Graham Rahal interview: Racing ahead in 2018 IndyCar season

Graham Rahal is always a Verizon IndyCar Series contender, and he told FanSided what he sees in the 2018 IndyCar season and the series’ future.

Graham Rahal returns to the Verizon IndyCar Series looking at an entirely different landscape. He has a new teammate, a new car and a new chance to be IndyCar champion.

Aside from his work on the track, Graham has also been one of IndyCar’s most honest voices as the series continues to move forward, so he’s got a valuable perspective about the 2018 IndyCar season.

Before the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, FanSided connected with Graham Rahal to talk about how he’s approaching the 2018 IndyCar season with all the on- and off-track changes, and what he thinks as he celebrates his tenth year in IndyCar.

Find out what he had to tell us below, then don’t miss him when he races this weekend as part of the 2018 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (4 p.m. ET, NBCSN).

FanSided: After a second-place finish in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, do you feel like your 2018 IndyCar season is off to a good start?

Graham Rahal (GR): We weren’t great at St. Pete. There’s no doubt about that. We do need to improve. But it was a good start, and we’re going to try to put together more pieces of the puzzle here. Phoenix, and then obviously Long Beach, is going to be key for us. The next three weeks, doing three [races] in a row, is going to have a big effect on the championship.

But it was nice to be second in points. It’s nice to have points. Because ordinarily, the last few years, we’ve lost St. Pete and we haven’t had those points, and we haven’t been that good. So it’s nice to be able to get away from there and be in a pretty strong place.

FanSided: We’ve discussed how the new aero kit might provide more parity, because all the teams would have the same kit. Do you think it actually has leveled the playing field?

GR: I think it definitely has made a difference. I think it’s going to continue to make a difference as we go forward … I definitely think the new car has done a great job. It’s played its part. It’s changed the face of the game a little bit. I’m excited for what the rest of the season has in store for us.

FanSided: What effect does that have on the team? Do you have to throw out the Graham Rahal playbook because what worked before was with an aero kit you no longer have?

GR: There’s definitely been times where we’ve had to rethink it a little bit. The new car’s got a lot less downforce, it’s a lot less drag. You just have to work it. You’ve got to drive it in a little bit of a different manner, so without a doubt, yeah. I think that there’s phases and parts of it that you just have to press the old reset button.

FanSided: On your team specifically, another big change was that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing brought in Takuma Sato after years of you doing this on your own. What effect has the arrival of Takuma had for you?

GR: Takuma’s been great, and he’s got a great influence on what we do within our team. It’s been a lot of fun to have him and particularly with the new car, to be able to work together and try to improve things. I think that there’s a lot still to come between the two of us, but certainly, he’s always got a lot of pace. He always pushes you to be at your best.

FanSided: You’re headed into Long Beach, which has not always been kind to you in the past. Is there anything specific you’re focused on doing differently this year?

GR: I think there’s a lot we want to do different. We haven’t been great at Long Beach. The aero kit has had a part of that in the past, but that excuse is gone. We just need to focus on getting a good race car, a good solid race car, and pushing it as hard as we can in putting it together. I don’t think there’s any doubt that we can do it.

FanSided: Any doubt about what you can do went out the window when you won both parts of the Dual in Detroit last year. After that, you’ve only finished outside of the top 10 once in 11 races. Was that the turning point for Graham Rahal?

GR: It was a big turning point for us. It was a great way to close out what was kind of a tough month in May, where we felt like some things slipped out of our hands there, particularly at the 500. And so then we go in the beginning of June and get a couple of wins.