IndyCar: Graham Rahal signs five-year contract extension with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Graham Rahal has signed a five-year contract extension to remain with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing through the 2023 IndyCar season.

Graham Rahal, 29, has signed a contract extension to remain with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. This new contract extension is a five-year contract extension that is set to keep the Columbus, Ohio native driving the #15 Honda through the 2023 IndyCar season.

Rahal’s father, Bobby Rahal, is one of the three co-owners of the team. The other two co-owners are David Letterman and Mike Lanigan. However, it was Lanigan who negotiated Graham’s new deal with his agent, John Caponigro, not Bobby, as the family aspect of the team was set aside.

Here is what Graham Rahal had to say about his new contract extension, according to Autoweek.

"“The next five years should be awesome. As a driver, you have to put aside the family aspect from time to time. Luckily, my father and myself have never done the negotiating. That takes the heart out of it and in someone else’s hands.“It’s nice to continue the consistency we’ve had in the program. All of this is thanks to the sponsors that have given our team the stability to allow me to sign for five years. Obviously, that is a long time. For me as a driver, it’s great to have that commitment and it’s great for our sponsors in terms of long-term planning and obviously due to their current commitment, this was possible.“It’s always been a dream of mine to win the Indy 500 with this team, my dad, Mike and Dave. We have been able to win races together, and hopefully we will be able to add many more wins going forward.”"

Here is what Bobby Rahal had to say about his son’s new contract extension, according to Autoweek.

"“I decided to let the pro [Mike Lanigan] do it. It takes all of the emotions out of it. I’m sure Michael Andretti will tell you having your son drive for you has a lot of plusses and minuses. It’s a family business. The plusses are you have a guy that can stand on the gas in two of the craziest oval races since 2015. He won at Fontana and at Texas in 2016 in two crazy races. In the end, they have to be up front and capable to run up front. Whatever small negatives they may be, they quickly go away.“But there is a lot of responsibility for me as a team owner. When he is your son, your blood is in that car, you want to help him meet those goals and you are pretty responsible for that. To me, it’s worth the pressures that go along with that.“Two weeks ago, we came to final terms with Graham for a five-year extension on his contract with RLL. I know our sponsors are pleased. As a team owner, I know you will say I’m biased, but I admire and respect Graham’s work ethic both on and off the track for our team and for our sponsors. We now go forward for the next five years as a team together and the best five years of Graham’s career are ahead of him and the best five years for RLL are tied together with Graham.”"

Rahal began driving full-time in IndyCar in the 2007 season when he drove in Champ Car. He began driving full-time in the IndyCar Series in 2008, and he won his first career race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

In the 2008 season and the 2009 season, Rahal drove full-time for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. He has driven in the series full-time in every season since then except the 2010 season. He drove in only 12 of the 2010 season’s 17 races for four different teams, including Sarah Fisher Racing, Rahal Letterman Racing, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Newman/Haas Racing.

After driving full-time for Chip Ganassi Racing in the 2011 season and the 2012 season, Rahal signed with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He has driven for the team ever since the 2013 season.