The Five Worst IndyCar Collapses Since 2006
By Asher Fair
No. 3: Graham Rahal, Texas, 2012
There is a moment in sports that you “just know” something is going to happen that nobody expects. That moment in IndyCar usually comes right around the time the broadcasters are saying the race has been won when there are still a few laps left to run.
Graham Rahal led comfortably over the late Justin Wilson with three laps to do, and he had been doing so for much of the final fuel stint. Then, that moment came.
“Graham Rahal may be on his way to his second victory in the IZOD IndyCar Series.” -Bob Jenkins
With just over two laps to go, Rahal got high coming off of turn four and made slight contact with the wall.
He lost all sorts of momentum, and his lead over Wilson dwindled down from seconds to tenths of seconds before Wilson took over the race lead with just over one lap to go.
Wilson hung on to win, denying Rahal his first victory in over four years. While Rahal still finished in 2nd, he did not have much to celebrate after that epic collapse.