Graham Rahal, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It’s frustrating because the McDonald’s team expected to be faster than this. To be quite honest, all weekend I thought that something was amiss. I didn’t feel like the car was pulling properly. I noticed this morning that we couldn’t tow up on people in the draft. It’s unfortunate because you get so used to being so competitive. To come here and not be is frustrating. We hope that we can figure something out here so we can get a little more speed for passing in the race. We’re going to work on having some good stops and move forward in the race.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his second race here…Started 18th and finished 11th here last year. Also tested here on October 26, 2008 and the team was able to measure gains made on ovals between racing here in June ’08 and the Oct. test…Is the only multiple pole winner this season after earning the top spot in St. Pete and becoming the youngest pole winner in series history. Also became the youngest pole winner on an OVAL in Kansas in April…Is ranked 8th in series points with 114.
Robert Doornbos, No. 06 Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “This is obviously a very special oval. It’s an exciting place; I really love it. On the banking you feel like Spiderman. I have raced on three total until now and this is definitely up there. I think we had a good run. You always want more as a driver. I pushed the pedal so far that I think I almost bent it. I think we can be happy and I look forward to a fun race tomorrow with a good setup. In qualifying we just stayed on the white line. I hit the pedal hard. I was flat, flat, flat. There was no more in the car so we can be happy. I got the maximum out of it. Every time I am in the car, I learn. I like this four lap average format. I think you can really make a difference on your out lap if you are aggressive out of pit lane and flat straight away. It’s good fun.”
FAST FACTS: Will be his first race here and only FOURTH oval race ever…He tested here on April 8, ’09 and the team continued to measure the progress they have made on ovals between the June ’08 race, Oct. ’08 test and April ’09 test by Doornbos…Out-qualified ICS veterans in his oval debut the weekend following the TMS test at Kansas Speedway when he started second to teammate Rahal…Is ranked 15th with 85 points and is second to R. Matos in the Rookie of the Year standings.
NHR/NHLR IN TEXAS: Will be the SECOND race here for the team…Graham Rahal and Justin Wilson competed for the team here last year and also tested on Oct. 26, 2008 at TMS. Rahal started 18th and finished 11th in the race. Wilson qualified 23rd, ran as high as 13th but finished 27th after he brushed the T2 wall and retired with suspension failure after 39/228 laps. New driver Robert Doornbos also tested here on April 8, 2009.
Tune In… This weekend’s Bombardier Learjet 550k will be telecast live in High Definition at 9 p.m. (EDT) by VERSUS on Saturday night. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com. As always, fans can follow the action from every on-track session via the official website of the IndyCar Series, www.indycar.com.
