NHLR building special cars for Indy 500
Graham Rahal has a number of reasons to be more confident about his second Indianapolis 500 than he was last year heading into his first.
He and his team have a year's worth of experience in the IndyCar Series. He has a new chief engineer, Martin Pare, who brings a wealth of oval-track racing experience from working with Danica Patrick at Andretti Green Racing. Best of all, he's convinced the car he put on the pole for Sunday's Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway isn't as good as the new one his Newman/Haas/Lanigan team will bring to Indy.
He and his team have a year's worth of experience in the IndyCar Series. He has a new chief engineer, Martin Pare, who brings a wealth of oval-track racing experience from working with Danica Patrick at Andretti Green Racing. Best of all, he's convinced the car he put on the pole for Sunday's Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway isn't as good as the new one his Newman/Haas/Lanigan team will bring to Indy.
"We know the fast car is still sitting back at the shop," said Rahal, whose seventh-place finish Sunday was his best on an oval. "We built that car just for Indy."
Already the youngest driver to win an IndyCar Series pole and race, Rahal, 20, has two more chances to top Troy Ruttman (1952) as the youngest Indy champion. "Youngest Indy 500 winner," he said. "That sounds pretty damn good." Indy Star