Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Sonsio Grand Prix – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES / QUOTES – May 9, 2025
ALL THREE TEAM CARS START IN THE TOP-FIVE FOR THE SONSIO GRAND PRIX OF INDY; RAHAL TO START SECOND, FOSTER THIRD AND DEFRANCESCO FIFTH
1) Alex Palou 1:09.3417 / 126.625 mph (Group 2, Round 3)
2) Graham Rahal 1:09.7516 / 125.881 mph (Group 2, Round 3)
3) Louis Foster 1:09.8801 / 125.650 mph (Group 1, Round 3)
5) Devlin DeFrancesco 1:09.9432 / 125.536 mph (Group 2, Round 3)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “This is great for Fifth Third Bank, all of our partners and our whole team. It feels so good. This was why we ran the reds to get through the rounds. I knew Palou was going to have a new set of reds for the Fast Six. I didn’t think we were going to be on the front row; I didn’t think we were really competing for that. There were others that had new reds too but what a lap. In the Fast Six, we were just able to put it together. The balance was really consistent and matched my best of the whole day. It feels great for this entire team – everyone on the 15, 30 and 45 teams. We needed this; we expect to be good at the Indy road course race but to see it come together and have three cars in the top five is amazing. It feels awesome for our team.”
- FAST FACTS: Has ONE POLE (2023), two FRONT ROW STARTS (2nd today) and THREE PODIUMS (2015, 2020, 2023) here… Will make his 17th INDYCAR start on the road course at IMS. After a second-place finish on the road course at IMS in 2015 and 2020 (July) he hoped to breakthrough and win at IMS in August 2023 after starting from pole. He led the most laps at 36/85 but finished second to Scott Dixon in the closest INDYCAR SERIES finish ever at the IMS road course with a margin of -0.4779 to the winner. Dixon qualified 15th and spun due to an opening lap incident but utilized the early stop for repairs on Lap 5 and then chose a two-stop strategy after that which dictated fuel saving. In the closing stages, Rahal, in second, had a quicker pace than Dixon but was held up in traffic while trying to close the gap. He was also on used alternate tires for his final stint to Dixon’s new ones after flat-spotting a set in qualifying en route to pole. After getting around the lapped traffic between himself and Dixon with approx. 12 laps to go, he closed the gap from -3.5 seconds to -0.5 with a few laps to go but ultimately settled for second place with a margin of -0.4779 to the winner. In May 2023, Rahal battled from the back after opening lap contact from Kyle Kirkwood to finish 10th. Sixth place starter Kirkwood made contact with Rahal, who had pulled ahead in the first few turns of the opening lap. It sent him into other cars, and he ultimately had to pit to replace a right rear, punctured tire. A caution came out after that for two other cars, and he pit to top off before the race returned to green. He climbed into the lead for seven laps at one point and ultimately finished 10th to salvage his race… 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 FIVE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2023 – IMS road, Portland) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is currently 16th in NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 61.
DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, No. 30 EVTEC Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I’m hugely happy with a fifth-place start; mainly on the execution side. I feel our performance on the 30 car has been good. This is where I think our pace has been at certain rounds, especially at Barber last weekend. This is good redemption from Barber. We all sat down and spoke about execution. Hugely happy about today and now on to tomorrow and making sure we control the tire degradation, have good pit stops and run good in and out laps and making sure we get some good points tomorrow for the EVTEC team.”
- FAST FACTS: After one year away from the series, DeFrancesco matched his best INDYCAR start of fifth place today – for his second fifth place start on the IMS road course after also starting fifth here in 2023. He hopes to improve upon his best finish here of 17th place in Race 1 in 2023 and knows both he and the team have run well here and are capable of good results… He is currently ranked 26th in series point standings with 30.
LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “For my fifth INDYCAR race, I think I’ll take a third place start! Like I’ve said a millions times, it’s all credit to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew. We’ve been super-fast and obviously the proof of that is all of us are in the Fast Six. We’ve just got to continue this form tomorrow. Although this is an amazing day for the team, and great progress, points get paid tomorrow. So, we’ve got to make sure we keep our heads focused, look forward to tomorrow and do the right things and attack it how we’ve attacked it so far. Full focus on tomorrow now. I’m going to sleep well tonight and see what happens tomorrow.”
- FAST FACTS: Foster earned his top career INDYCAR start of third place today. His previous best was 10th place in Thermal. Foster has competed in three INDY NXT races on the road course at IMS with a best start of third in 2023 and a win in Race 2 in 2024. He is five points behind fellow rookie Robert Schwartzman in the Rookie of the Year battle and a good result could gain him some ground… He is 25th in the point standings with 30.
RLL AT THE IMS ROAD COURSE…. The Sonsio Grand Prix will mark the team’s 17th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 2.439-mile road course. The team’s highest finish is second by Graham Rahal in 2015, 2020 (July) and 2023 (August) and Lundgaard in 2022 (July). Lundgaard and Rahal also brought RLL their highest start of pole on the IMS road course in May 2023 (Lundgaard) and August 2023 (Rahal).
NEXT UP: Warmup for the Sonsio Grand Prix will take place from 11:32 – 11:57 AM Saturday. FOX will begin coverage of the 85-lap race at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.