Bobby Rahal is NOT Happy

RACER article discussed - racer.com/2024/07/03/rahal-ea...
/ davidland
Bobby Rahal is NOT happy about Christian Lundgaard leaving his team.
#IndyCar #Rossi #McLaren
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[@rgthenascarfan9716]

If Bobby is so mad about it, then he should put more speed in his cars, not cry when his drivers leave for better teams🤦‍♂️

[@Corew1n]

I'm sorry, how many wins did Arrow McLaren get last year? They've only been gifted one this year. Lundgaared left for more money and the "appearance" of a better team.

[@rgthenascarfan9716]

@@Corew1n okay maybe McLaren didn’t get any wins last year. But they have the speed to contend for wins, and Pato in 2023 got his highest number of podiums and top 5s in a season. An Arrow McLaren car is a jet compared to the RLL tractors.

[@StalinsPurge]

@@Corew1nRLL is not a threat to any team in any capacity on any track. Whereas McLaren has 2 drivers in the top 10, got 2 and 4 at the 500, can snag podiums, and are fast on ovals. RLL couldn’t hit a brick wall

[@metzgerov]

Umm if it’s so easy why aren’t you making “faster” cars

[@StalinsPurge]

@@metzgerov you could say that to literally everything ever. Clever.

[@Dennis-vh8tz]

Even if Mclaren and Andretti are second tier teams, Lundgaard is still moving up from a third or fourth tier team to a second tier team.

[@MatthewLittle]

There was a comment over at Racer that summed up where the teams stack up.... (Tier 1) Penske & Ganassi (Tier 2) McLaren & Andretti (Tier 3) Shank, RLL, Juncos (Tier 4) Foyt, Carpenter, Coyne ...so I agree with you, Dennis; its' not a first-tier team Lundgaard is going to next year, but unless things go south at McLaren for him he should do a good bit better next year.

[@keeganadams4580]

⁠​⁠@@MatthewLittle More like (1) CGR & Penske (2) AMR & Andretti (3) MSR, JHR & RLL (4) AFR & ECR (5) No teams (6) Dale Coyne Racing

[@carlsaganlives6086]

@@keeganadams4580 Ouch! Wasn't there a holy shit moment last year when promising greenhorn Malukas was legit leading a race and in the top five in running order for a couple? Didn't Dale give him a chance or was it Foyt?

[@Oliviaault123]

agreed this is a promotion for lundgaard and rahal is only crying because his team if you discount lundgaard is bottom basement most weekends.

[@Kevinap34]

​@@MatthewLittle Thanks for mentioning my comment, yes I'm craywulf. I tried breaking it down to just 3 tiers: front, middle and back, but the disparity between some teams are to far apart. So 4 tiers makes the most sense. I think it's important to note that the tiers are very defined as Front Row, Contenders, Midfielders, and Backmarkers.

[@jaredmartin2803]

RLL needs to look inward, as their problem is not loyalty. Sato can step in and get a dog of a Rahal car to run top 10 at Indy, yet their year wide teams are all off the pace. Not going to fault Lundgaard for wanting to better himself.

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

Maybe Bobby Rahal’s IndyCar team and pit crew should’ve been better

[@codymoe4986]

That's some hard hitting commentary...most certainly based on fact and not bias. Keep up the good work!

[@Corew1n]

Maybe Christian should stop throwing good results away with terrible moves on track.

[@yhelloh]

@@Corew1n Change your name to Graham Rahal Glazer. Replying to every comment to hate on Lundgaard is insane LMAO.

[@Corew1n]

@@yhelloh I'm sorry that you're a dipshit, but that doesn't absolve Lundgaard of his responsibility to keep the car on course and not piss away good results. He doesn't have an excuse to claim it was the team's fault, he's done most of that damage himself.

[@LessGo7921]

@@Corew1nwhat??? Christian is doing just fine. He’s around p10 in points right now and had more wins than all of McLaren combined last year

[@RebelTXWrestling]

Rahal dropped Honda after 1994 season despite the amount of testing the team did for them in preparation for Honda's inaugural season. So much for loyalty there

[@Mario_Ramirez]

I remember the Honda ad with Rahal's car

[@wildewaffle9790]

And then watched Honda proceed to whoop everyone’s asses for the next 2 decades.

[@NewscasterNews4]

Also showed no loyalty when it came to firing Jack Harvey last year for underperforming…..but god forbid a driver finds a better opportunity for himself on his watch and suddenly it’s the end of the world

[@francisdawson4092]

I think IndyCar's reputation for it's competitiveness came from 2018-2021, maybe earlier, when it wasn't uncommon for smaller teams to win. Ed Carpenter Racing, Dale Coyne, Meyer Shank, Harding, Schmidt-Peterson (pre-McLaren), and RLL all won in that period. In the last couple of years it seems even an Andretti win isn't common.

[@My2centsfuturestrader]

You put it in focus. I never thought about that

[@polycube868]

2015 was very competitive, only Scott Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya had multiple wins, 2016 Graham Rahal was actually in the championship race if I remember correctly, he actually used to be a top IndyCar driver.

[@RyTrapp0]

The tl;dr - basically the whole DW12 era

[@ciello___8307]

Definitely agree with that. No it’s just Penske and chip

[@markvincent5992]

I’m sorry but it kinda looks like the Honda power plant may also be contributing to this problem. Look at the teams listed and it sure seems like they are mostly Honda. Idk why, and I wonder how much the customer engines differ from the “team cars”? Ask Michael about how they compare in F1. Sometimes they even give the junior team drivers the lesser customer spec to further frustrate them and make them leave in disgust. I am not saying that this is what is going on in Indycar but it sure makes me wonder. Maybe the sanctioning body should have a look.

[@johnnystir9796]

I love Rahal, but his team's struggled these last few years. Lundgaard's been the lone bright spot.

[@dr_rayzor2698]

"It's smells like Mission Foods tortilla chips." Best quote from a Racing show ever.

[@Napoli41482]

Fun Fact: What a lot of people also don't know is that Chip Ganassi's first Indianapolis 500 win and first series championship as a car owner was in 1989, with Emerson Fittipaldi - when Chip was a co-owner with Pat Patrick.

[@shredofmalarchi]

Look at the point standings, Bobby. Mclaren is a top 4 and has been for a couple of years. Ericsson is a terrible comparison to Lundgaard. Ericsson reluctantly went to Andretti because Ganassi wouldn't make him a paid driver. Lundgaard is in a near perfect situation. Was a paid driver and will continue to be a paid driver. And also went from a crap team to a great team. Lundgaard went for the clear upgrade and Ericsson was forced to make a tough decision.

[@jamesbowman7963]

Mostly agree I don't think McLaren has earned the title great yet, and I don't think RLL is crap either. No doubt Lundgaard stepped up just not as far as some think. I think Pato will have his hands full. Both drivers are very fast but Christian is mentally stronger or so it seems. I think keeping Rossi over Siegal would have been an all star lineup.

[@shredofmalarchi]

@jamesbowman7963 bro...2 years in a row they have been historically crap at the 500

[@jamesbowman7963]

@@shredofmalarchi Crap at 500 yes crap on the whole no below the top 4 no doubt.

[@shredofmalarchi]

@@jamesbowman7963 please stop looking at the name of the team and look at the race results. I think it's obvious to a majority of us.

[@pat7293]

i rhink the point is more that RLL is as far away from a win than McLaren is. And in that case hes not wrong

[@crashzila]

How I rank the teams performance in tiers are as follows. Tier 1: Ganassi and Penske Tier 2: Andretti and McLaren Tier 3: RLL, Juncos and Shank Tier 4: Foyt and Carpenter Tier 5: Dale Coyne I'm taking the whole season into consideration. If your looking at just the 500 then foyt and Carpenter jump up the tiers a lot

[@My2centsfuturestrader]

Agree...perfectly stated

[@Feniremmen1]

Yeah. I dont even see how this is controversial. There’s a top 2 and then the next 2. It’s seemed obvious for 10 years...

[@julianr.7186]

Juncos tier 3?? Allow me to doubt it.

[@michaelatchison2325]

Yeah, Juncos is down there with Foyt and Carpenter. RLL and MSR has won races in the recent past.

[@Andre_The_Millennial]

Appeals to loyalty are like ultimatums. They are declarations of powerlessness. RLL has no legitimate, PERFORMANCE-BASED reasons for Lundgaard to stay there.

[@gojenson]

@@Andre_The_Millennial it reeks of desperation and trying to save face.

[@F1jones]

@@gojenson and the loss of a sponsor.

[@maxm3757]

Also think it’s funny how they didn’t seem to care about loyalty when they turfed Sato out at the end of 21, teams only invoke loyalty but never really give it out either

[@Starfire_Storm]

IndyCar has somehow managed to get itself a reputation of being this ultra competitive class where every single driver can win in every race with equal opportunity, and it's just not true. However, I especially hear those types of comments from people that have Formula 1 living rent free on their head and have a primal need to shit on F1, which yes, IndyCar it's more competitive than F1, everyone knows that, but that still doesn't mean that literally everyone can win. And even still, in the 9 races that IndyCar has had in 2024, it has seen 6 different winners from 3 teams (I'm counting Pato's "win" in St. Petersburg); in its last 9 races, Formula 1 has seen 5 different winners from 4 different teams, take that as you will. But anyways. The point is, IndyCar really has two top teams in Penske and Ganassi; if things go right, Andretti or Mclaren win; and if it's a really special race, someone else wins, but that's unlikely. That doesn't mean IndyCar is uncompetitive, it sure is, but it's not this series where literally everyone can win in like some people say it is.

[@I_Evo]

Yes, I think the dominance of the two teams in IndyCar is somewhat masked by teams having 3 or 4 drivers rather than just two. Not mentioned directly by David, but it's 12 years and counting since a driver from other than the big two has been crowned IndyCar champion.

[@bartsullivan4866]

You are spot on look no futher than the Leguna race which should have been a win for a smaller team but once again it's Chip Gnassi racing winning the race.

[@user-hi4sm3ig5j]

Would be cool if you do an Indy history video about the current teams and their origins over the years, that part with Patrick racing was interesting.

[@shanepursch5622]

Loyalty is key and we’ll completely overlook nepotism!

[@F1jones]

This is what I was thinking. Rahal's fired lousy drivers who don't produce before, but none of them have been his boy.

[@philortega6516]

​@@F1jonesand his boy seriously need to drop weight, have you seen the gut on him? He's supposed to be an athlete, and has a dad bod😂

[@AlistairMaxwell77]

It might be because I am old but the most interesting part of the article was the old rahal/penske story. Rahals history is a bit uncelebrated vs some of the 80s/90s legends . it would make a great video/series . Journey to indycar , championships , 500s , the truesports chassis , getting bumped , the bringing in of honda , team managment/ownership , jaguar f1 , running cart ..... lots and lots there .

[@vplexico]

Rossi on his podcast today didn't sound very "mutually amicable"...

[@Gam2620]

David Letterman even said recently that it's hard to compete with teams that literally spend 3 or 4 times what RLL does. He said it.

[@davecrafton]

Good Info, It's Great to hear the Jim Truman (Red Roof Inn) back story. I didn't think anybody remembered back that far. Pat Patrick too Now that's racing info.

[@jamesriley9800]

theo pourchaire would be a good driver for Rahul even if it was a 3rd car

[@jfranklins]

Theo visited the Rahal facilities the other day. I think Graham, Juri, and Pourchaire would make for a powerful team.

[@KPDigitalTravel]

I didn't even think of that!

[@ciello___8307]

Nah, theo deserves better lol

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

Bobby’s “loyalty” speech is the reason why this team is competing with Juncos, Foyt, and Carpenter. Loyalty means mediocrity. The Rahals are awesome people, but Bobby has become stagnant in his thinking, and fails to see the bigger picture.

[@zedexish]

There's alot of good Ole boys stuff in indycar. Penske is a bit more ruthless in not letting things slide and has the results to go w it.

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

@@zedexish I was about to say that Zak Brown makes Penske look like a sweet old man, but he hasn’t gotten the results to play at Rog’s level yet.

[@zedexish]

@@baxatakbaxatak2014 McLaren bought Dreyer reinbold racing, who had 1 indycar win. Alot of those guys are still w the team.

[@orionexplorer]

I would agree with you about Patrick Racing and Penske being top teams back in the CART days. Though before that, there were even more teams that could win, you had Dan Gurney's AAR team with the Eagle, McLaren, and A.J. Foyt. Yeah, a spec chassis keeps the cost down but there is no difference in the cars. When I was a teen in the 70's you had Wildcats, Eagles, McLarens (run by both McLaren and Penske), Coyotes and some smaller teams as well that had their own cars, like the Lightning and Interscope. At one point Longhorn Racing was running a modified Williams Formula 1 car in CART. Having more than one chassis is what the series needs to grow. Two or three more chassis suppliers are needed to bring some differences to the series, engines are fine but that is not what the fan see's, it's the car. As a FYI I have (or had) a picture that I took of Bobby Rahal running a March chassis at Riverside International Raceway in Jim Trumans Red Roof Inns sponsored car along with Cribari Wines. I hope I still have it and my ex-wife didn't through it out as so much of my racing memorabilia is lost.

[@peters5333]

Worth mentioning too, that Bobby was the TP of Jaguar in F1. that team was the anti-thesis of loyalty. Rahal had more scars from back stabbing (Lauda, Nasser, Newey) than a Christian Horner steak dinner. So I can see that loyalty is a big deal. I don't see Rossi going there now. Go Blue Graham. Pietro and Juri

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

Pietro is a benchwarmer unless someone better comes along. Remember in NASCAR when Penske had David Stremme in the 12 while he paid for Brad Keselowski to be released from his contract with Hendrick? Pietro is Stremme.

[@jfranklins]

Go Graham, Juri, Pourchaire.

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

@@jfranklins Vips is driving that 45 next year, which Bobby and Graham wanted anyway. Pourchaire or Veekay would be a good fit.

[@peters5333]

@@baxatakbaxatak2014 Veekay would be a good fit if somehow Rossi appears at Carpenter.

[@baxatakbaxatak2014]

@@peters5333 Veekay looks like he completely regrets signing that multi year.

[@anthony0358]

David your content is excellent. I do strongly disagree about the competitive of Indy Car. I am a 52 year Indy Car fan. It was far more competitive than Formula One. That is my measuring stick. When I tune into an Indy car race I feel that anyone in the top four teams can win. Arrow is in year five and coming on fast . I feel sorry for Bobby Rahal. His era is long gone and that is sad . But excellent point that Pat Patrick Racing rebranded as Chip Ganassi racing . Your channel will continue to be my go to place for Indy car coverage

[@I_Evo]

Same number of winning teams in F1 so far this season (four) as in IndyCar and just one more driver winning (6 as opposed to 5) .

[@johnedwards230]

They've been rubbish for 4 years with the odd good flash point. If he didn't have a 2025 contract with Rahal it's too bad.

[@dubdaze68]

I have to wonder if maybe Graham Rahal is close to retiring from driving, and some F2/Indy NXT talent coming up for RLL.

[@KPDigitalTravel]

Weirdest quote to me from Mr. Land, "If I only cared about the Indy 500...there is not a question in my mind...l would be wearing papaya. So if you want to go win at Indy, you go to McClaren." That is a head-scratcher. 2017 - Sato - Andretti Autosport 2018 - Power - Team Penske 2019 - Pagenaud - Team Penske 2020 - Sato - Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 2021 - Castroneves - Meyer Shank Racing 2022 - Ericsson - Chip Ganassi Racing 2023 - Newgarden - Team Penske (should have been Ericsson - Chip Ganassi Racing 😉) 2024 - Newgarden - Team Penske If that is based on O'Ward performing well in 3 of the last 4 500s than I could make an argument that could want to join Foyt (I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy) to be as good as Ferrucci at the 500 or Ed Carpenter Racing so he can hopefully dominate 500 qualifying. 😆 On a side note...I miss Sato.

[@sz5876]

Bobby needs to appreciate that Lundgaard was carrying this team on his shoulders and that Graham's constant complaints about the car being impossible can only reflect on the engineering limitations of Graham himself. Either the cars are terrible and Christian is a savant, or they're actually good and Graham has hit a talent and skill wall on the setup side.

[@markvincent5992]

I think Graham is just getting bummed out about the lack of speed in the cars generally and mistakes in the pits that are making it difficult to overcome, and finally the Graham situation. I agree with a previous post that some of the blame has to go to Graham because he is having trouble sorting out the chassis. He may be getting bad feedback from the crew chief, or he might be inept in this department. Idk, but even though Graham is a good shoe, he is getting along in years and he may just need some help from the crew to sort it out. The pit mistakes are more problematic as there is no one thing to point to. I hope they can get it sorted

[@user-md5qm4lh1p]

If the cars are terrible then how did Sato find the speed???

[@markvincent5992]

@@user-md5qm4lh1p I think we both know the answer to that. The cars aren’t that bad and Mr.Sato knows his business. I believe that if the set up is close, he finds a way to go fast.?

[@markvincent5992]

@@sz5876 Upon reflection, I think that you’re on to something here. Either Graham has reached the level of his own incompetence as you say, or his crew chief is, or it just might be a personality clash, in any case the mail’s nit gettin hauled now. Thanks

[@lazier96]

Great report and insight. Been really enjoying the DL500 Club.

[@MANDELAZZA]

Regarding winning races; ye it is only 2 teams. They interesting part starts at P2 and downwards. And that part really does seem somewhat diverse

[@KPDigitalTravel]

There had to be some personality conflicts with Rossi and McLaren. This can't be based on 'poor performance'. Currently Rossi is only 10 points behind O'Ward. If Newgarden and McLaughlin were not disqualified from St. Pete, the point difference would only be 6. I have never been a Rossi fan but now I hope he dominates the end of the season. 🤣

[@pablohabibefigueiredo7142]

Aqui no Brasil, nós lembramos do time Pat Patrick como o time que deu a chance para que Emerson voltasse das cinzas...

[@jake21494]

I love when we see a Marshall Pruett article about Rahal because he stretches one convo with Bobby into 5 articles

[@yhelloh]

How can he be upset about a future top driver (imo) leaving when their car has been trashcan for year after year. Graham is like Lance Stroll and I'm sure it got annoying to Christian to not have a teammate with decent data to compare to. It seems Bobby is loyal to having a below average car year after year... lmao.

[@Rearmostbean]

"Loyalty" is a nice way to excuse complacency

[@asterixdogmatix1073]

To be fair, Graham was decent in 2015 winning 2 rases and finishing 4th in the standings. But time marches on.

[@Corew1n]

Lundgaard literally placed 8th in the championship and won a race last year. The team had 4 poles. What the fuck are you talking about?

[@yhelloh]

@@asterixdogmatix1073 that was almost 10 years ago 😭

[@yhelloh]

@@Corew1n because Christian outdrove the cars pace... Graham was 15th 100+ points down. Remember when Christian was keen on seeing Sato's data for the 500? It was the only time Lundgaard could compare relative or useful data to try to be faster...

[@fishcrazy7742]

I kinda have to question the "if you want to win the 500, go to McLaren" line.... RLL has a 500 win in the last 5 years. For McLaren's last win you have to go back almost 5 decades.

[@ramblinman4197]

Agree. If I want the 500 I want to drive for Roger or Chip. If I am ok finishing second at best at the 500 and want a sniff at F1, and am not concerned with being dropped with little notice I might want to go to McLaren.

[@F1jones]

In the past three years they've barely qualified if they did at all, and they haven't finished in the top 10. That's the same Rahal team that is running today, whereas the McLaren team that runs today is mostly related to that which won five decades in name only.

[@jameslocopo4742]

I think David was referring to the choice that Lundgaard had between RLL and McLaren in in that case, yes McLaren is a much bigger advantage in the 500 than RLL

[@pauldavis4287]

LOVE when Bobby speaks his mind…

[@RacingWithChuck27]

I understand Bobby and the loyalty. That most likely cost him at least 1 Indy 500. As far as McLaren, Zack brown isn’t a Ron Dennis. I also think he thought he’d come over to Indy series and cut a fat hog. Back to loyalty , those days are decades gone

[@falleny8084]

Don't know what so surprising for them, if they wanna keep such a great driver they need to give him better cars

[@cvillalobos27]

Mr Rahal is big on loyalty and puts himself as an example. My question is if when he turned down Patrick and Penske I imagine he was taken care economically by Trueman. Would it be the same with him and Luundgard? If the money difference is too big, a driver must ensure his future

[@AlistairMaxwell77]

Penske and Patrick would be paying more , but its more that drivers looked at the long game and wanted to build a career with a team , bring them up with them on their development, rather than what now seems to be the race to secure the future in the next 3-4 seasons . There is not much security at Mclaren if thats the goal ....

[@paddyohenry6428]

Does he have any more family members he can put in a seat?

[@joeygold24]

i think people are just thinking of IndyCar in relative terms compared to F1. You actually have this possibility of other teams outside of the usual contenders winning races,

[@racer11483]

Problem with that logic David is Hyvee colors aren't black and orange, they're red and white. Nothing says midwestern grocery store like Christian Lundgaard...🤔wtf... Yes McLaren is a better performing team than RLL, no question, so that might be why they change squads.

[@jalhc54TR6]

Bobby is a true motor sport fan he has strong ties to the old days when a driver stayed with the team the brought them up from the junior formula too the big time used to be the way it was nowadays these guys go to where the bucks are and to hell with loyalty then they can't handle when they start to decline and lose there seat to some young stud

[@RicoOCHO85]

So RLL..is the Aston Martin of indycar?

[@randyharbaugh7819]

Been following the Rahal story since the early 1980's, the ups and the downs. He has to get his Indy 500 issues fixed or he will never keep good drivers. Drivers do not want to be making news because they are fighting just to make the field let alone compete for a win in the highest paying race in the series. They had an entire year to improve the teams performance and it was almost the same as last year on qualifying weekend. Christian is a regular top 12 qualifier / runner at the street and road courses who deserves better at the Brickyard oval.

[@gdomingo42]

And when was the last time Mclaren won the Indy 500?

[@ramblinman4197]

I am guessing that Lone Star JR was the driver but I might be forgetting someone.

[@michaeldelaney7271]

The justifications for putting everybody in the same chassis was that it would lower costs and that would make everybody competitive. Every "cost saving" measure in racing sees the same teams who were dominant before, remain dominant. With the same race cars, it's actually harder to find an advantage ... and it's more costly. Teams that ran at Indy before Tony George destroyed American single seater racing, spent nothing like as much money as do the current "budget" Indycar teams. And, now they have electric motors (to appear "modern") so I'm sure costs will go down again. Fat Chance!

[@stphnchl]

McLaren seems to throw out their drivers too quickly, I would be afraid to sign with them.

[@richardsilvestri6874]

Where is Rossi going? He is so underestimated imo! He would be a definite championship contender if he had the proper strategist on his team. Just my opinion

[@bwilson8751]

RossI is in it for the money and the lifestyle. he owns a plane and can't afford to work for a million a year. Mclaren didn't want to pay him three million.

[@GuacamoleMuckbang]

I feel that everyone uses F1 as standard of open wheel racing in that everyone compares their competitiveness to F1. INDYCAR is obviously more competitive than F1. NASCAR is more competitive than F1. But that doesn’t mean that INDYCAR, and honestly, even nascar is that competitive. Chip Ganassi and Penske are gonna win almost every week and win the championship. Hendrick and Joe Gibbs are gonna win almost every week, and also the regular season championship (we don’t count the actually championship because it’s stupid) if you think about it, if you exclude the outlier of F1 where one driver wins almost every race, INDYCAR really isn’t that competitive either.

[@snowtrooper8817]

I’d argue even F1 is starting to become much more competitive. If RB can’t get a new set of upgrades to work or McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes keep up their updates trajectory we will see a 4 team fight for wins every race. Very similar to Indycar.

[@markoramius2873]

Felix is another exemple as with Marcus, was competitive with Ganassi, went to McLaren and was not so competitive, look at him now, he is competitive again.

[@DarthEvilicus]

Bobby throwing shade at everyone while failing to be introspective of his own teams failures

[@yelapa999]

Seems to me Lundgaard gave RLL ample opportunity to show a li'l sumthin and all they have shown is a predilection for whining.

[@jmcmotorsportstv]

The problem is You Need! Need! Top tier drivers to move your team forward. How can Bobby do that if he brings in guys and gives them a chance and they just get poached so he has to start all over. I get his frustration. He wants a guy that can build his team around.

[@woodrowarrington1605]

Loyalty is fine, but if your cars are slower than a three-legged turtle, then “Loyalty” doesn't mean a thing. It's all about, speed, winning races, and points. Bobby, if you want your drivers to hang around and be loyal to your team, make faster cars.

[@xpavar]

I don't blame Lundgaard for leaving RLL. Their cars have been $hit on the IMS oval and Arrow-McLaren has a good oval package. The 500 is the crown jewel of the series. Not a difficult decision.

[@HunterDrone12]

I think Lundgaard is one of those driver that would want the championship over the 500. Still McLaren has been always consistent on nearly every track. RLL is a mess on the ovals and are hit and miss on street and road courses

[@paulj.ingram2839]

Bobby throws a little shade toward Rossi as well. I would certainly say Alex was the team captain of McLaren. Pato does have a belated win but I think he and Rossi have been about equal in results. RLL is one of the possible seats for Rossi, but maybe not.

[@Corielle6115]

I suppose it's a little off the subject, but, as an aspiring musician and guitarist, I was wondering what the tune was on your T shirt. I got that it was in 4/4 time, it had at least one sharp in it, but the rest of the tune was covered up by the microphone. One of my goals for this year is to learn how to read music. I haven't made a lot of progress, unfortunately due to work and other things getting in the way. By the way, I always respected Bobby Rahal and would likely listen to any advice he might send my way, not that Bobby Rahal is likely ever know who I am.

[@dirty_c5573]

3:17 I thought I clicked an Indycar video but I think he's talking about Nascar lol

[@evansuggs]

I sure hope Hy-Vee doesn't leave Rahal. My sense is that it is a very important sponsor for them. As for McLaren not being a "top 4" team, I think they probably are on average, but I'm lacking analysis of any data. I feel that McLaren is really over-hyped outside of the Indy 500. McLaren is not just a Joseph Newgarden or Alex Palou caliber driver away from being a consistent threat. Wanting to win really bad, spending a lot of money, and generating attention is not comparable to developing strong leadership (Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski, Mike Hull, Barry Wanser) and cultures that embrace accountability and collaboration, while rejecting cultures of blame and fear. I have no insight that confirms the cultures of these organizations, but believe this all to be a reasonable estimation after years of consuming Indycar media.

[@polycube868]

I think a history of IndyCar teams video would be great. Wasn't Ganassi an offshoot of Patrick Racing?

[@michaeljacobs2954]

Yes. Ganassi bought the team. Foyt goes back over 50 years. Most of the other teams are more recent. Carpenter was an outgrown of Tony George's Vision Racing. Arrow McLaren was Sam Schmidt's team. Andretti was originally Forsythe/ Green.

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

I'm just waiting for tomorrow's "Off Track With Hinch And Rossi" episode. I'll have my stopwatch out to time exactly how much Rossi spends talking...

[@matthewlawrenson3628]

Scratch that. They've uploaded this week's episode a day early due to...reasons.

[@astralkaoru1025]

RLL signs Pourchaire and Rossi just to fuck with Zak Brown

[@jaredmartin2803]

Rossi would absolutely hate it at RLL

[@KPDigitalTravel]

@@jaredmartin2803 probably true 😥

[@michaelkitz2090]

Not sure how it's disloyalty. Lungaard has driven his ass for RLL winning a race scoring pole/front row multiple times and consistently being the best driver on the team. He's making a business/career decision. Also, hilarious to draw comparisons to Ericsson leaving CGR.... apples to oranges that is not what Lungaard is walking away from in this situation.

[@evanwilliams6406]

Like Ken Schrader being mad at Paul Tracy if Bobby Rahal is unhappy you better believe heads are going to roll.

[@markwatkins5416]

Better cars = loyal drivers.

[@avantigpracingdevelopmet6467]

Bobby Ray seems to forget that in 94 or 95 he lured Boesel and Duracell away from Dick Simon Racing. I guess it only sucks when it happens to you.

[@bearmarsh6579]

Loyalty what a joke...You go to a better opportunity and more money.

[@davidgray1515]

Foreigners

[@speedweenie7394]

​@@davidgray1515 wtf? I mean Christian is from another country but he didn't do anything wrong... what exactly is the implication here? Are you just a bigot?

[@bearmarsh6579]

So what is your point more then half the field are Foreigners.

[@speedweenie7394]

@@bearmarsh6579 there is no point to bigotry. It's just silly tribalism. IMSA is probably my favorite series and it's mostly non usa drivers. Not as many US kids grow up road racing. There is by far more culture of oval racing as far as up and coming drivers due to Nascar popularity. Any open wheel and or road racing series will have more non US based drivers because the talent pool is deeper elsewhere

[@michaelflaherty3202]

If that timeline is right, he turned down the ride Danny Sullivan won Indy with.

[@josephruggero1691]

Rossi should go to RLL, his robot personality and precision in chassis setup and engine feedback could be a good match.

[@mikekadlcak1963]

McLaren is even behind Andretti... only Pato makes it look like a top 4 team if luck is on his side. If you want to win at Indy you dont go to McLaren. You go to Penske when Chevy is strong... and you go to Ganassi when Honda is strong.

[@villehursti]

Driver movement is a part of the sport. Live with it.

[@hunter_t18]

Bobby should make his team one that people want to go to rather than one people want to leave

[@arthurvillegas5586]

Well, BR should've have step in and make a new agreement with CL.

[@tylerensminger]

The grid is close but I can't disagree with David about the drivers who win races week in and week out. IndyCar fans used to thrash F1 for domination and while F1 isn't as close as IndyCar, the latter does seem to lack that unpredictability that I think it might of once had

[@MFitz12]

Well, if Bobby ran a more competitive team,...

[@lazier96]

How you you suggest he do that?

[@MFitz12]

@@lazier96 - I am offering no suggestions nor did I say I would.

[@NR_88]

In Bobby’s defense, McLaren and RLL have the same number of wins since 2023. Sure he’s definitely salty but let’s be real, McLaren is not on Penske or Ganassi’s level.

[@andrewcarter9649]

Maybe not, but McLaren tends to have at least 2 cars in the top 10 almost every race, which is considerably more than RLL has been able to say for years.

[@Mortimuss]

I don’t agree at all that RLL is on par with Andretti and McLaren. Especially with Graham driving as a #1 guy or sponsor guy rather than a good driver. His teammates are better every year. Bring in drivers ahead of Graham and doors open. Otherwise stand pat.

[@bryonkidder6199]

These guy's signing contracts with other teams and manufacturers (before the season ends...edit) has got to end...imo Why should those drivers get free seat time in their old car when they're waiting to go to another team?

[@I_Evo]

Perhaps their side of the contract says they get that seat for the season? Want to terminate then both sides have to agree to terminate early.

[@bryonkidder6199]

@@I_Evo as long as the team pays the driver, there's nothing that guarantees a start : unless specifically stipulated in contract. Example, Ford and SHR should pay Briscoe to sit on his couch at his house on Sunday's, instead of giving him free seat time in the new Nextgen car before he goes to another team and manufacturer...imo

[@chipmiller3155]

A good test would be to send graham to anyone else for a year. I cant stand graham but he would probably do better

[@donstevenson2660]

Rahal is not exactly competing on an even footing here. Andretti is spending at a level that suggests he could face debts coming due before his lack of success affects his investors. Don't forget that Rahal was screwed big time by Ford/Jaguar in F1. If loyalty could be displayed by anyone, BMW would be an excellent partner for Rahal if they could see their way into Indycar.

[@willmarotti]

Maybe I’m missing the logic, when was the last time McLaren won at Indy - the team to drive for at Indy is Penske.

[@coreyh1700]

I think he was meaning between McLaren and Rahal the better option is McLaren.

[@willmarotti]

@@coreyh1700 I could understand that

[@stphnchl]

Hy-Vee changing their red for Papaya?

[@TigerSquidCA]

My local HyVee had all their Indy merch on clearance a couple weeks ago. Just sayin

[@spudbubble]

Indycar really needs a drive to survive show, they have 10000x the ridiculous drama of F1

[@My2centsfuturestrader]

They had that for 2 years. Kinda sucked...sexualized the young drivers, imo

[@savbyroy]

look, the lights only stay on if your check clears.

[@marklangren3142]

Sorry carpenter is a step up you are on par with foyt, juncos, etc

[@aluaikaa8453]

Because his son Graham can't depend on Christian's set-ups anymore. If Graham would just loose 10-20 lbs, he'd pick up about 3-4 tenths or more on his qualifying.

[@healthyone100]

unless your on a strict vegan diet and stick to it when you hit 30 your body slows down and you have to work to keep your weight in check, all have that problem i'm 74 been a strict vegan for 38 years and exercise hard everyday and its very hard for me to lose just a few LBS!

[@aluaikaa8453]

@healthyone100 I would think that it would be harder for a 74 year old to lose weight compared to a young buck. Indycar drivers can lose more than 5 lbs every race in those hot cockpits.

[@maverickabbott3534]

“A Colton win” CMON MAN

[@rockydesign3303]

It’s ok. He still has Graham, and will for a long time. Lol.

[@daveboyer7730]

Interesting

[@Jfromes1]

Loyalty goes two ways. Bobby should have been offering more money and better cars.

[@saleen367]

Rahal is more upset that the loyalty he showed Jim Truman is no where to be found in the sport any longer. He gave Lundgaard his start in IndyCar and Lundgaard bails at his 1st opportunity. I get it ... even though Lundgaard is doing what he feels is best for himself, I totally get where Rahal is coming from. The world has changed since the 80's and I'm not happy about it either Bobby.

[@JOHANNESwhoelse]

Except for Power and Dixon who have been with the same team for 15 and 22 years respectively

[@NewscasterNews4]

I’m a little confused as to why only drivers are expected to show loyalty in this equation…..if Lundgaard had gotten to Rahal and was underperforming and tearing up equipment the past couple years, the team would’ve fired him and rightfully so. So why is it acceptable for team owners to fire underperforming drivers but drivers can’t leave an underperforming team for a better opportunity?

[@saleen367]

@@NewscasterNews4 I don't disagree with you, but the point I'm making is Rahal wants the loyalty he showed some 40 years ago from the current group of IC drivers and its not going to happen and he knows that.

[@michaeljacobs2954]

It isn't any different in other pro sports. An athlete with proven skill isn't going to stick around and wait forever for the owners to assemble a winning team. They are going to explore the market through free agency. And I'll add that drivers way back when we're ride hopping at Indy like crazy. Tony Bettenhausen jumped from team to team in the 1950s to try to win Indy.

[@paulgruber6946]

I think the reason Rahal is so upset is that Lundgaard is probably taking Hi-Vee with him to McLaren 13:05 13:05

[@crouchb15]

His fault for not trading

[@patrickmoore2894]

Ask Bryan about loyalty.

[@johnbaker8625]

Right now there are two dominant teams. A couple seasons back, Penske could not win much of anything. Arrow-McClaren looked stronger and Colton Herta won the last two races and looked like the dominant driver on the circuit. Especially when you consider McClaren's influence in other series, they cannot be disregarded. Right now Penske and Ganasi are on top. That is not inevitable.

[@MrCarrera28]

McLaren will replace Ganassi as the second best team within 5 years. There will be a bleed through from F1 in terms of sponsorship and money. Their F1 team is improving and their brand will be worth more and more which sponsors will want to be involved. Relative to F1 the budgets are no where near as big as F1 so 'bleed through' does not need to all that big. If you were picking a team to be part of if you cannot get a Penske seat McLaren is the smart medium to long term pick.

[@shredofmalarchi]

How loyal was Rahal to Jack Harvey...or any other diver he has dumped. What a crybaby family.

[@jfranklins]

He was pretty loyal to Jack Harvey even when Jack was struggling mightily. He gave Jack years but there was no results.

[@jake78441]

@@jfranklinsi agree 👍🏻 he try and tried but couldn’t receive the results

[@shredofmalarchi]

@jfranklins You must be joking, right? Rahal did t give Harvey "years." he gave him one year and then cut his ass before the completion of the second year prematurely, before the end of his contract, disloyally. Lungaard fulfilled his full 2 year contract. So Lundgaard gave him ACTUAL years, unlike Rahal did for Harvey. Some of us watch every race and consume every bit of indycar related media. Don't contest people who know the facts from consuming the sport for decades. Also, don't pick fights with anyone who can do a Google search and read a Wikipedia article. They will have their way with you as well.

[@jfranklins]

@@shredofmalarchi LOL I watch every race, practice, qualifying, and read just about every day from all the Indycar sources including podcasts etc. I've been a fan for over 50 years. Give me a break with your pretentious nonsense. Rahal gave Harvey plenty of time and Harvey produced nothing but crashes and terrible results. Harvey drove for Rahal for 2 seasons minus 3 races. Get your facts straight.

[@shredofmalarchi]

@jfranklins Right, but Rahal was NOT LOYAL...which is the premise Bobby gave and you support. Lungaard was far more loyal than Bobby was. Bobby is a whiney hypocrite and he will lose Hyvee because of it. Hom and your generation should pill yourselves up by your bootstraps. Facts dont care about snowflake feelings.

[@Rearmostbean]

But McLaren won a race this year. Pato is 6th and Rossi is 7th in points What are you talking about? McLaren is obviously top 4 team, probably better than Andretti

[@lightsoutracingproductions]

1 race

[@Corew1n]

McLaren has only won a single race this year because Penske forfeited it. They have not won 2.

[@Rearmostbean]

Agh, my bad, misread the completed races. Yes only St. Pete

[@Rearmostbean]

@@lightsoutracingproductions thank you

[@Rearmostbean]

@@Corew1n thank you

[@wingracer1614]

How much loyalty would Rahal have if Christian wasn't performing? None, that's how much.

[@healthyone100]

right results are the No 1 priority!