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Graham Rahal

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Graham Rahal
Rahal at Sonoma Raceway in 2014
NationalityUnited States American
Born (1989-01-04) January 4, 1989 (age 35)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Related toBobby Rahal (father)
Courtney Force (wife)
Ashley Force Hood (sister-in-law)
Brittany Force (sister-in-law) John Force (father-in-law)
Robert Hight (brother-in-law)
IndyCar Series career
Debut season2008
Current teamRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Car number15
Former teamsNewman/Haas Racing (2008-2010)
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2010)
Sarah Fisher Racing (2010)
Chip Ganassi Racing (2011-2012)
Starts129
Wins4
Poles2
Fastest laps1
Best finish4th in 2015
Previous series
2007
2006
2005		Champ Car World Series
Champ Car Atlantic
Star Mazda Championship
Awards
201124 Hours of Daytona winner

Graham Robert Rahal (born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver. He currently participates in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team part-owned by his father Bobby Rahal, the winner of the 1986 Indianapolis 500.

Racing career

Rahal was born in Columbus, Ohio.

Early racing

In 2005, he won the Formula Atlantic class at the SCCA Runoffs and finished fourth in Star Mazda Series standings. He drove in the last two rounds of the 2005–2006 A1 Grand Prix season for A1 Team Lebanon as he is of Lebanese descent. He moved to a full-time ride in the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2006, where he won five races and finished second in the season standings. He also drove in the Indy Pro Series event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in conjunction with the 2006 United States Grand Prix and finished second. SpeedTV reported in August 2006 that Rahal would drive for Newman/Haas Racing in the Champ Car World Series in 2007.[1]

2007

On January 27 Rahal drove in the 24 Hours of Daytona. One of four drivers of the Southard Motorsports Lexus Riley, the car ran into early troubles and finished 62nd out of 70 entries. On March 18, he drove in the 12 Hours of Sebring American Le Mans Series race for his father's Rahal Letterman Racing team. He drove a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR with two other drivers, finishing 6th in the GT2 class and 15th overall.

Rahal posing with a show car when he raced in Champ Car in 2007

On March 27 news reports from the previous summer were finally confirmed when he was announced as the second driver for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in the Champ Car World Series[2] and drove the No. 2 Panoz DP01 sponsored by MEDI|ZONE alongside his teammate, three-time series champion Sébastien Bourdais. On April 8 in his debut in the Champ Car World Series at the Vegas Grand Prix, Rahal hit the wall on the front stretch on the first lap, and retired from the race. On April 15 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach he finished his first Champ Car race, ending up 8th. On April 22, in just his 3rd Champ Car race, he became the youngest ever podium finisher in Champ Car history after finishing 2nd in Houston. Rahal completed his rookie season in 5th place in series points with four podium finishes but without a race win.

2008

With the creation of a single American open wheel racing series for 2008, Rahal and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team became part of the IndyCar Series, including Rahal's first Indianapolis 500.

He missed the Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 due to a crash in testing after which his team could not get his car repaired in time for the race. He made his series debut at the second race of the season, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and despite an early spin in the race, Rahal won the race by 3.5192 seconds from two-time defending winner of the race, Hélio Castroneves. He is currently the youngest[3] person to win a major American open wheel race – aged 19 years, 93 days – and the fourth to win in his first appearance in the IndyCar Series. The best finish Rahal would manage the rest of the year was a pair of 8th places at Watkins Glen and Sonoma and he finished 17th in points, 4th among series rookies.

2009

Rahal returned to Newman/Haas/Lanigan for the 2009 IndyCar Series season, taking over the No. 02 car with McDonald's as his sponsor. He began the season by taking pole position at St. Petersburg, his first in his IndyCar career, thus becoming the youngest ever polesitter aged 20 years, 90 days. This was the first time a Rahal had won an IndyCar pole since his father started first at Toronto in 1992, which was Bobby's third in a row that season.[4] He finished seventh after damaging the car in a first lap clash. His season was also undermined by bad relations with his team-mate Robert Doornbos – when Doornbos left midseason, Rahal commented "We could certainly have a second driver who is more of a team player."[5] He finished the season 7th in points with two podium finishes.

Rahal was linked with the US F1 Team, the American-based Formula One team, that was set to debut in the 2010 World Championship. The team's sporting director, Peter Windsor, mentioned Rahal as a potential candidate for a seat with the Charlotte-based outfit.[6] However, Windsor later decided against hiring either Rahal or Marco Andretti due to fears that they would not be able to get their FIA Super Licences in time for the 2010 season. Eventually, the team failed to compete in the 2010 Formula One season.

2010

Rahal did not return to Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the 2010 IndyCar Series season, due to McDonald's discontinuing their sponsorship to focus on the 2010 Winter Olympics.

On March 10, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced Rahal would pilot Fisher's No. 67 Dollar General car in the first two North American events of 2010, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Fisher was originally planning on driving the races herself, in addition to seven oval race, before deciding that putting Rahal in the car could be a benefit to everyone, including Dollar General, who are based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.[7] On April 6, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced the addition of the Grand Prix of Long Beach to Rahal's schedule. Rahal's placing in those three races were 9th, 17th, and 22nd (retired) respectively.

After the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Rahal was signed to drive for his father's team, Rahal Letterman Racing, in the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Rahal qualified in the seventh position for the race, and finished 12th. On June 10, 2010, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced the signing of Rahal for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway, filling in for the injured Mike Conway in the No. 24 entry on a one-off basis. Rahal returned to Newman/Haas Racing for 6 of the remaining 8 races of the 2010 season, starting with Toronto and returned to Sarah Fisher Racing for the Kentucky Speedway race. Rahal's 2010 totals included 12 starts for four different teams and a 20th-place finish in points.

On October 10, 2010, Rahal finished runner-up at the RoboPong 200 all-star kart event at the New Castle Motorsports Park with teammate Conor Daly.[8]

2011-2012

Rahal signed to drive the No. 38 car for Chip Ganassi Racing with Service Central sponsorship beginning in 2011 as the team expanded from two to four cars and continued with the team into 2012.[9]

Rahal, co-drove the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates car to victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona along with Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, and Joey Hand. It came 30 years after his father, Bobby won the race, partnering with Brian Redman and Bob Garretson.

2013-2016

From 2013 on wards, Graham Rahal returned to his father's team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. While a second-place finish at the 2013 Long Beach Grand Prix showed promise early in the season, 2013 would be a building year for the new partnership.

2015 brought great results for Rahal with three podiums in the first half of the season; 2nd at Barber Motorsports Park, 2nd at the 2015 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and a 3rd at the Sunday race in Detroit.

During the 2015 season Rahal broke a 6+ year winless streak by winning the 2015 MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Rahal again won later in the season at the 2015 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. The win was especially poignant for Rahal, since he grew up in Ohio and also put Rahal in the championship hunt for the first time in his career. Rahal ended finishing 4th in the standings after a disappointing performance in the last two races.

2016 brought another win to Rahal's almost decade long IndyCar career after winning the 2016 Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway. The margin of victory was only .008 of a second, the fifth-closest finish in IndyCar/CART history.[10]

Personal life

Graham Rahal takes a selfie with Jenna Ezarik (left) and Justine Ezarik (middle) at the 2015 Indianapolis 500 parade

Rahal attended New Albany school systems in Ohio and graduated in June 2007 with plans to attend Denison University. Rahal started the Graham Rahal Foundation in 2009 to support Alex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer and The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps (known as SeriousFun Children's Network as of April 2012).[11]

He is married to NHRA drag racer Courtney Force, daughter of 16-time NHRA drag racing champion and legend John Force.[12]

Motorsports career results

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Position
2004 Formula BMW USA Vitesse Farm Racing 14 0 0 63 7th
2005 Star Mazda Series Andersen Racing 12 0 1 370 4th
2005–06 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Lebanon 6 0 0 6 23rd
2006 Champ Car Atlantic Conquest Racing 12 0 5 242 2nd
Indy Pro Series Kenn Hardley Racing 1 1 0 43 28th
American Le Mans Series Alex Job Racing 1 0 0 12 26th
Rolex 24 at Daytona Tafel Racing 1 1 0 N/A 16th
2007 Champ Car World Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 14 0 0 243 5th
Rolex 24 at Daytona Southard Motorsports 1 0 0 N/A 28th
American Le Mans Series Rahal Letterman Racing 2 0 0 31 22nd
2008 IndyCar Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 19 0 1 288 17th
Rolex 24 at Daytona Michael Shank Racing 1 0 0 N/A 6th
2009 IndyCar Series Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 17 2 0 385 8th
2010 IndyCar Series Sarah Fisher Racing 12 0 0 235 20th
Rahal Letterman Racing
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Newman/Haas Racing
2011 IndyCar Series Chip Ganassi Racing 18 0 0 320 9th
Rolex 24 at Daytona 1 0 1 N/A 1st
2012 IndyCar Series Chip Ganassi Racing 15 0 0 333 10th
Rolex 24 at Daytona 1 0 0 N/A 6th
International V8 Supercars Championship Kelly Racing 2 0 0 N/A NC
2013 IndyCar Series Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 19 0 0 319 18th
2014 IndyCar Series Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 18 0 0 345 19th
2015 IndyCar Series Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 16 0 2 490 4th
2016 IndyCar Series Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 16 0 1 484 5th

* Season still in progress.

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year Track Car Engine Class Finish Start Status
2006 Mid-Ohio Swift 014.a Toyota Formula Atlantic 1 1 Running

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points
2005–06 Lebanon GBR
SPR 		GBR
FEA 		GER
SPR 		GER
FEA 		POR
SPR 		POR
FEA 		AUS
SPR 		AUS
FEA 		MYS
SPR 		MYS
FEA 		UAE
SPR 		UAE
FEA 		RSA
SPR 		RSA
FEA 		IDN
SPR 		IDN
FEA 		MEX
SPR
13 		MEX
FEA
14 		USA
SPR
Ret 		USA
FEA
Ret 		CHN
SPR
18 		CHN
FEA
11 		23rd 0
2006–07 NED
SPR 		NED
FEA 		CZE
SPR
12 		CZE
FEA
12 		CHN
SPR 		CHN
FEA 		MYS
SPR 		MYS
FEA 		IDN
SPR 		IDN
FEA 		NZL
SPR 		NZL
FEA 		AUS
SPR 		AUS
FEA 		RSA
SPR 		RSA
FEA 		MEX
SPR 		MEX
FEA 		CHN
SPR 		CHN
FEA 		GBR
SPR 		GBR
SPR 		23rd 0

American open–wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Champ Car Atlantic

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2006 Mi-Jack Conquest Racing LBH
5 		HOU
15 		MTY
1 		POR
27 		CLE1
1 		CLE2
1 		TOR
15 		EDM
2 		SJO
12 		DEN
1 		MTL
1 		ROA
20 		2nd 242

Champ Car

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
2007 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE LVG
17 		LBH
8 		HOU
2 		POR
9 		CLE
8 		MTT
7 		TOR
11 		EDM
3 		SJO
6 		ROA
3 		ZOL
3 		ASN
9 		SRF
11 		MXC
4 		5th 243

IndyCar Series

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2008 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Dallara Honda HMS
Wth 		STP
1 		MOT1 KAN
12 		INDY
33 		MIL
25 		TXS
11 		IOW
10 		RIR
18 		WGL
8 		NSH
12 		MDO
16 		EDM
26 		KTY
25 		SNM
8 		DET
13 		CHI
19 		SRF2
9 		17th 288
Panoz DP01 Cosworth XFE LBH1
13
2009 Dallara Honda STP
7 		LBH
12 		KAN
7 		INDY
31 		MIL
4 		TXS
22 		IOW
11 		RIR
3 		WGL
13 		TOR
20 		EDM
7 		KTY
5 		MDO
8 		SNM
21 		CHI
5 		MOT
3 		HMS
11 		7th 385
2010 Sarah Fisher Racing SAO STP
9 		ALA
17 		LBH
22 		KAN KTY
20 		20th 235
Rahal Letterman Racing INDY
12 		TXS
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing IOW
9 		WGL
Newman/Haas Racing TOR
5 		EDM MDO
20 		SNM
9 		CHI
10 		MOT
8 		HMS
10
2011 Chip Ganassi Racing STP
17 		ALA
18 		LBH
13 		SAO
2 		INDY
3 		TXS
9 		TXS
30 		MIL
2 		IOW
15 		TOR
13 		EDM
25 		MDO
24 		NHM
26 		SNM
8 		BAL
10 		MOT
12 		KTY
12 		LVS3
C 		9th 320
2012 Dallara DW12 STP
12 		ALA
4 		LBH
24 		SAO
16 		INDY
13 		DET
19 		TXS
2 		MIL
9 		IOW
9 		TOR
23 		EDM
4 		MDO
11 		SNM
5 		BAL
11 		FON
6 		10th 333
2013 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing STP
13 		ALA
21 		LBH
2 		SAO
22 		INDY
25 		DET
9 		DET
9 		TXS
21 		MIL
16 		IOW
5 		POC
18 		TOR
20 		TOR
13 		MDO
18 		SNM
11 		BAL
17 		HOU
7 		HOU
18 		FON
15 		18th 319
2014 STP
14 		LBH
13 		ALA
17 		IMS
21 		INDY
33 		DET
2 		DET
21 		TXS
12 		HOU
11 		HOU
16 		POC
19 		IOW
7 		TOR
6 		TOR
20 		MDO
5 		MIL
14 		SNM
20 		FON
18 		19th 345
2015 STP
11 		NLA
8 		LBH
11 		ALA
2 		IMS
2 		INDY
5 		DET
23 		DET
3 		TXS
15 		TOR
9 		FON
1 		MIL
3 		IOW
4 		MDO
1 		POC
20 		SNM
18 		4th 490
2016 STP
16 		PHX
5 		LBH
15 		ALA
2 		IMS
4 		INDY
14 		DET
4 		DET
11 		RDA
3 		IOW
16 		TOR
13 		MDO
4 		POC
11 		TXS
1 		WGL
21 		SNM
2 		5th 484

* Season still in progress.

  • 1 Run on same day.
  • 2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
  • 3 The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Top 5s Top 10s Indianapolis 500
Wins 		Championships
8 5 136 2 3 27 53 0 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2008 Dallara Honda 13 33 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2009 Dallara Honda 4 31 Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
2010 Dallara Honda 7 12 Rahal Letterman Racing
2011 Dallara Honda 30 3 Chip Ganassi Racing
2012 Dallara Honda 12 13 Chip Ganassi Racing
2013 Dallara Honda 26 25 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
2014 Dallara Honda 20 33 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
2015 Dallara Honda 17 5 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
2016 Dallara Honda 26 14 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

References

  1. ^ Miller, Robin, Graham Rahal Set for Newman/Haas Ride in '07, SpeedTV.com, August 13, 2006
  2. ^ GRAHAM RAHAL TO DRIVE THE NO. 2 MEDI | ZONE RACE CAR FOR NEWMAN/HAAS/ LANIGAN RACING IN THE 2007 CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP, CCWS press release, March 29, 2007
  3. ^ Cavin, Curt (April 6, 2008). "Rahal's victory sets open-wheel record". The Indianapolis Star. Gannett Company. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  4. ^ http://www.champcarstats.com/drivers/RahalBobby.htm
  5. ^ "Doornbos out, Philippe in at IRL heads for Mid-Ohio". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. August 5, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  6. ^ Noble, Jonathan (February 24, 2009). "USF1 open-minded on engine partner". Autosport. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  7. ^ Ryan, Nate (March 10, 2010). "Graham Rahal to drive two IndyCar races for Sarah Fisher". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved March 11, 2010.
  8. ^ "Jay Howard, Bill McLaughlin Jr. win all-star kart race". Autoweek. Crain Communications. October 11, 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
  9. ^ Spencer, Lee (December 16, 2010). "Chip Ganassi Racing expanding". Fox Sports. Fox Broadcasting Company. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
  10. ^ "Rahal wins Firestone 600 in closest finish in Texas Motor Speedway history". Retrieved 2016-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  11. ^ http://www.grahamrahal.com/foundation/
  12. ^ Associated Press (November 27, 2014). "Courtney Force, Graham Rahal announce engagement". Foxsports.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
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