Note: The Penske Entertainment editorial staff is looking back at the 10 biggest moments of 2023 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in this year-end series, with one installment appearing on the site per day in countdown fashion from Dec. 22-31.
Could there be anything more agonizing for an NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver, especially for a Rahal, than being bumped out of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge?
That experience – that agony – was served to Graham Rahal on May 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He had predicted the scenario days earlier when his No. 15 Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing struggled to find speed. Those fears became real when, on the first day of qualifying, three team cars couldn’t escape being grouped in the Last Chance Qualifying session.
In essence, Rahal had to fight for a coveted spot in the 107th Running by battling teammates Christian Lundgaard and Jack Harvey. Rookie Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing was the fourth member of that dubious group.
As it played out, Robb safely earned the 31st starting spot and Lundgaard grabbed the 32nd, leaving Rahal and Harvey to duke it out. Rahal was sitting in his car when Harvey bumped him on the day’s final run. Harvey had rolled onto the track with 85 seconds left, his car adjusted with all that the crew had to give him. It was just enough, a separation of just .0044 of a second over 10 miles, an almost incalculable measurement.
The difference between relief in Harvey’s pit box and despair in Rahal’s was difficult to watch.
Compounding Rahal’s pain was the team’s memory of yesteryear. Thirty years prior to the day, team owner Bobby Rahal similarly was helpless in his parked car on pit road as Eddie Cheever Jr. dramatically bumped him from the 1993 field. Bobby got a last chance as the qualifying session ended, but his car simply wasn’t fast enough.
The scene was reminiscent of Team Penske missing the show with two former “500” winners in 1995, one-time pole winner James Hinchcliffe failing to make it in 2018 and two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso dealt the same fate in 2019.
Before even removing the helmet, Rahal hugged each of his crew members. He answered a couple of questions on the television broadcast before going to the sidepod of his car to bury his head in his hands. Wife Courtney tried to console him as the presence of their oldest daughter, Harlan, brought a momentary smile amid the tears that kept flowing, but there were few words for what had happened.
“It just sucks, (but) it’s life,” said Rahal, who had earned a spot in his previous 15 Indy 500 starts. “You’ve got to go through hurdles, bad ones of some sort. This is my turn.”
Harvey found Rahal as quickly as he could.
“I said to Graham, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not sorry,’” he said. “What do you say to someone in that moment?”
Rahal got a reprieve of sorts when, two days later, he was named to replace Stefan Wilson, who suffered a back fracture in a post-qualifying crash. Coincidently, the incident, which was the first of the month, occurred when RLL’s Katherine Legge drove into the back of him in Turn 1.
Rahal’s race day in the No. 24 Chevrolet of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports didn’t go well, however. Scheduled to start last due to the driver change, the car did not immediately start. Eventually it did, and Rahal soldiered on to a 22nd-place finish.
