Source: Team PR

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – March 9, 2024

THE FIELD IS SET FOR THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES SEASON-OPENING FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETE

1)         Josef Newgarden          59.5714 / 108.777 mph       (Group 1, Round 3)
12)       Christian Lundgaard     1:00.0172 / 107.969 mph    (Group 2, Round 2)
22)       Graham Rahal               1:00.0953 / 107.829 mph    (Group 2, Round 1)
26)       Pietro Fittipaldi             1:00.5336 / 107.049 mp       (Group 2, Round 1)

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “An inch is a mile nowadays in INDYCAR racing. We were two-tenths (of a second) off transferring to Round 2 — or a little less than that, I think it was actually 0.17 — but that is 10 positions. It is so competitive, it is so close and you have to be on your game and we’re struggling really mightily with braking and downshifting into Turns 4 and 10. In those two spots I lost over two-tenths so it’s really frustrating. I’ve been trying everything I can to try to figure out how to get the braking bias right or get the downshift timing correct and we’ve got to figure it out overnight because it’s going to make for a long day tomorrow if we keep having the issues that we’re having. Unfortunately, it’s so competitive. Between Christian and myself, is only over a tenth-and- a-half and we start 10 positions different. That’s the world we live in today and we’ve got to put our heads down tonight and try to improve and see what we can do in the race to try to get the Fifth Third Bank car up front.” 

• FAST FACTS: Will make his 17th start at the track… His best start here is pole in 2009 and best finish is a win in 2008 in his IndyCar Series debut – both history-making moments at the time as he became the youngest race winner in series history (2008), and youngest pole winner in series history (2009). Both records were eclipsed in 2019 by Colton Herta but he held them for 10 and 11 years, respectively.  Overall, he has earned one top-five and seven top-10 starts here and has two top-five and seven top-10 finishes, including sixth place here last year.Year-by-year details are 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.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 OAKBERRY / Pneustore Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We’ve been making steps throughout the whole weekend from Practice 1 to free practice 2. I was hoping for a bigger step in qualifying but we just couldn’t put it all together. Because honestly the delta between me and Christian and Graham in free practice 2 was four-tenths / five-tenths so we made a big step and I was like alright now we will be there for qualifying but couldn’t put it all together. The car felt a little bit spicy. I knew it was going to be a tough first race weekend. New track to me and first time on a street circuit with a INDYCAR coming off only two days of testing. So now I’ll just focus on the race and maximize the race. Get a clean race and learn as much as we can and for sure we’re going to be much better in the races to come.”

• FAST FACTS: Pietro returns to the series after having made nine starts in 2018 and 2021 for Dale Coyne Racing. Of his nine starts in the series, six were on oval tracks and three were on road courses. His best career start is 10th in Phoenix (oval) and ninth in Portland (road) – both in 2018. It will be his first street race in the series.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Qualifying was tough but we managed to get through to Round 2 and I think we’ve got to be happy about that. The car was something to drive out there. We hadn’t struggled with rear (wheel) locking on the 45 car until qualifying so that was a shame. Throughout the weekend, have had moments of shine but we haven’t been able to put it together. Overall, it’s good to be back in the 45 Hy-Vee Honda and we will try to capitalize on opportunities that present themselves and move forward in the race.”

• FAST FACTS: Will make his third start here and attempt to better his 2023 season-ending eighth-place rank in the point standings. He broke through to win his first series victory on the streets of Toronto in 2023, from pole no less. And brought the team two of its four poles in 2023 to match Team Penske in the second-most poles for the year. In St. Pete last year, he started 11th and finished ninth and started 15th and finished 11th here in 2022… Has ONE WIN (2023 – Toronto street course) and TWO POLES (2023 – IMS road, Toronto street).

NEXT UP:  Race-day warm-up will take place from 9:10-9:40 a.m. ET and will be televised live on Peacock.  The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be televised live on NBC beginning at 12:30 PM ET.