Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
RACE NOTES/QUOTES – July 2, 2023
LUNDGAARD MATCHED HIS BEST FINISH OF THE SEASON WITH FOURTH IN THE HONDA 200 AT MID-OHIO; PIT ISSUES LIMITED RAHAL TO SEVENTH AND HARVEY FINISHED 18TH
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think the Fifth Third Bank car should’ve been further forward today but it’s a quick reminder that we’ve got to be good in every phase of the program. It was a difficult day. We weren’t quite good enough on track and, unfortunately, we had some bobbles in pit lane. But we win as a team and lose as a team. We’re going to take this one on the chin. We’ve got to get better in all phases if we want to win a race. We had ourselves in position I think. I thought we were going to be a little bit better than Herta but had some issues on that first stop and then again in the second stop. So we’ve just been behind the eight ball. As I said, we win as a team, lose as a team. I’m not being hard on anybody but we’ve just got to get better at all phases if we want to compete at the sharp end and we’ll work hard to do so.”
FAST FACTS: Started second, led the race two times for two laps total and finished seventh after a slow fuel probe plug in on his first stop and an issue getting his inside rear tire on in his second… The 2023 Honda Indy 200 marked Rahal’s 17th Indy car race here. His best start is second (today) and best finish is his win in 2015. He has finished in the top-five, six times in the past 10 races here. In total, he has one win (2015), two podiums (2017), six top-five and 11 top-10 finishes in his 17 races here including a pair of fourth place finishes in the doubleheader in 2020. He moved up three positions in the point standings to 14th with a total of 145.
JACK HARVEY, No. 30 Permco Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The first stint was pretty good then we put blacks on and honestly just didn’t have very good pace. And it seems like we had pretty high degradation, which is kind of unexpected. In a race that started out pretty well, we just slowly got worse and worse.”
FAST FACTS: He started 11th and finished 18th after struggling with the handling of the race car on primary tires… The Honda Indy 200 will mark Jack’s seventh race here. In his six previous races, his best start of fifth and best finish of seventh both came in Race 1 in 2020. In the Indy Lights series, he won from pole at Mid-Ohio in Race 1 and 2 in 2014 and started second and finished 11th in Race 1 of 2015 and started from pole and finished 10th in Race 2 that same year. The team made good progress at the previous race at Road America and Jack hopes to carry the momentum over to Mid-Ohio. He moved up one position in the point standings to 24th with 95.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 VIVID Clear RX Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We just missed out on the podium which sucks. I think the car today was good enough. I don’t know where Will came from on that first pit sequence but he got ahead and was able to stay ahead most of the race. I think it’s good that we’re improving our package at road courses and I think this just proves it getting two top-seven results in a row. I think we can be happy with that. I’m just unbelievably proud of what we’re doing. We’re improving, we’re making progress. The green VIVID Clear RX car has been fast all weekend as it is at all road courses so I hope we’ll see that again later this year.”
FAST FACTS: He started fifth and finished fourth in the race to match his best finish of the season (IMS road course)… This was Lundgaard’s second race here. He started 16th last year and finished 11th. Earlier this season, he earned his first series pole at the IMS road course event and went on to finish fourth which is his best finish to date this season. He also has a sixth-place and seventh-place finish on the Barber and Road America road courses this season, respectively. His best series finish overall is second place, also at the IMS road course, in ‘22… He moved up one position in the point standings to 10th with 194.
NEXT UP: The series will take next weekend off before heading north of the border for the Honda Indy Toronto July 14-16.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
