Graham Robert Rahal ( ; born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently races in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

with

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Zionsville, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 50 ...

, a team partially owned by his father

Bobby Rahal Robert Woodward Rahal ( ; born January 10, 1953) is an American racing driver and motorsports executive. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. As co-owner of R ...

, the winner of the 1986 Indianapolis 500.

Racing career

Early racing

In 2005, he won the

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club ...

class at the SCCA Runoffs and finished fourth in Star Mazda Series standings. After the season concluded, Rahal raced with A1 Team Lebanon for the final three rounds of 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season. 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 The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

road course in conjunction with the

2006 United States Grand Prix The 2006 United States Grand Prix (formally the 2006 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One auto racing, motor race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on 2 July 2006. It was the tenth race of the 2006 For ...

and finished second. Rahal would once again jump in A1GP's Team Lebanon car for one race in the second round of the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season. SpeedTV reported in August 2006 that Rahal would drive for

Newman/Haas Racing Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in CART, Champ Car, and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automo ...

in the Champ Car World Series in 2007.

2007

On January 27 Rahal drove in the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

. One of four drivers of the Southard Motorsports

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota, Toyota Motor Corporation. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked amon ...

Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...

, the car ran into trouble early and finished 62nd out of 70 entries. On March 18, he drove in the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race for Sports car racing, sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in S ...

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

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. GrahamRahalChampCar2007

On March 27 news reports from the previous summer were confirmed when he was announced as the second driver for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in the Champ Car World Series and drove the No. 2 Panoz DP01 sponsored by MEDI, ZONE alongside his teammate, three-time series champion

Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (; born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver who currently races in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Cadillac Hertz Team Jota in the Hypercar category. He is one of the most successful dr ...

. 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 The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in Downtown Long Beach, downtown Long Beach, California. It was the premier race on the ...

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 Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. 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 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Rahal and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team became part of the

, including Rahal's first

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

. 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 the two-time defending winner of the race,

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes part-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 06 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He is one of four drivers to have w ...

. He became the youngest person at the time to win a major American open-wheel race – aged – 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 place finishes at Watkins Glen and Sonoma; he finished 17th in points, 4th among series rookies.

2009

Rahal returned to Newman/Haas/Lanigan for the

2009 IndyCar Series The 2009 IndyCar Series was the 14th season of the IndyCar Series. The 17-race season began on April 5, and its premier event, the 93rd Indianapolis 500 was held May 24. All races were broadcast on ABC or Versus in high-definition. It repre ...

, taking over the No. 02 car with

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

as his sponsor. He began the season by taking

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

at St. Petersburg, his first in his

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

career, thus becoming the youngest ever polesitter aged . This was the first time a Rahal had won an

pole since his father started first at

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, which was Bobby's third in a row that season. He finished seventh after damaging the car in a first-lap crash. His season was also undermined by bad relations with his team-mate

Robert Doornbos Robert Michael Doornbos (; born 23 September 1981) is a Dutch former racing driver who also competed with a Monégasque licence. He has been test and third driver for the Jordan and Red Bull Racing Formula One teams, as well as driving for Mina ...

– when Doornbos left midseason, Rahal commented "We could certainly have a second driver who is more of a team player." He finished the season 7th in points with two podium finishes. Rahal was linked with the US F1 Team, the American-based

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been 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. 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, with the team ultimately folding and banned from participating in any FIA-sanctioned championship.

2010

Rahal did not return to

Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in CART, Champ Car, and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automo ...

for the

2010 IndyCar Series The 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 15th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 99th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. It was the series' first of six planned seasons under Izod title sponsorship, a multimillion-dolla ...

, due to

discontinuing their sponsorship to focus on the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. On March 10, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced Rahal would pilot Fisher's No. 67

Dollar General Dollar General Corporation is an American chain of discount stores headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. As of January 8, 2024, Dollar General operated 19,643 stores in the contiguous United States and Mexico. The company began in 1939 in ...

car in the first two North American events of 2010, the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the

Indy Grand Prix of Alabama The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is an IndyCar Series race held at Barber Motorsports Park, a 17-turn road course, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend o ...

. Fisher was originally planning on driving the races herself, in addition to seven oval races, before deciding that putting Rahal in the car could be a benefit to everyone, including Dollar General, who are based in

Goodlettsville, Tennessee Goodlettsville is a city in Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson and Sumner County, Tennessee, Sumner Counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was incorporated as a city in 1958 with a population of just over 3,000 residents; in 2020, its popul ...

. 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 was 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 Michael Robert Conway (born 19 August 1983) is a British professional racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Motorsport GmbH, Toyota Gazoo Racing. Early caree ...

in the No. 24 entry on a one-off basis. Rahal returned to

for 6 of the remaining 8 races of the 2010 season, starting with Toronto, and returned to Sarah Fisher Racing for the

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is an inactive tri-oval intermediate speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) and ...

race. Rahal's 2010 totals included 12 starts for four 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.

2011–2012

Rahal signed to drive the No. 38 car for

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

with Service Central sponsorship beginning in 2011 as the team expanded from two to four cars and continued with the team into 2012. 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 Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is an American former racing driver who has competed in numerous disciplines of the sport. In the 1980s, Pruett established himself as a top sports car racer, winning two IMSA GTO, and three Trans-Am ...

, Memo Rojas, and Joey Hand. It came 30 years after his father, Bobby won the race, partnering with

Brian Redman Brian Herman Thomas Redman (born 9 March 1937) is a British retired racing driver. Racing for Carl Haas and Jim Hall's Chaparral Cars, Brian Redman won the 1974, '75 and '76 SCCA Formula 5000 series and has raced in nearly every category of ...

and Bob Garretson.

2013–2023

From 2013 onwards, Graham Rahal returned to his father's team

. 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 Auto Club Speedway (known as California Speedway before and after the 2008–2023 corporate sponsorship by the Automobile Club of Southern California) was a , D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, ne ...

in Fontana, CA. Rahal again won later in the season at the 2015 Honda Indy 200 at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio, Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar Series, Indy ...

. 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 Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...

. The margin of victory was only .008 of a second, the fifth-closest finish in IndyCar history. In 2017, Rahal had six top-five finishes, down from eight top-five finishes in both 2015 and 2016, but he did pick up wins in both races at the Detroit Grand Prix (June 3 and 4). In 2018, Rahal scored a best finish of second from the streets of St. Petersburg and finished the championship eighth overall. 2019 marked the fifth-straight year Rahal finished in the top 10 for the

championship, finishing eighth overall with a best finish of third at

. Rahal finished second at the 2020 Indianapolis Grand Prix before earning two third place finishes at the second Iowa race and the

to finish sixth in the points. In 2021, he would only score one podium at

to finish 10th in the points, and in 2022, he would finish 11th in points with a best finish of fourth at Toronto, marking the first year since 2014 that he had finished outside the top ten in points. In 2023, Rahal initially appeared to miss out the

after teammate Jack Harvey bumped him out of the field in the last chance qualifying session. However, after Stefan Wilson was ruled out due to an injury after a crash in practice, Rahal was chosen as the replacement driver for the #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing / Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet. Rahal finished 22nd 5 laps down in the race after being involved in an accident. After the Indy 500 however Rahal experienced a rebound in performance, taking pole positions at the second race on the IMS Road Course and at Portland and picking up his first podium position on road course in years.

Business interests

Rahal opened Graham Rahal Performance (GRP), in May 2017 and has grown the business from an automotive tuning and parts shop to including exotic car sales. GRP is based in Zionsville Indiana. Graham is also a junior partner with Bobby Rahal Automotive Group, a network of car dealerships in western and central

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Personal life

Rahal was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. He attended New Albany school systems in Ohio and graduated in June 2007 with plans to attend

Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

. Rahal is a die-hard Ohio State fan and enjoys NHL hockey and golf. He is a car enthusiast and owns a growing Ducati collection. Rahal is married to former

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...

drag racer Courtney Force, daughter of 16-time NHRA drag racing champion and legend John Force. In May 2020, the pair announced they were expecting their first child; in November she gave birth to a daughter, Harlan Ann Rahal. Rahal started the Graham Rahal Foundation in 2009 to support

Alex's Lemonade Stand Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation (previously known as Alex's Lemonade Stand and currently abbreviated as ALSF) is an American pediatric cancer charity founded by Alexandra "Alex" Scott (January 18, 1996 – August 1, 2004), who lived in Connecticu ...

for Childhood Cancer and The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps (known as SeriousFun Children's Network as of April 2012). In 2019, Rahal and wife Courtney Force took on the foundation in a joint effort, changing the name to Graham & Courtney Rahal Foundation (GCRF). GCRF supports Turns for Troops, benefitting the national nonprofit SoldierStrong, and Colorado State University's One Cure.

Racing record

Career summary

† Team result

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

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

American open-wheel racing results

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

Champ Car Atlantic

Indy Pro Series

Champ Car World Series

IndyCar Series

( key) * Season still in progress. * ¹ ''The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Autosport, Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 Indianapol ...

died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.''

Indianapolis 500

IMSA SportsCar Championship

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

References

External links

* *
Graham Rahal Un-official Fan Zone
* *
IndyCar 11 in '11 video

IndyCar 36: Graham Rahal
- IndyCar documentary {{DEFAULTSORT:Rahal, Graham 1989 births Living people 24 Hours of Daytona drivers A1 Team Lebanon drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Champ Car drivers Force family Formula BMW USA drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indy Lights drivers IndyCar Series drivers Lebanese racing drivers People from New Albany, Ohio Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers Racing drivers from Columbus, Ohio Rolex Sports Car Series drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs winners Supercars Championship drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Conquest Racing drivers Newman/Haas Racing drivers Sarah Fisher Racing drivers Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Meyer Shank Racing drivers BMW M drivers Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers Kelly Racing drivers Team Penske drivers A1 Grand Prix drivers Carlin racing drivers