Graham Rahal
Rahal at the 2024 Detroit Grand Prix
Born	(1989-01-04)January 4, 1989 (age 36) New Albany, Ohio, U.S.
IndyCar Series career
278 races run over 17 years
Team(s)	No. 15 (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing)
Best finish	4th (2015)
First race	2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Last race	2025Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix (The Thermal Club)
First win	2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Last win	2017Detroit Grand Prix, Race 2 (Belle Isle)
Wins Podiums Poles 6 29 5
Champ Car career
15 races run over 1 year
Years active	2007
Team(s)	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing
Best finish	5th (2007)
First race	2007 Vegas Grand Prix (Las Vegas)
Last race	2007 Gran Premio Tecate (Mexico City)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 4 0
Related to	Bobby 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)
Previous series
2007 2006 2005	Champ Car World Series Champ Car Atlantic Star Mazda Championship
Awards
2011	24 Hours of Daytona winner

Graham Robert Rahal (/ˈreɪhɔːl/RAY-hawl; born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently races in theIndyCar Series withRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team partially owned by his fatherBobby Rahal, the winner of the1986 Indianapolis 500.

In 2005, he won theFormula Atlantic class at the SCCA Runoffs and finished fourth inStar Mazda Series standings. After the season concluded, Rahal raced withA1 Team Lebanon for the final three rounds of2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season.^[1] He moved to a full-time ride in theChamp Car Atlantic Series in 2006, where he won five races and finished second in the season standings. He also drove in theIndy Pro Series event on theIndianapolis Motor Speedway road course in conjunction with the2006 United States Grand Prix and finished second. Rahal would once again jump in A1GP's Team Lebanon car for one race in the second round of the2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season. SpeedTV reported in August 2006 that Rahal would drive forNewman/Haas Racing in the Champ Car World Series in 2007.^[2]

On January 27 Rahal drove in the24 Hours of Daytona. One of four drivers of the Southard MotorsportsLexusRiley, the car ran into trouble early and finished 62nd out of 70 entries. On March 18, he drove in the12 Hours of SebringAmerican Le Mans Series race for his father'sRahal Letterman Racing team. He drove aPorsche 911 GT3-RSR with two other drivers, finishing 6th in the GT2 class and 15th overall.

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^[3] and drove the No. 2Panoz DP01 sponsored by MEDI|ZONE alongside his teammate, three-time series championSébastien Bourdais. On April 8 in his debut in the Champ Car World Series at theVegas Grand Prix, Rahal hit the wall on the front stretch on the first lap and retired from the race. On April 15 at theToyota 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 inHouston. Rahal completed his rookie season in 5th place in series points with four podium finishes but without a race win.

With the creation of a single American open-wheel racing series for2008, Rahal and the Newman/Haas/Lanigan team became part of theIndyCar Series, including Rahal's firstIndianapolis 500.

He missed theGainsco 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, theHonda 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. He became the youngest^[4] person at the time 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 place finishes at Watkins Glen and Sonoma; he finished 17th in points, 4th among series rookies.

Rahal returned to Newman/Haas/Lanigan for the2009 IndyCar Series, taking over the No. 02 car withMcDonald's as his sponsor. He began the season by takingpole position at St. Petersburg, his first in hisIndyCar career, thus becoming the youngest ever polesitter aged 20 years, 90 days. This was the first time a Rahal had won anIndyCar pole sincehis father started first atToronto in1992, which was Bobby's third in a row that season.^[5] He finished seventh after damaging the car in a first-lap crash. His season was also undermined by bad relations with his team-mateRobert Doornbos – when Doornbos left midseason, Rahal commented "We could certainly have a second driver who is more of a team player."^[6] He finished the season 7th in points with two podium finishes.

Rahal was linked with theUS F1 Team, the American-basedFormula 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.^[7] However, Windsor later decided against hiring either Rahal orMarco Andretti due to fears that they would not be able to get theirFIA 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.

Rahal did not return toNewman/Haas/Lanigan Racing for the2010 IndyCar Series, due toMcDonald's discontinuing their sponsorship to focus on the2010 Winter Olympics.

On March 10, 2010,Sarah Fisher Racing announced Rahal would pilot Fisher's No. 67Dollar General car in the first two North American events of 2010, theHonda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and theIndy Grand Prix of Alabama. 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 inGoodlettsville, Tennessee.^[8] On April 6, 2010, Sarah Fisher Racing announced the addition of theGrand 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 forhis father's team,Rahal Letterman Racing, in the2010 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 theIowa Corn Indy 250 atIowa Speedway, filling in for the injuredMike Conway in the No. 24 entry on a one-off basis. Rahal returned toNewman/Haas Racing for 6 of the remaining 8 races of the 2010 season, starting with Toronto, and returned to Sarah Fisher Racing for theKentucky Speedway 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 teammateConor Daly.^[9]

Rahal signed to drive the No. 38 car forChip Ganassi Racing withService Central sponsorship beginning in 2011 as the team expanded from two to four cars and continued with the team into 2012.^[10]

Rahal, co-drove the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates car to victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona along withScott Pruett,Memo Rojas, andJoey Hand. It came 30 years after his father, Bobby won the race, partnering withBrian Redman andBob Garretson.

From 2013 onwards, Graham Rahal returned to his father's teamRahal 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 the2015 MAVTV 500 atAuto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA. Rahal again won later in the season at the 2015 Honda Indy 200 atMid-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 the2016 Firestone 600 atTexas Motor Speedway. The margin of victory was only .008 of a second, the fifth-closest finish in IndyCar history.^[11]

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).^[12]

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 theIndyCar Series championship, finishing eighth overall with a best finish of third atTexas Motor Speedway.

Rahal finished second at the 2020 Indianapolis Grand Prix before earning two third place finishes at the second Iowa race and theIndianapolis 500 to finish sixth in the points. In 2021, he would only score one podium atTexas Motor Speedway 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 theIndianapolis 500 after teammateJack Harvey bumped him out of the field in the last chance qualifying session. However, afterStefan Wilson was ruled out due to an injury after a crash in practice, Rahal was chosen as the replacement driver for the #24Dreyer & Reinbold Racing /Cusick Motorsports Chevrolet.^[13] 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.

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 centralPennsylvania.

Rahal was born inColumbus, Ohio. He attendedNew Albany school systems in Ohio and graduated in June 2007 with plans to attendDenison University. 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 formerNHRA drag racerCourtney Force, daughter of 16-time NHRA drag racing champion and legendJohn Force.^[14] In May 2020, the pair announced they were expecting their first child; in November she gave birth to a daughter, Harlan Ann Rahal.^[15]

Rahal started the Graham Rahal Foundation in 2009 to supportAlex's Lemonade Stand for Childhood Cancer and The Association of Hole in the Wall Camps (known asSeriousFun Children's Network as of April 2012).^[16] 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 nonprofitSoldierStrong, and Colorado State University's One Cure.

† Team result

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest race lap)

(key)

* Season still in progress.

• ¹TheLas Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned afterDan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toGraham Rahal.

• Official website
• IndyCar Driver Page at theWayback Machine (archived July 24, 2011)
• Graham Rahal Un-official Fan Zone
• Graham Rahal career overview at theWayback Machine (archived August 31, 2007)
• Graham Rahal career summary at DriverDB.com
• IndyCar 11 in '11 video
• IndyCar 36: Graham Rahal - IndyCar documentary

• 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
• Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio
• 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

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