Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Illinois
Pre-Race Notes
Round 8 of 17 in the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES
DATE: June 14-15, 2025
PRACTICE BROADCAST: Live on FS1 on Saturday from 11:30 – 12:30 p.m. ET and FS2 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).
QUALIFYING BROADCAST: Live on FS1, the IRN and www.indycar.com from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET Saturday.
RACE BROADCAST: Live on FOX on Sunday, June 15 from 8:00 – 10:30 p.m. ET. And also on the IRN and Sirius XM 160.
TRACK LAYOUT: 1.25-mile oval
RACE LENGTH: 260 laps / 325 miles
2024 WINNER: Josef Newgarden
2024 POLESITTER: Scott McLaughlin (179.972 mph)
RAHAL’S BEST WWTR START / FINISH: 7th in 2018 / 10th in 2018 & 2022; will be his 11th race here
RAHAL’S MILESTONE START: This will be his 300th career INDYCAR start
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START/FINISH: 5 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023 August, Portland (road) / 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017
DEFRANCESCO’S BEST WWTR START / FINISH: 9th / 12th – both in 2022; will be his third race here
DEFRANCESCO’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH: 5th at the IMS road course (August 2023, 2025) / 11th at Indy 500 (2025)
FOSTER’S BEST START / FINISH AT WWTR: First INDYCAR race here; won the 2024 INDY NXT race from pole & was 2nd in 2023
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH: 3rd / 11th – both at the Indy GP 2025
RLL’S BEST START / FINISH AT WWTR: 1st in 2020 (Race 2) by Takuma Sato / 1st in 2019 by Takuma Sato – 14 races (1997-2000, 2003, 2017-2019, 2 in 2020, 2021-2024)
NOTES & QUOTES:
RLL AT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY
The team returns to the 2025 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 in search of another pole and win in their 15th event at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR). In Race 1 in 2020, Sato was 0.14-seconds from becoming the first driver in almost two decades to earn back-to-back wins after winning the Indy 500 and finished second. The 1.25-mile oval hosted CART-sanctioned races from 1997-2000 and IRL races from 2001-2003 before the IndyCar Series returned in 2017. The team competed in all four CART races from 1997-2000 and one of the three IRL races (2003). The best starting position for the team came in 2020 in Race 2 when Takuma Sato started from pole and the best finish came in 2019 when Takuma Sato won. Prior to 2024, the team prepared a total of 26 Indy car entries for drivers such as Bobby Rahal (1997-1998), Bryan Herta (1997-1999), Max Papis (1999-2000), Kenny Brack (2000, 2003), Graham Rahal (2017-2020, x2, 2021-23), Takuma Sato (2018-2020, x2, 2021), Christian Lundgaard (2022-23), Jack Harvey (2022) and Conor Daly (2023). The No. 15 One Cure entry for Graham Rahal, the No. 30 Mi-Jack entry for Devlin DeFrancesco and the No. 45 Droplight / Desnuda Tequila entry for Louis Foster will bring that total to 32 in 2025.
OVAL PERFORMANCE RECAP HEADING INTO THE SECOND OVAL RACE OF THE SEASON
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be the second race of the season on an oval track. Team highlights at the previous oval race – the Indy 500 — include a front row qualifying position with Takuma Sato, who claimed his best Indy 500 qualifying position of second place. In doing so, the team was the top qualified Honda-powered entry. RLL led the most laps of all teams in the race with Sato leading 51 and Devlin DeFrancesco leading 17. Louis Foster was the highest finishing rookie in 12th place and DeFrancesco’s crew was ranked No. 1 in lowest cumulative time in the pits. The team earned a top-10 finish with Sato who finished 9th, three top-12 finishes with DeFrancesco in 11th and Foster in 12th and four top-17 finishes with Rahal in 17th.
GRAHAM RAHAL AT WWTR AND MILESTONE 300TH SERIES START
The 2025 race will be Rahal’s 10th at the track and his milestone 300th INDYCAR SERIES start. His highest start at WWTR is seventh place in 2018, and highest finish is 10th – in 2018 and 2022. In 2024, he qualified 16th and started 14th due to Rosenqvist and Palou having a grid penalty. Before the halfway mark, HRC discovered an issue with Rahal’s engine and he was initially able to continue but ultimately retired in 23rd place after 161 of 260 laps. In 2023, he qualified 23rd in the morning session and started 21st after several competitors served grid penalties for unapproved engine changes. The team attempted different strategy plays and he ultimately finished 20th. In 2022, he started 17th and worked his way into the lead for two laps (211-212) before his fourth and final pit stop on Lap 212 in the 260-lap race but right after he stopped, a caution came out for weather conditions on Lap 214 and the race was red flagged at 6:55 p.m. CT with Rahal in ninth. After a two-hour delay for lightning and to dry the track from a shower, the field restarted their engines at 9:05. Ericsson and Dixon, who were ahead of Rahal, pit for fresh tires and fuel as did Palou, when the pits opened. Rahal took the green flag from seventh place but was passed by Dixon and Ericsson on the restart and Palou a few laps later. He held his position and took the checkered flag in 10th place. In 2021, he was looking forward to the race after running fourth fastest in the final practice. He qualified ninth and made a conservative start and dropped back to 12th. Ed Jones appeared to lose traction in the rear of his car and slid up into Rahal in Turn 1 and the two collided. Jones stopped on track and Rahal was able to continue to the pits but had substantial damage. The team tried to repair the car, first behind pit lane and then later in the garage area but had to retire from the event. After a competitive run overall for RLL at the Indy 500, Rahal is looking forward to continuing the team’s momentum and making his 300th career INDYCAR start this weekend.
“I spent some time with my kids and wife over the break, which was nice. I was able to take some time to free my brain of all the things that have been going on with the busy schedule and prepare for the next stretch.
“We had a good car at St. Louis last year. We had an issue with the engine that took us out of the race, but I feel pretty confident in what we’ve got going on at the team and where the team is headed. My expectations are high for the weekend. We had a test at Milwaukee on Tuesday, so hopefully that carries over and we have a good weekend in St. Louis, have fast cars and put ourselves in a good spot. In general, having a night race on Sunday night is really cool. I’m impressed INDYCAR made that happen with FOX and I think it’s going to be a pretty sweet event for everybody. I’m looking forward to getting there.
“It’s a bummer my girls won’t be at the race with me for Father’s Day. Obviously, I would love for them to be there. Three hundred races is hard to comprehend, if I’m honest. It feels like yesterday was the first and I don’t feel old enough to be at 300. I think back on a lot of great memories and a lot of relationships built over the years. There are a lot of special, long-lasting relationships that will stay with me forever and, certainly, it’s a very special time to celebrate. There have not been a lot of guys that made it to 300 so it’s a big deal to me and I take a lot of pride in that.”
DEVLIN AT WWT RACEWAY – SITE OF HIS FIRST OVAL WIN
It will be Devlin’s third INDYCAR race at WWTR. In 2022, he earned his best start here of 9th and best finish of 12th with Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport. He qualified 18th in 2023 and finished 19th with the same team. He led 17 laps in the Indy 500 on the IMS superspeedway in May but his pit strategy didn’t play out after he earned his top Indy 500 qualifying position of 16th for his third Indy 500. In the race, he earned his top series finish to date of 11th place and is excited to get back on an oval to continue the evolution of the setup.
“I definitely used the off time to recharge my batteries for Gateway. We reviewed the mistakes from Detroit all around and are ready to hit it hard in Gateway! A lot was learned at IMS in general about our oval package. There will definitely be some things that carry over to WWTR for sure. My focus for the No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda is purely execution. We proved during the month of May we can run up front and be strong on ovals. We were very fast all May on the road course and the oval as well so I expect us to be strong at Gateway. Our focus as a group is to execute.
“My dad will be in Gateway for Father’s Day weekend. I have so many memories to look back on with my dad. I love my dad, he has done so much for me to help me get where I am. I have many great memories with him. Getting my first oval win in Gateway in the Indy PRO series in 2020 with him by my side was a good one! Winning the Daytona 24 hour race was also a big one! I look forward having a good weekend with him there with me.”
LOUIS FOSTER AT WWT RACEWAY
It will be Foster’s first INDYCAR race here but he competed twice at WWTR in the INDY NXT series where he started on pole last year and led all 75 laps en route to victory. In 2023, he qualified fifth and finished second. He participated in a rookie test at the track on April 16 and has built on his preferred oval setup since then at the Indy 500, where he was the highest finishing rookie in 12th place. He maximized the off weekend to recharge and is excited to get back on track for an oval race under the lights.
“Over the break, I played some golf, hung out with friends, went to the gym and took a week off to relax and prepare for the rest of the season. The breaks are very important, so you need to make sure you make the most of them.
“World Wide Technology Raceway has been a track that has been good to me. I got a second place finish there in my first year in INDY NXT and a win from pole last year. The (April 16) INDYCAR rookie test we did there was also good. We as a team learned a lot of things about the car and I learned a lot of things about the car especially. I think it’s the best oval racing on the calendar outside the 500 and it’s definitely the best short track we go to in my opinion and a driver’s favorite too. I’m looking forward to the weekend and the race.
“We had good pace during the Indy 500. Some things didn’t go our way in the race, but I think we have pretty high expectations for the weekend. We’ve put a lot of effort into working on our oval car in the off season. I know it was a struggle for the team last year, but I know how to run on an oval, I know how to do well on an oval. We’ve just got to come together as a team and make sure we have the right balance in the car and we can challenge up front.
“It’s nice that the race is on Father’s Day weekend, which is great for having fans out and fathers out for the weekend. My dad has been a very crucial part of my career for sure. He was with me pretty much every race I’ve done up until this year. I’m a long way from home and he comes to as many races as he can. He’s the one who introduced me to racing in the first place. I’m super happy to have such a great dad to guide me through my career.
“I’m most excited about the fact that it’s a prime time race and will be run under the lights; that’s really cool. I think that’s going to make the event even more special than it already is. Racing under the lights is going to be really awesome and the Droplight / Desnuda Tequila livery will look amazing under the lights.”
POINTS BATTLE AFTER 7 OF 17 RACES
Heading into Round 8 at WWTR, Graham Rahal is in 15th place in the series standings with a total of 115 points, Foster is 24th with 76 and DeFrancesco is 25th with 71.