Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend – Iowa Speedway
Hy-Vee Homefront 250 Presented by Instacart – Saturday, July 22
Hy-Vee One Step 250 Presented by Gatorade – Sunday, July 23
Pre-Race Notes
Round 11 & 12 of 17 in the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES

DATE:     July 21-23, 2023

PRACTICE BROADCAST:         Live on Peacock Premium on Friday from 4:30 – 6:00 p.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 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST(S):     Live on NBC on Saturday, July 22 from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET and live on NBC on Sunday, July 23 from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. ET. And also, on Peacock Premium, IRN, Sirius XM 160.

TRACK LAYOUT:     0.875-mile tri oval
RACE LENGTH:     250 laps / 218.75 miles (Race 1 & 2)

2022 WINNERS:     Josef Newgarden (Race 1), Pato O’Ward (Race 2)
2022 POLESITTERS:     Will Power (178.199, Race 1), Will Power (178.013, Race 2)

RAHAL’S BEST IOWA START / FINISH:     6th in 2013 / 3rd in 2020 (Race 2); will be his 17th & 18th races here
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH:     3 Poles – St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit (street) 2017 / 6 Wins – St. Pete 2008, Fontana (oval; 500 miles) 2015, Mid-Ohio (road) 2015, Texas (oval) 2016; Detroit Race 1 2017, Detroit Race 2 2017

HARVEY’S BEST START / FINISH AT IOWA:     6th in 2020, Race 2 / 7th in 2020 Race 1 & 2; competed in the 2015 Indy Lights race; will be his 5th and 6th races 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 IOWA:     17th – Race 2 2022 / 10th in Race 1 2022; will be his third and fourth races here
LUNDGAARD’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     2 Poles – IMS (road course) 2023, Toronto (street) 2023 / 1 Win – Toronto (street) 2023

RLL’S TOP START / FINISH AT IOWA:     4th by Sharp in 2007 / 3rd – 2020 Race 2 by G. Rahal, 2018 by Takuma Sato and 2007 by Scott Sharp

NEWS & NOTES:

RLL AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
The 2023 Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend will mark the 15th and 16th events for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) at Iowa Speedway. The best finish for the team is third place (2020 Race 2 by G. Rahal, 2018 by Sato and 2007 by Scott Sharp). Sharp also earned the top start for the team of fourth in 2007.  Prior to the 2023 events, the team prepared a total of 24 entries for drivers Scott Sharp (2007), Jeff Simmons (2007), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2008), Takuma Sato (2012, 2018-2020 x 2) Graham Rahal (2013-2020 x 2, 2022 x 2), James Jakes (2013), Christian Lundgaard (2022 x 2) and Jack Harvey (2022 x 2). The team has earned three podiums (3rd – Sharp 2007, Sato 2018, Rahal 2020) and 11, top-10 finishes at the track. The team will prepare the No. 15 Blue Compass RV entry for Graham Rahal, the No. 30 HUB International entry for Jack Harvey and the No. 45 Hy-Vee entry for Christian Lundgaard for the weekend.

GRAHAM AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
The 2023 Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend doubleheader will mark Graham Rahal’s 17th and 18th races here. He has earned 11 top-10 finishes in 16 starts with his best being fourth in 2015. Last year, in Race 1 he started 16th, fell to the back of the field early on and worked his way back up to a ninth place finish. In Race 2, he started 23rd, fell to the back in 26th and then worked his way back up to 13th in the closing stage of the race but was passed by Palou with six laps to go and took the checkered flag in 14th. In 2020, he started his 13th race here from 21st place and stayed on the lead lap until Lap 23 of 250. The team was on a four-stop strategy and the handling appeared to improve mid-to-late race but he reported a vibration and struggled with the handling of the car so he made another stop from 10th place on Lap 227 and ultimately finished 12th. In Race 2, in the Hy-Vee Honda, he set the eighth fastest time in the pre-race practice and started from 19th place. He extended his stint the longest and made his first stop from the lead on Lap 63. Due to track position, he went a lap down but was able to get it back by Lap 84 before he made his second stop from the lead on Lap 119 under caution for Carpenter once the pits opened. He returned to the track in fourth place and closed on third place Power before passing him on Lap 129 for third. He cycled back into the lead on Laps 171-174 before his third stop on Lap 175 and had moved into sixth a few laps later when Hunter-Reay brought out a caution. After the pits opened, a few drivers made stops and he restarted in fourth place. Once third place Daly made his stop, Rahal moved into third on Lap 216 and held it until the checkered flag. He is looking forward to helping Hy-Vee put on a good show and continuing the team momentum with a good finish in the Blue Compass RV Honda.
              “Iowa Speedway is a great place to go racing. I’m excited to go back. The track has aged further and the bumps have gotten more extreme which makes it more challenging, particularly in Turns 3 and 4. Last year in Race 2, I thought we had a really, really good car but unfortunately, we went down a few laps by pitting early on the first stint which ruined the rest of our race. We have to keep our heads down this time around and make sure we put ourselves in a good position, don’t get caught out by the yellows (flags) like we did last year and hopefully put on a good show for Blue Compass RV and Hy-Vee, who has put so much into this event. I am confident after the test we had there last month that we will have a good weekend. I feel like our race car ought to be very good. At the test, it seemed like our race car was solid but we have some work to do on our qualifying setup. We have to find some things that will help us qualifying further up the grid.
              “Hy-Vee has done a wonderful job with this event. They have set the bar on how to promote an event and bring in new fans. They continue to increase that by doing things like bringing in new areas to watch from including the suites behind the pits, the access on the outside of the track and adding another one outside. The concert lineup of Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, the Zak Brown Band and Ed Sheeran – it just doesn’t get any better than that really. And to bring that to Newton, Iowa over two days is quite a feat and super cool. I’m looking forward to getting there and helping to put on a good show.”

JACK HARVEY AND IOWA SPEEDWAY
Last year, Harvey was the top qualifier for the team in seventh place for both races. For Race 1, he started seventh and finished 18th and in Race 2, he qualified seventh but Herta served a nine-position grid penalty and he started sixth. He held a position in the top-10 for the first 26 laps but ultimately finished in 2oth place. Jack also competed in the doubleheader at Iowa Speedway in 2020 and earned seventh place finishes in both races with a best start of sixth place in Race 2 and ninth in Race 1. He also competed at Iowa Speedway in the 2015 Indy Lights race where he started third and finished fifth. He is hoping to replicate the qualifying pace from last year and put the information gained from the recent test there to good use in the races.
              “Qualifying was very good but the races were more of a struggle last year. The inability to use multiple lanes hurt us quite a lot. We tested there last month and I think we have already made improvements in that department so if we can maintain our qualifying performance but just make the race car better, we should be in for a good weekend. Hy-Vee has pulled out all the stops once again. Whether you are talking about elevating the concert lineup, their work to get more people in by building more grandstands and suites or whatever, they’ve taken something that people already thought was cool and figured out a way to keep it sustainable. Everyone can do something cool one time but the ability to make it even better in the second year, I think, is pretty amazing. One of the things I like about Hy-Vee is their commitment to their communities and obviously they’re huge in that part of the country. For them to be doing what they’re doing now with their activation within INDYCAR, fits with how they are in their communities.
           “Both races will be great. Obviously, it’s a huge weekend for our team because we want to do as good of a job as we can in front of one of our biggest sponsors. Let’s go and have a great one.”

CHRISTIAN’S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
Christian is hoping to carry the momentum of earning his first series victory in Toronto on Sunday to the Hy-Vee sponsored doubleheader. It will be his third and fourth races at Iowa Speedway. Last year, in Race 1, he qualified 20th and drove to his highest career oval finish of 10th place. In Race 2, he qualified 17th and was running 15th when he pit due to brake issues after completing 112 of 300 laps. The team was unable to repair the car in time to return to the race and he retired in 26th place.  After running well during a test at Iowa Speedway on June 21, he is optimistic of being able to have a competitive run in the doubleheader races, one of which is on his 22nd birthday on Sunday, July 23.
              “Iowa Speedway is a pretty cool, fun track. It’s very challenging, very bumpy. It is fast and what I like is that once the pace comes down in the race, everybody can really drive side by side, which I think makes great racing. What Hy-Vee does for that event, bringing four concerts to the track and bringing people together is great for the sport. Now being in the Hy-Vee car, I obviously need to perform. I know there will be pressure on me but I’m just going to go out there and enjoy the weekend. I know from our test that we are moving forward in terms of performance. I do think we can do something great. We haven’t been fast on street circuits but we went to Toronto and put it on pole and won so anything can happen. We also need to be realistic. We haven’t been the fastest car on the ovals but we’re making progress which is exciting. And it will definitely be easy to find the Hy-Vee pit since we earned pit-out.”

TORONTO REWIND
To recap the team’s first win since the 2020 Indy 500 victory with Takuma Sato, Lundgaard not only earned his first pole on a street course, and second overall in INDYCAR. It was the team’s first win in Toronto and second pole there (Bobby Rahal 1992). Lundgaard’s previous win came in Mugello in 2020 in Formula 2. In keeping with team tradition, a checkered flag was raised at the new Zionsville HQ for the second time since moving in. A few weeks ago it was raised to celebrate the first win for BMW M Team RLL’s GTP program in IMSA.

POINTS BATTLE AFTER 10 OF 17 RACES
Heading into Round 11 and 12 of 17 at the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend, Lundgaard is in seventh place with a total of 248 points, Rahal is 14th with 167 and Harvey is 23rd with 101.