd – B. Rahal 1992-1993, Kenny Brack 2000, Graham Rahal 2016).

Prior to 2023, the team prepared a total of 37 Indy car entries for drivers such as Bobby Rahal (1992-1998), Mike Groff (1993-94), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Kenny Brack (2000-01), Jimmy Vasser (2002), Michel Jourdain (2002-2003), Graham Rahal (2016-2020; two races in ’20. ’21-22), Takuma Sato (2018-2020; two races in ’20, ‘21), Jack Harvey (’22) and Christian Lundgaard (’22).  The team will enter the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank entry for Graham Rahal, the No. 30 Mi-Jack entry for Jack Harvey and the No 45 Hy-Vee entry for Christian Lundgaard to bring that total to 40 in 2023.  

RAHAL RETURNS TO ROAD AMERICA — A SEASON HIGHLIGHT FOR HIS FAMILY
The Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America will be Graham Rahal’s 10th Champ or Indy car race here and 14th overall. In nine Indy car races here, his highlights include two third place finishes (2007, 2016), a fourth place (2019), sixth (2018) and two eighth places (2017, 2022). Last year, he started 22nd and utilized the third caution to pit early which later helped him run as high as second and gain valuable track position. He was running seventh in the final restart with three laps to go and lost a spot to McLaughlin and took the checkered flag in eighth place. In 2021, he ran at the front in each session, with the exception of qualifying and the race. After starting 14th, he cycled as high as fourth before his first stop but struggled with the handling of his race car at various times throughout the race and finished 11th. In 2020, he matched his best start of fourth place for Race 1 and passed second place starter Harvey for third by Turn 1. He held the position and set his fastest lap of the race on Lap 8 when he passed Hunter-Reay for second. He started pursuit of leader Newgarden and closed the gap by 0.4 seconds as the pit window began to open between laps 12-14. He ran between 2.2-2.5-seconds behind Newgarden and took over the lead on Lap 13 when he pit. When he made his first of three stops on the following lap, he held a 4.3-second lead on Ferrucci. There was a problem with the fueling and the extended seconds in the pit dropped him to 11th place and 21-seconds behind the leader when he returned to the track. By the time the second pit stops started to take place, he cycled up to sixth before making his second stop on Lap 27 of 55. He settled into eighth place and moved into seventh when Harvey appeared to have a car issue that brought out the full course caution. The field made their third stops once the pits opened. Rahal held seventh through the restart and was unable to hold off a last lap charge by Ericsson, who had more Push-to-Pass, but then spun off course and Rahal took the checkered flag in seventh to keep his top-10 finish streak at the track alive. Rahal planned to realize the potential of a fast car on one of his favorite tracks in Race 2 but didn’t make it past the opening lap after qualifying fifth when he was hit by Will Power in Turn 3. The hard hit sent him off course ad into two different concrete walls in Turn 3. Power had previously made contact with Hunter-Reay in Turn 1 and was penalized for “avoidable contact” and had to go to the back of the field for the restart. He is looking forward to getting back to Road America for a good weekend.
              “I’m excited for Road America. Even after being repaved, I do think the performance we had at the GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis should translate to Road America. I’m excited to see how that works out and I’m interested to see the curbing and the transition. It looks like, in essence, that the curbing is all the same, the track itself aside from that has been repaved so I’m looking forward to experiencing that. I expect the grip to be very high considering its fresh and new. I think that Road America is just such a pure place, and it’s one of the last racing venues that really is like that. I think it’s going to be amazing. My expectation is that we are going to have a really great run. From the family perspective, it is kind of our family event. Outside of Mid-Ohio, it is the most family atmosphere that we get of the season. Maybe even more so, because our family is from the Chicagoland area. My uncle and all our friends tend to come up. With my grandfather racing there for so many years, then my father, and now me, it’s a special place overall for us. It’s one of the main events that I highlight every year and look forward to. Plus, everyone just loves Road America and the Elkhart Lake area and they enjoy Seibken’s so much that they can’t help but come and enjoy it every year.”

HARVEY AT ROAD AMERICA
In three of his five races at Road America, Harvey has started 3rd (2021), 2nd (2020 Race 1) and 9th (2020 Race 2). Last year, he started 20th and earned his highest career finish here of 13th after utilizing a good pace while stretching his fuel and quick stops. After earning his best start since joining the team of fourth place in the previous road course race at IMS in May, he is looking forward to getting to Road America and trying to better that mark.
              “Road America is the favorite of many people. It’s certainly seen as the – if not one of — the most premiere tracks in North America. The atmosphere and track are fantastic. It looks like it’s just been resurfaced and the initial read is that the track has gotten quite a bit quicker and you’re never going to hear drivers ever complain about that so I’m definitely optimistic about heading there. Our road course car has been pretty solid. Certainly, the Indy GP is a good indicator of that. We certainly started pretty far forward a couple of times at Road America, equaled my best start in second and started third as well so I’m very optimistic about the weekend we can have in the Mi-Jack car and am excited to get going there, have a smooth weekend and kick start the second half of the season off.”

LUNDGAARD AT ROAD AMERICA
After winning his first pole in the previous road course race at IMS in May, Lundgaard is excited about the opportunity to return to a road course. In his debut at the track last year, he started 13th, conserved his fuel while maintaining a strong pace and cycled into the lead for his second of three stops on Lap 30 of 55 and went on to take the checkered flag in 10th place. On Saturday, he was a mere 0.01 from progressing to Group 2 and ended up seventh in his qualifying round.  He is looking forward to the opportunity to match his best series start and better his series-high finish of second place, also set at the IMS road course.
              “Road America is one of the coolest tracks on the calendar in my opinion. I love the carousel, and all the high speed corners and the track has been resurfaced this year, which I think is going to help us. As drivers, it’s going to produce more grip and by the sounds of it, it looks like it’s super-smooth so I’m looking forward to that. I’m excited to see if we can produce a good result at Road America coming off of our performance at the last road course we raced on where we put it on pole and finished fourth. I think the weekend will be quite good for the Hy-Vee team. Its one of the tracks we were stronger at last year during my rookie season so I’m looking forward to getting the weekend going there.”

POINT STANDINGS AFTER 7 OF 17 RACES
Heading into Round 8 at the Sonsio Grand Prix, Lundgaard has a total of 136 points and is ranked 13th overall. Rahal is 18th with 99 points and Harvey is 23rd with 78.