Graham Rahal says his IndyCar is "miles better" on ovals after P10 qualifying position for Milwaukee 250

Graham Rahal was left chuffed after his qualifying at the Milwaukee 250 as he continues his good run of form.

Graham Rahal will start 10th at Milwaukee.
Graham Rahal will start 10th at Milwaukee.
© IndyCar

Letterman Rahal Racing driver Graham Rahal will start 10th in the Milwaukee 250 race after he put together a solid lap speed average of 159.995 mph that qualified him 11th.

Millimetres off breaking into the 160 mph average, Rahal had originally put himself in fourth before he slowly began to fall down the order alongside Conor Daly who had run before him.

Scott Dixon's unapproved engine penalty promoted both Daly and Rahal by one position into ninth and 10th.

Out of the car, Rahal suggested that the car hadn't been perfectly tuned for the session as he faced a lot of understeer but was still happy with the result, especially in comparison to last year.

Rahal pointed out that both he and team had struggled at ovals in the 2024 season thanks to the rear of the car but stated that "she's been a pretty good girl" so far this year.

"I think our guys have worked awfully hard to this WWEX number 15 up towards the front", Rahal began.

"We tested here mid summer and had a good test, a lot better than last year. Last year we just struggled with the rear of the car, which we do on most ovals. 

"She's been pretty good, well behaved this weekend; I would have liked that second lap to be better. 

"The understeer level, I was going to the left and the jackers couldn't get enough but, I mean, miles better than what we had so we'll take it."

Rahal entered Milwaukee with a spring in his step after he managed to finish P4 in Portland two weeks ago.

Overshadowed by Will Power's win and Alex Palou cinching the IndyCar title, the P4 finish was Rahal's best result since his second place at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2023.

Rahal's oval performances have been mixed this year with an average finish of 17th; he has yet to finish in the top 10 at any oval race.

Rahal frustrated with eight years of no wins

Speaking to Autoweek, Rahal recently shared that he is "sick and tired" of the smack talk he receives in terms of his racing career.

Rahal last won a race in 2017 and has not had a podium in two years.

He shared that he would "particularly [like] to get that eight-year monkey off my back, you have no clue what that would mean.

"It's been too long since we've won. We've got lot of work still to be done that's clear.

“I’m sick and tired of hearing ‘He can’t drive.’ ‘He’s only there because of his dad,’ all this bull***t.

"It gets old, because the reality is the performance, and qualifying in particular, speaks for itself. It’s not like we’ve been nonexistent. We’ve been there.”

 

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