Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix – Nashville Superspeedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES / QUOTES – August 31, 2025
FOSTER NAMED ROOKIE OF THE YEAR; DEFRANCESCO FINISHED 18TH, FOSTER 20TH AND RAHAL 22ND IN THE BORCHETTA BOURBON MUSIC CITY GRAND PRIX INDYCAR SEASON FINALE
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a lot of highs and some lows this season. The short ovals continue to be challenging for us but when we look at the road and street courses, we’ve got a lot to be proud of. We were in contention almost everywhere, which is more than in years past, so we have reason to be proud of that. Do we need to get better on the ovals? No doubt. That’s going to be our focus heading into the offseason. But I’m proud of these guys. It’s a great group. If anything, I’d say this: we finished every race. We didn’t have any retirements from mechanical issues, and that speaks volumes about the quality of the people on this team. As tough as the year was at times, I really enjoyed it with this group of guys—probably more than I have in any other year. I’m very appreciative of that, and of the group we have. Now, we just need to keep our heads down and work over the next six months to get better.”
- FAST FACTS: He started the race in 21st place and finished 22nd. The 2025 season-finale will mark the third time Graham will race at Nashville Superspeedway. In 2008, he started 10th and finished 12th with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in a rain-shortened event. Last year here, he started 19th and finished 23rd. His best start on the streets of Nashville is 9th in 2022, and best finish is fifth in 2021. After positive gains last weekend on the oval in Milwaukee, Rahal is hoping to continue to build momentum… He dropped two places in the point standings to finish the season 19th in series point standings with a total of 260.
DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO, No. 30 Dogecoin Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Today was a tough day. Balance-wise, I think we have made steps forward. There wasn’t anyone we couldn’t run with, get close to, and put under pressure — but we just didn’t quite have the speed yet. On the short ovals, we seem to be a bit draggy, which compromises us. Still, it was a well-executed race overall. We had one slow stop, but in general, our execution has been improving, and we’re going to keep pushing. We’ve shown some very strong high points this year. We had pace at most places — especially the road courses—and at the 500, which we had a real shot to win. Looking ahead to 2026, my focus is on pure execution. We know we have the speed, we know we’re fast enough. It’s going to come down to the smallest details, like Jay has talked to us about. If we can nail that, I have no doubt we’ll be fighting at the front every weekend.”
- FAST FACTS: He started the race 22nd place and finished 18th in his first race here… He earned the top start and finish for the team in Milwaukee and is looking forward to continuing to assist in the development of the team’s oval package… He finished the season 26th in series point standings with 171.
LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Obviously I’m super pleased to be Rookie of the Year. I think one of the main goals we had this year was to win this title. A lot of bad luck at the start of the year meant it was probably closer than I would have wanted it to be, honestly. I kind of had to hang on at the end and really hope that Robert messed up, which he did, because we didn’t have the car today. I think besides that, the RLL team have been absolutely incredible all year. We’ve had our ups and downs, but I think we’ve been able to bounce back from those downs pretty damn well. Yeah, obviously all credit goes to them.
(On what he learned his rookie season:) “A lot. Yeah, it’s tricky, man. Coming into INDYCAR is a tricky business. The qualifying performances this year have been pretty stellar, especially on road and street courses. That’s the part that you do as a driver all the way up to INDYCAR, right? You do qualifying all the time; you’re used to that. The races are double the length, I’d never done a pit stop before, fuel saving. There’s a lot to learn in the race that we definitely missed out for sure. A lot to learn in the off-season. I’m looking forward to coming back in 2026 with a reset, a lot more experience and knowledge behind the wheel in the races to try to move up the championship standings.
(On incident with David Malukas:) “First off, I heard he went to hospital, and I want to make sure he’s okay. I’ve heard that he is somewhat okay. That’s good to hear. I’ll text him after to make sure he’s okay. For me, we were trying to stay on the lead lap. I had one leader in front of me. I think he was second at the time. I held my line. He turned down into me. I couldn’t do a lot about it. I think he tried to chop across in front of me expecting me to back out of it more than I did. He hit my front right. Luckily, I didn’t get any damage and luckily, he’s somewhat okay.”
- FAST FACTS: Foster earned Rookie of the Year with a 20th place finish after starting 23rd. During the race, he was given a blocking penalty for his actions while racing with David Malukas, who backed hard into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 on Lap 83/225 after side-by-side contact with Foster. Foster later served a drive through penalty on Lap 101/225, but fellow rookie of the year contender Schwartzman was also given a blocking penalty on Lap 220/225, and ultimately finished 14th. Foster won Rookie of the Year by a 213-211 margin. Malukas was awake and alert after the incident, according to INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Julia Vaizer, and was released from a local hospital following precautionary evaluation and advanced imaging… Foster finished the season 21st in the point standings with 213.