Maximum relief for Graham Rahal, qualified for the Indy 500

Seventeen years after his first participation in the Indianapolis 500, Graham Rahal has experienced almost everything at the legendary Speedway. Third in the event in 2020, the American has experienced many setbacks in subsequent years, such as in 2021 when losing a wheel after a pit stop forced him to retire, while he was in the running for victory. However, it was mainly in qualifying that his problems arose. Unlike other events on the calendar, not all drivers registered for the Indy 500 qualify automatically; only 33 spots are available.

In 2023, Bobby Rahal's (500 Indy 1986 winner) team was seriously lacking speed. Only Katherine Legge had managed to qualify in the top thirty on Saturday. This meant that the team's three other cars had to go through the last-chance round on Sunday... and these were the team's three full-time drivers!

While Christian Lundgaard easily qualified, it was Graham Rahal who was ultimately eliminated by his own teammate Jack Harvey at the last second. Graham knew the feeling his father Bobby experienced in 1993, when he failed to qualify for the Indy 500. However, his son was able to participate in the race, replacing Stefan Wilson, who was injured on Monday after a crash during practice.

In 2024, it was the same story again: Graham Rahal was once again present in the last-chance session, but this time on the right side, securing 33rd place on the grid. While one might have thought that 2025 would be a better year for Rahal, the American driver found himself in difficulty again. For two hours, he held on to XNUMXth place, despite attempts by Rinus VeeKay (Dale Coyne Racing) and Marco Andretti (Andretti).

"First of all, I would like to say that those who tried to dislodge me at the very end, Rinus and Marco, are two of the drivers I respect the most.", he said, relieved to have validated his place on Saturday. “They are incredibly talented drivers on this circuit, so you never know if they're going to pull something out of their hat. We improved our car, so congratulations to the whole team because the day started very badly. The last few days have been quite difficult, but we managed to find a lot of things.”

The American believes he could have gone even faster if he had returned to the track, but the important thing was not to push his luck. Indeed, hitting the wall would have guaranteed him another participation in the last-chance session, with a spare chassis that probably wouldn't have been as fast...

“We really improved the car, and I think we could have gone even faster. But we had to keep our heads, everyone did a great job, and I'm proud of everyone. I'm telling you, the beer I'm going to drink tonight will be really delicious! I was praying that would happen. Thank you so much to the team that allowed me to qualify.”

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