Graham Rahal Is The Underdog IndyCar Needs
The 2015 Verizon IndyCar season is drawing to an end, and the driver who has all but run away with the season championship is Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya has two victories this season including the Indianapolis 500, and when he’s not winning, he’s at the front.
However, due to a crash at Iowa and a dismal finish at Mid-Ohio, there’s a new threat to Montoya’s supremacy this season: Graham Rahal.
Rahal, who earned his third-career IndyCar win at Mid-Ohio, is now nine points out of the lead and is considered a viable competitor for the series championship. Although his previous season-best points finish was in 2011 when he finished ninth, he has had a much-anticipated breakout season that was expected of a driver like him.
More from IndyCar
- IndyCar: Two teams with no drivers confirmed for 2024
- IndyCar: Chip Ganassi Racing news hints Alex Palou announcement
- IndyCar: ‘Addition by subtraction’ could pay off in a big way
- Team Penske should make a bold driver signing for 2024
- IndyCar: 5 teams that still have open seats for 2024
He’s been on a streak of five top-10s, including four straight top-fives since his win at Fontana. This streak couldn’t have come at a better time for the Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan driver, who is looking to join his father, Bobby Rahal, as a champion in the sport.
However, given recent drama behind the scenes in the Verizon IndyCar Series with the confusion and turmoil surrounding series president Derrick Walker’s resignation, Rahal’s win not only effectively destroyed Montoya’s 42-point lead, it also gave IndyCar fans something to focus on, as they now have a concrete storyline to pay attention to this late in the season. It’s no longer “The Montoya Show,” it is now “The Montoya and Rahal Show.”
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
In comparison to Montoya, it’s easy to spot the difference. Montoya has won in every from of motorsport he’s entered, from Formula One to NASCAR. He’s a racing legend and one of the true motorsports greats. He’s a polished veteran who happens to drive for one of the winningest teams in IndyCar history.
Meanwhile, although Rahal is a part of racing royalty, he’s very much his own man. He’s personable, young, and is a public relations dream. He happens to be engaged to the daughter of drag racing royalty, NHRA Funny Car driver Courtney Force. He hasn’t found too much success behind the wheel, yet here he sits in second place in the points, and he is coming into his own at the most opportune time of his career.
He’s going to need a lot of luck in order to keep his string of top-fives going. He’s going to need Montoya to falter if he’s going to surpass him, and that’s no easy task. Montoya’s Team Penske ride does not falter easy. But despite the odds being stocked against him Rahal will continue to do what he’s been doing, because a title win would show the world that he is to be taken seriously as his own man, not just the son of Bobby Rahal.
Rahal’s streak is not only the underdog story of the 2015 IndyCar season, but the entire racing world. Go one further: It is the underdog story of the sports world in 2015. The young kid with only a few wins under his belt versus the heralded driver who has won all over the world. Who will win it all?
Be sure to comment and weigh in below on whether you believe Graham Rahal is the underdog IndyCar needs.