NTT IndyCar Series News Conference - Thursday, September 10, 2020 - Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Graham Rahal | Bobby Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to our latest NTT INDYCAR Series video news conference in advance of the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES two (2) race weekend in this week's Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Saturday's race will be on NBCSN at 4:30pm ET. Sunday's race will be on NBC at 1:00pm ET.

We're pleased to be joined by two favorite sons in the racing scene in Columbus, Ohio. We're joined by the co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and the 1996 Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal, and also Graham Rahal, driver of the No. 15 United Rentals and Fifth Third Bank Honda this weekend for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Gentlemen, thanks for joining us. Appreciate you taking the time to join us today.

GRAHAM RAHAL: Thank you.

BOBBY RAHAL: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Bob, you really can't think about going to Mid-Ohio without the Rahal name. Your expectations about having a race at Mid-Ohio, fielding a car for Graham?

BOBBY RAHAL: First, just really pleased that we're, A, going there. Two races is going to be a heck of a show for the fans that are going to be able to be there. Tough on the drivers. I don't think there's any question of that. It's going to be a great show. Really pleased to be there.

Upset, sad, like everybody, that we can't open the gates and let everyone who wants to come come. These next two races are key, four races in two weekends. A huge effect on the championship.

We've been pretty competitive on the road courses this year whether it was Elkhart or Indy GP. Hoping that holds true for this weekend as well.

Obviously the team is feeling pretty good about our year so far. Clearly finishing where we did at Indy is a big boost for everybody. As I said, Graham has had some strong races. Takuma has had strong races. I think we have to be going there feeling very positive. We just got to keep our heads down and do the job, as they say.

THE MODERATOR: Graham, how excited are you about having two races at your home track?

GRAHAM RAHAL: Yeah, I'm thrilled to go back home. It's a great place to go and race. As you mentioned before, 2015 still extremely important to me, special, a lot of special memories from that weekend.

We've been pretty strong there in recent years. I hope we can keep that going. As dad pointed out, our run on road courses has been very, very strong this year. We're excited about the opportunity ahead.

It's a big points weekend, two races. It's a physical weekend with two races. Hopefully Mother Nature will kind of stay away and be friendly with us. But we're looking forward to it.

THE MODERATOR: Graham, talk about the helmet. I know you're a proud Ohioan. Special Ohio themed helmet.

GRAHAM RAHAL: Yeah, we did a design contest earlier in the year for the first race. We ended up going with Cindy's design for Texas. The Ohio themed right away we thought it would be a great one to have when we do go to Mid-Ohio. It's being worn a little later than we anticipated. Excited nonetheless that we had it. Had it for a long time, it's been painted for a couple months. Just been hiding it all long. Excited about it.

We hope it brings us a little bit of Ohio luck. Last time wore a specialty helmet there we did pretty good. Hopefully this time around we can, as well.

THE MODERATOR: Bob, it's been almost a month since you won your second Indy 500. What has been the reaction to winning it a second time with Takuma?

BOBBY RAHAL: Well, very pleased. I'm always asked what is more satisfying, winning as a driver or owner. Tremendous satisfaction in either case, let's face it. As an owner I feel you have a much better feel for everything that goes into it. As a driver, you thank your crew and everything, but I don't think you understand totally what does go into it. It's everything from the exciting things, the exciting stuff, to the very mundane stuff like making sure your taxes are paid and other things like that.

It was a thrill to win Honda's first 500 since 2004 with Buddy, then to win the second one for Takuma, it was a great race. I thought the last 20, 30 laps... The whole race was exciting. But the last 30 laps with Graham, Dixon, Takuma there, I don't think it gets much better than that.

Really pleased for our guys. Really pleased for our guys. They've all been working hard. We've had some ups and downs this year. Good races that could have been great. Started out in a tough way in Texas, particularly with Takuma, then Graham having issues, mechanical issues.

I'm just very pleased for everybody in the team and our sponsors who have been so patient, understanding, real team players. We've been very, very fortunate in that case. Yeah, real happy for everybody.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions for Bobby Rahal and Graham Rahal.

Q. Graham, you're 14 points out of fifth in the standings. I know fifth isn't what you're racing for, you're racing for a championship. How important would that be? That's within reach. Once you get into the top five, you can kind of start scratching and clawing for every position after that.

GRAHAM RAHAL: Yeah, I mean, the points are important. St. Louis really, really killed us for sure. We were lucky, a lot of the guys we compete with didn't have a great St. Louis either. If you look at Simon, a couple of the other guys, even Colton. There's still a lot of guys within reach. I feel like we can go out there and have a really strong weekend I think and close some of that gap.

As I look at it, even third place isn't necessarily out of reach. Maybe, I don't know. Dixon is pretty far ahead. But I think with a little bit of luck and some good performances in the next couple of races, obviously two at Mid-Ohio, move on to Indy Grand Prix where we know we can do well, hopefully we can claw back into this.

For me at this stage in the season, too, I'm willing to take a little bit more risk to get a win. It's been a few years, since 2017 for me. I feel like we've been extremely consistent and strong as far as our performance the last couple years in the 15 car. Bounces haven't quite gone our way. Willing to take a little risk to try and make that happen.

Q. Bobby, you have Takuma winning the Indy 500, he's fourth in points. You have Graham 14 points out of fifth. You could end the season with both of your drivers in the top five. That's a pretty Team Penske like, Chip Ganassi like accomplishment. How do you feel about Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing having that opportunity to do that this year?

BOBBY RAHAL: Like I said, particularly on the road courses, Graham has been very strong, whether it was Indy GP. But for a yellow flag, he would have won that race. I don't think there's any question of that. Elkhart Lake had a really strong run going, catching Newgarden. Clearly those two were leaving the field. A bad pit stop, our bad, that hurt him. Then being taken out by Power the next day, that didn't help anything.

We've had a lot of strong races, just haven't quite finished the job for whatever reasons. But like I said earlier, there's four races in the next two events, next two tracks. We've been strong at Mid-Ohio before, we've been strong at Indy GP. I don't think there's any reason why we can't finish very strongly. St. Pete, you know.

I would be very disappointed if we weren't in -- both of our cars were in the top five.

Q. Bobby, as a team owner, it was a long wait for everybody to finally get the go ahead from the Ohio governor, but with the team did you just have to manage them saying assume that the race is going to happen so you could be prepared?

BOBBY RAHAL: Yeah, we had to go in assuming it was going to take place. Obviously they didn't say it was on till, what, Monday or Tuesday. Monday, I guess.

No, we were acting as though it was going to happen. The only thing that made it sketchy for us or any team is you have hotel rooms, all these commitments you've made. I'm just glad that we're going to be able to take advantage of those or live up to those commitments, because otherwise there would have been an economic impact on a lot of the teams.

Yeah, I think it's important for us to be at Mid-Ohio. Would always have had a great crowd. Unfortunately this year it's limited. But, you know, I think everybody kind of gets it. May not be happy with it but gets it. We're just going to have to put on a great race for everybody, whether they're there or watching on TV.

Q. From a business standpoint, the wherewithal that Green Savoree Promotions have had to have this year because every one of their races hasn't happened, could you weigh in on how important that is for them and how important that group is for the series.

BOBBY RAHAL: I'll jump in there, I guess.

It's not just Mid-Ohio, it's Toronto, Portland, St. Pete. Those poor guys. By all accounts it looks like St. Pete is looking better, so that's good because that's a great event, one we need to be at. Those poor guys. You got to hand it to them. I'm sure INDYCAR has worked with them quite a bit to make things happen. They've been I think pretty good partners from what I can see in staying the course at a time. No one would blame them if they said, The heck with it, we're going to wait till '21.

I'm going to make sure when I see Kevin and Mr. Green, just say a big thank you. Everybody needed this. I'm sure they did. The teams and the series needed it, as well. Yeah, very lucky to have good partners like that.

GRAHAM RAHAL: I think dad said it. They've certainly been put through the wringer this year. It was a bummer for this to be announced so late as we already kind of pointed out. But I just hope that St. Pete goes off, that this goes off well. I hope St. Pete goes off well, that they can land back on their feet as we go towards next year. I saw Portland was extended for a few more years.

Kim, Kevin, their staff have been put through ...