Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES / QUOTES – June 15, 2025
A CHALLENGING RACE LED TO A 22ND PLACE FINISH FOR RAHAL; DEFRANCESCO FINISHED 23RD AFTER LAP 1 CONTACT AND FOSTER WAS CHECKED AND RELEASED FROM INDYCAR MEDICAL AFTER A BIG INCIDENT THAT COLLECTED NEWGARDEN AFTER RUNNING 10TH
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 One Cure Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We have a long ways to go to make the car better on a short oval, at least for me. Obviously, Louis had good pace and I was the total opposite.”
- FAST FACTS: Started 22nd and reported a loose race car soon after the start. The team attempted to improve it with quick adjustments in the pit stops to no avail. He took the checkered flag in 22nd place. During the race, he helped RLL and United Rentals reach a $1m donation total in their Turns for Troops program after he completed his 143rd lap. United Rentals has donated $50 for every lap Rahal has completed since 2016. The 2025 race was Rahal’s 10th at the track and 300th INDYCAR career start. His highest start here 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. 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 road) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… Rahal dropped three places in the series point standings to an 18th place rank with a total of 123.
DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, 30 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I still don’t know what happened on the start. Ashley (race engineer) reviewed it and said the rear just went on me. I just don’t think we had rear grip all weekend. It seemed to be a big issue of ours. We went back out and the car was just so hard to drive. We’ll move on to Road America next week.”
- FAST FACTS: Started 17th but lost control of his race car and the rear hit the wall, knocking his rear wing loose. He was taken to INDYCAR Medical where he was checked and released. As the car didn’t sustain much damage, he got back on track once it was repaired. Once he gained as many positions as possible, he retired in 23rd place after completing 217/260 laps. It was his 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… He is ranked 25th in series point standings with a total of 78.
LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight / Desnuda Tequila Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We were in the high line all race. The No. 45 Droplight / Desnuda Honda was really, really quick. I think it was one too many laps too long trying the high line. I got up behind Ferrucci and got a bit of a wiggle, I had wiggles all race there. But I just got a bit too high onto the dark stuff and got a wiggle and then I just got into the marbles and was just a passenger. At that point I bent my toe link and just couldn’t stop the car from spinning there. Obviously, it was a pretty scary impact for both myself and Josef; I’m glad he’s okay. We were really, really fast so it’s a shame it had to end that way. The marbles caught me out.”
- FAST FACTS: He started 21st and worked his way up to the 10th place before he lost control of his race car and slid across the track after completing 128/260 laps. Race leader Josef Newgarden had nowhere to go and the two collided with Newgarden going upside down. Both were checked and released from INDYCAR’s Medical Unit. It was 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 is ranked 24th place in the point standings with a total of 81.
NEXT UP: The series will head to Road America for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America next Sunday.
