Rahal makes the most of used alternate tires to qualify third at Barber

Graham Rahal has been enjoying a fast start to the new IndyCar season after qualifying third for the second time in a matter of weeks.

Rahal led the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team at Phoenix where he started third – next to rookie teammate Mick Schumacher in the No. 15 Honda – and was fastest again for the family-owned squad today at Barber Motorsports Park. The most impressive aspect of the 37-year-old’s performance was his pace on used Firestone alternate tires in the third and final round of qualifying, the Firestone Fast Six, where polesitter Alex Palou and second-place David Malukas used new sets of alternates to lock out the front row.

Despite lacking the extra bit of speed that Palou and Malukas had through their new-tire advantage, Rahal wasn’t deterred and put the No. 15 in front of Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, championship leader Kyle Kirkwood from Andretti Global, who also stayed on used tires and joined Rahal in saving a new set of alternates to deploy in the race, and Romain Grosjean in the Fast Six.

“This is a race that tires are really important,” Rahal said. “I get that it was only one run, but it’s still one run so it’s a good situation to be in. I felt like we were in the hunt. I was glad to make it through to Round 3 because I didn’t drive too good in Q2, to be honest. I felt like I gave away a tenth or two, so to squeak in was good.

“Just to have a good result was nice. We know we can race well here so qualifying well is going to help a lot. It’s just a wonderful place. And the grip this weekend is great. The tire Firestone brought is faster than hell, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

While Rahal has often had speed this season, strong results have been harder to come by in the races. He sits 16th in the drivers’ standings but has a great opportunity to make a big move forward with a solid finish on Sunday.

“It’s physical; tomorrow is going to be a bruiser and hopefully we can take the battle to them,” he said. “Obviously with Alex [Palou], who knows but we’re going to try. We’ve had a chance to win here before so hopefully we can make it happen. We’ve got good [tire] degradation, good tire life, and we’ve got better tires than our competitors, so we’ll see.”