Retirement not on the cards for Rahal - yet

Any thoughts of retirement Graham Rahal had during the worst days of a challenging 2023 season have been put to rest. The 17-year IndyCar veteran has designs on adding an 18th season and maybe more to his record, but the finish line on Rahal’s full-time participation is definitely drawing closer, all thanks to his ever-expanding responsibilities in life and business.

Once the 34-year-old decides how much longer he wants to extend his IndyCar career, a contract will be drafted and signed.

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“Certainly, I'll be here for a bit,” Rahal told RACER. “I haven't obviously done anything contract-wise or made any commitments or anything like that. With everything considered right now, we’re not stepping aside, at least next year. But we haven't come to any sort of agreement with anybody yet."

Rahal is likely to stay with the family-owned Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team, but he has been exploring his options elsewhere in the paddock.

“I have called around a little bit, and it's been nice to see that there is interest throughout the people I have talked to, but we'll see what happens,” he said of returning to the No. 15 RLL Honda.“The intentions are to keep going for a while. We'll see what 'a while' means, but that's the intention​​.”

A recent upswing in performance by the RLL team, highlighted by Rahal’s front-row qualifying position for his home race at Mid-Ohio, has been encouraging.

“It's been good, and somehow, magically, at Mid-Ohio, I remembered how to drive… it’s unbelievable how that happens.” he said with a laugh. “We are headed down the right path. I think there's been really good stuff that's been identified and changes that have been made and that’s given us a positive direction overall.

"This weekend will be a big test for us. We were solid [in Toronto] last year, but we've struggled on street courses this year. So this weekend's a big test for us to make sure that we can continue to go down the right path. And we'll see. But I do think things are headed on the right path. I am confident with what I'm seeing and the actions that are being taken and changes that are being made and direction for next year.”

On top of the turnaround work done by RLL’s existing leadership group, Rahal credits the recent arrival of former Honda Performance Development vice president Steve Eriksen as another difference-maker in his new role as RLL’s chief operating officer.

“I think Steve has been an ace for us,” he said. “He's done a wonderful job, and I think things will continue to shape up in a positive direction. I've worked with Steve forever when he was with Honda and obviously Dad's known him back since they started with Honda in the 1990s. But the reality is I've never worked with him in this sort of capacity, and he's done a wonderful job.”​