Rahal had to run two full stints on the harder tire, which was not the preferred strategy. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
Graham Rahal came ever so close to winning his first IndyCar race in over six years on Saturday, crossing the finish line at Indianapolis Motor Speedway less than half of a second behind Scott Dixon.
He was hampered in the race by tire choice, as his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team had to discard a set of Firestone tires after qualifying due to severe blistering.
Dixon did not have such troubles, and also had a spare unused set of the softer red-walled tires due to exiting the knockout qualifying session in the first round.
Additionally, the Ganassi veteran also benefitted from an early caution period that allowed him to run on the preferred tire compound for all but five laps of the race.
Rahal had to run two entire stints on the harder compound, totaling nearly half the race, and that was a big factor in why he was not able to close out the win.
“I was worried a little last night that we didn’t have three sets of reds to use,” said Rahal, referencing the softer tire compound. “We had a blister on the left front qualifying set. Not really sure why. It wasn’t a flat spot or anything.
“Unfortunately it made it so that set wasn’t usable for us today. I knew that the two middle stints on black [tires], I was going to have to drive the wheels off of it just to maintain my gap. We were able to do that and actually pull a little bit more of a gap.
“Again, Dixie, through that middle stint had reds, [the difference was] just blacks to reds. [I was] chasing down the best ever to do this, it’s not an easy thing.
“We got that last stint, and I knew we were going to have to make a lot of time. I could see [Dixon] wasn’t sliding around a lot. He used the tires only a little. Dixie is not going to just make a mistake. I knew it was going to have to be a flawless run.
“Frankly, I almost had it. Meaning I needed about one more car length to be closer out of [Turn] 13 to be able to get by. But I pulled off of overtake because I wasn’t really gaining. I was kind of just holding steady.
“For me, I thought Dixon used it right today. I tried to do the best I could to challenge him. I just ran out of steam. I mean, leading up to the last lap, I went through the snake – turn seven, eight, nine, ten – I had zero grip. I lost about half a second. That was it.
“At the end when I wanted to go chase Dixie. Having another set of reds I think would have flipped the script on this race, to be honest with you. But it is what it is.”
Even through Rahal didn’t win, he did earn his first podium finish since the race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2021, and gave himself a bit of redemption for his miserable Indy 500 performance earlier in the year.
Keyword: Rahal blames blistered tire in qualifying for lost victory chances