STEAM CORNERS, Ohio — Summertime trips to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course have been a longtime family tradition for the Rahals.
It all started with family patriarch, Mike Rahal, who took his young son, Bobby, to the first race at Mid-Ohio in 1962.
When Bobby Rahal was at the height of his racing career as a three-time CART champion and 1986 Ind
ianapolis 500 winning driver, he often packed up the family for Mid-Ohio. Beginning in 1989, that included his son Graham.
The precocious youngster loved his trips to Mid-Ohio, where he would get rides on golf-karts and seek out the Domino’s Pizza delivery cart for a nice, hot slice of pizza.
“The first trip I remember I was very young,” recalled Graham, now 32 and an NTT IndyCar Series veteran at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. “There used to be a Domino’s Pizza at the track in one of those huts. They used to have the golf karts going around selling Domino’s Pizza and I just loved it. I remember being a little kid, getting a slice of pizza, going for golf-kart rides with guys on our hospitality staff.
“Then, I remember vividly as I was six, seven or eight years old I would go to the track and stay with my dad in the motorhome and sleep up front. I remember those days so well and it helped shape my love for the sport and shape my love for Mid-Ohio, for the atmosphere the fans and everybody brings. I remember that so clearly as a kid people cheering so hard for my dad.
“I live for that, every year, to go back to Mid-Ohio and go back and be a part of that is still extremely special for me.”
Beginning this year, Graham Rahal gets to pass this time-honored Rahal Family tradition to the newest member of the family, introducing a new generation of Rahals to Mid-Ohio.
It’s daughter Harlan Ann, who was born November 2, 2020, by Rahal’s wife, Courtney.
Even though she is quite young and probably won’t remember it, it’s important for Rahal to introduce his daughter to a place that means so much to his family.
“To have her is going to be tremendous for me and Courtney to go back to a place that shaped my life in so many ways,” Rahal said. “It will be awesome to have her come and be a part of it, come see the race track, go for golf-kart rides and do the things I did as a kid.”
Young Harlan Ann has already been exposed to her father’s world in IndyCar. He carried her in his arms to the stage during driver introductions to the 105th Indianapolis 500 in front of 135,000 spectators and millions more on television.
Less than one-year-old, the look on her face was one of bewilderment, but the look on her father’s face was one of pride.
“No doubt, to have Harlan with me there is nothing in this world like it,” Rahal said. “The connection you have with her, nothing else will ever beat that. I’m certainly very lucky to have her and it was a special day to share with her, for sure.”
A race driver will experience more heartache than victory in a career and the driver who was born in nearby New Albany, Ohio, can attest to that.
He hopes to turn around what began as a promising season at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on Sunday.
The biggest victory of his career came at Mid-Ohio in 2015 and Rahal would like to celebrate a win at Mid-Ohio with his daughter in 2021.
“I feel very good about it,” Rahal said. “At Barber, we were good on race day. I’m excited to go back home. I think we should be very strong, particularly if it is a doubleheader weekend, and I think it will. I expect us to be very, very good and competitive as we were last year. We had a pair of fourth place finishes last year that we would like to improve on that. I do think it’s a track we can win at, I know we can, and I know we can be very competitive.
“At this stage of the season, we’ve had way too many ‘Oopsies’ like at Indy and St. Pete hurt our championship as well. Now, we have to win some races and that is what we are going to try to do.”
Traditionally held at the end of July, this year’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio moves to Fourth of July weekend.
“I hope it will be really good,” Rahal said. “I’m excited. We have some good fields out there to have good fireworks show. We should have fireworks shows and judging contests on the motorhomes based on their patriotism. It would be cool to see what we get out there, for sure.
“The fans make Mid-Ohio great, so I think it would be really cool to see what kind of fireworks show the fans can put tother. I think it would be great to see.”
It’s also another race where Honda Performance Development can showcase its racing product in a head-to-head competition against Chevrolet.
“Honda did a great job at Indy,” Rahal recalled. “The competitors closed the gap in a big, big way because the gap last year was quite large. The engines were very close this year, but on race day from a mileage perspective and everything else, Honda did a wonderful job giving us the tools needed to run up front and not burn the fuel. It’s been great to see.
“We look forward to the rest of the year to see what we’ve got.”
Honda, Mid-Ohio, and the Rahal family, it’s all a part of a legacy that puts a smile on Rahal’s face, reminding him of the happy days of his youth and a chance to introduce that to his daughter this weekend.