RLL focused on two things in 2024: Indy 500 recovery, extension for Christian Lundgaard
Just north of 106th Street in Zionsville sit 20 million reasons to believe Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will bounce back in a major way in the coming months.
The team’s sprawling 125,000 square-foot race shop, with its floor-to-ceiling windows and metal exterior, is a testament to the faith team owners Bobby Rahal, Mike Lanigan and David Letterman have in what they’ve built in IndyCar – including two Indianapolis 500 victories and ability to flirt on the outskirts of a championship fight.
History, Graham Rahal points out, says that a rebound is on the horizon. Look at his worst season in IndyCar: 2014. Four DNFs, a May to forget and a single podium.
Sound familiar?
“There were times that year when we were quick, but we could never get that consistency down,” Rahal said. “And I do think that resembles (2023) quite a lot.”
A decade ago, Rahal and teammate James Jakes had just eight top-10s between the two of them and sat in 18th and 19th in points, respectively. RLL trimmed down to a single full-timer -- Rahal -- in 2014 and things went worse.
It’s what made 2015, where he won twice, logged eight top-5s and six podiums and went into the final two race weekends with a championship shot, not only surprising, but all the more gratifying.
“My hopes are that the response to all of this past year is like that 2015 season, a year where maybe we’re considered a bit of an underdog, but we come out and surprise some people, and we can build upon it from there,” Rahal said.
From last summer: After team's 1st win in 3 years, Bobby Rahal still wrestling with hellish May
We’ll soon know whether meaningful change has taken place inside the new shop in Zionsville, where RLL virtually doubled its engineering roster over the offseason as technical director Stefano Sordo relied heavily on his Formula 1 rolodex to bolster the team’s simulation program. As Rahal’s third-year teammate Christian Lundgaard pointed out earlier this year, all he knows of RLL are slow starts, where speed, consistency and the related results gradually improve over the course of the year.
Over the first seven races of each of the last two years – through Detroit – RLL’s three full-timers have combined to log 10 top-10s in 42 starts (23.8%). Across the final 10 races of both of those years – 60 combined starts – the trio have recorded 22 top-10s (36.7%). And all but one of the team’s nine top-5 finishes over these two years have come in those post-Detroit stretches – as have all three of the team’s podium finishes, as well as RLL’s lone win (2023 Toronto).
“If we can just start 2024 that way," Lundgaard said, "and then keep on building on top of it, we’re in good shape.”
Oval recovery
There was the disaster from the Indy 500 Open Test through three of the team’s four cars falling into the Last Chance Qualifier, Rahal getting bumped by teammate Jack Harvey and no car finishing better than 19th. That extended to the other oval races as only once did RLL have a car finish better than 16th (Lundgaard in Iowa Race 2).
The team’s failings in May, as public and far-reaching as they were, spurred immediate reaction from Bobby Rahal and the rest of RLL’s ownership group, in the form of a string of firings and restructuring of the team’s engineering program. Since then, the elder Rahal told IndyStar, RLL has spent at least six days in Honda’s wind tunnel – all of which have been dedicated to analysis improving its superspeedway program. Roughly 90% of the offseason work has been dedicated to the 500.
Doyel: World watches as Rahal family suffers thru Indy 500 qualifying
“There was a lot of low-hanging fruit (ahead of the 500 last year) that was missed, and it’s disappointing now to look back at,” the younger Rahal said. “But I’ve got to tip my cap to dad. He was very motivated after May to get immediate responses, and then from that, (RLL COO Steve Eriksen) has done an amazing job putting a plan together, and now, Stefano and his group are implementing that plan."
Addition by subtraction: Has Andretti Global remade itself into an IndyCar title contender?
Keeping Lundgaard
With six of the season’s seven oval races falling in the final two months (and eight races) of the year and no ovals to test run the team’s development before the 500, May becomes that much more critical. As much as the elder Rahal shied away from the notion, RLL may have some work to do to keep Lundgaard – one of the hottest and youngest free agents of this upcoming Silly Season – from being lured away.
The team has had a young, promising prospect since its reboot nearly 15 years ago. Lundgaard is the type of budding young star midfield teams looking to transform into title contenders dream of.
A team has to pluck one out of the junior categories and equip them with enough resources for their talents to blossom. Then, teams like RLL must convince that hotshot to stay rather move to Penske, Ganassi, Andretti or McLaren, which are perceived to have more resources to help that talented young driver reach their full potential.
Following his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2022 where he finished 14th in points, Lundgaard was 8th in 2023. That trajectory, the elder Rahal claims, should be reason enough for the driver of the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda to stay.
“I don’t think he needs to go to another team because he’s faster than most of those teams right now,” Bobby Rahal said. Of the 14 combined full-time entries at Penske, Ganassi, Andretti and Arrow McLaren a year ago, Lundgaard finished ahead of eight of them – including all four Andretti drivers and two of Arrow McLaren’s three cars.
“So where are you going to go that’s any better?” the elder Rahal continued. “Especially once we get the oval program back to where it should be, I’m not sure what else is out there. But frankly for Christian, there’s kind of a family here, and I think he likes that environment."
'Hunger Games with our own team': Scene as Jack Harvey bumped Graham Rahal from Indy 500
At the same time, Rahal admitted, RLL continues to plan for the team’s reserve driver -- Formula 2 expat Juri Vips -- to run a couple races in a part-time fourth car in 2024, as long as the team can secure an engine lease from Honda.
“I presume we’re going to stay at three full-time cars (in the future), so we will have options, should (Christian) not want to stay. But our first goal is obviously to keep him with us,” Bobby Rahal said.
Though he wasn’t asked directly about his impending free agency during series preseason Content Days in January, Lundgaard made clear through a series of answers about RLL’s lack of consistency and underwhelming oval performance that the onus remains on the team to find another gear.
“Honestly, I think it all comes down to just having a fast enough car,” Lundgaard said. “And I do think we’re looking more at the total package, from all types of tracks, to try and complete or quest for better overall performance across a season,” Lundgaard aid. “Of course, we want to win a lot more races. That’s the optimum target, but I think we’ve got to take It step-by-step.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: RLL's focus on Indy 500, locking down Christian Lundgaard
