By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Sunday’s 102nd Indianapolis 500 offered a fairly new look at racing on the 2.5-mile oval. At least compared to recent runnings of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Graham Rahal noticed the changes, as the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver struggled to make passes most of the day, finishing 10th after leading 12 laps in the 200-lap race.
After his 11th Indy 500 start, the 29-year-old was outspoken in why and how the 2018 aero kit made track position invaluable on Sunday.
“You could pass but it was definitely hard,” Rahal said. “You had to work hard for it and the person in front always had to make a mistake. We need to try and fix that a bit.”
The tough passing conditions were multiplied when Rahal’s Honda competed against Chevrolet, who finished 1-2 on the day with Will Power and Ed Carpenter.
“The Chevys definitely had a good advantage today,” he said. “You could feel it behind them, it was hard to get by. Some were struggling a lot and it still made life tough. We got to close the gap there.”
Outside the manufacturer disadvantage, Rahal knows what needs to be improved moving forward. For Indy, it starts with the tire.
“The tires didn’t marble that much which tells me it’s a little hard for this car,” he said. “If we soften up the tire a bit, it gives you more mechanical grip to follow closer.”
Furthermore, Rahal has a desire to open setups, which would include optional rear-wing changes and downforce adjustments. Similar setups across the field led to tough passing, said Rahal.
“They need to open up — right now, we’re only allowed to go to a certain rear-wing angle. They need to just leave it open,” he said. “You can go to what you want, if you want to put a lot of rear-wing into it, you can. But right now, everybody up and down raced with the same wing angles, same downforce because you’re capped at what you can do.
“That makes it too close. We need some variety so guys can go in different ways.”
At the end of the day, Rahal maintains sixth spot in the championship following his top-10 finish. Also, his 12 laps led were his most ever in an Indy 500. A good improvement after starting in the 11th and final row in 30th.
“We made good progress,” he said. “We pitted under yellow to try and eliminate a green-flag stop. It should’ve eliminated one but the yellow periods were way too long. Because of that, it cost us our advantage. Our team did a great job, we’ll move on to next year.”