LEEDS, Ala. — Graham Rahal finished on the podium for the first time in nearly three years during Sunday’s Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver led a lap and finished third to land on the podium for the first time since August 2023 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“It’s a great reward for the guys and gals. Everybody has worked so hard to be back here. Heard all the noise and BS that we get to hear all the time,” Rahal said after the race. “All weekend the car was in really good shape, very, very competitive, very comfortable. The race is actually the most challenging it was. It was extremely stable. In the race, as you guys could see, I was losing the rear a lot no matter what I felt like I could do on tire degradation. That’s been our Achilles’ heel so far this year. We’ve got some work to do.
“I’m super happy for everybody on the 15. Great pit stops, great strategy with Bryan. We’ll carry this momentum into the break here a little bit and get ready for Long Beach.”
Rahal held off David Malukas in the closing laps to secure third spot behind winner Alex Palou and Christian Lundgaard.
“I wasn’t frankly overly concerned. He was strong,” Rahal said. “Obviously, I passed him earlier in the race. I kind of knew his strengths and weaknesses. I wasn’t overly bothered.
“Trust me, I wanted the podium today badly. I really wanted to be P2. I wanted the podium badly to go into this break. A little pressure off the guys. Spirit’s really for the team. We can go off to Long Beach, it will be great. Indy GP we should be very strong.
“Some of the stuff we did this weekend should be even better for us. I’m excited for the opportunities ahead for our team right now.”
