For as much success at Graham Rahal has had at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the past nearly two decades, he'll tell you straight-up that success in the Indy 500 only really matters if it translates to a trip to Victory Lane.
"I’ve got to tell you, it’s unique around here, because I’ve finished up front in the top five three times, and that just doesn’t matter," Rahal told FanSided's Beyond the Flag. "It just doesn’t matter. I think your arrival at this place is when you win it, if you win it. To me, all the years and opportunities I’ve had, finishing third even, those years felt empty. You left feeling empty because it really doesn’t do much for you."
Rahal drove from 29th to the lead late in the 2011 race before settling for third, a top finish he matched again in 2020 when teammate Takuma Sato won under caution in a race that might well have gone his way if not for the late yellow.
In 2015, he finished fifth, which might have been his most impressive run simply because he was the highest finishing Honda driver in an Indy 500 absolutely dominated by Chevrolet.
"Yeah, 2011 was a special year for me, and 2020, finished third. 2015, finished fifth," he said. "So we’ve had a lot of good runs here, and I’m certainly hopeful."
But perhaps his best chance at Indy 500 glory came in 2021, when he had cycled to the front after a mid-race pit stop, needing less fuel than the rest of the leaders the rest of the way, and was poised to battle it out with the likes of Helio Castroneves, Alex Palou, and Pato O'Ward for the win.
Then his left rear tire came detached from the rest of the No. 15 car, resulting in what ended up being the race's only on-track crash.
Castroneves ended up winning the race following a late pass on Palou.
"We’ve also had the ones that got away," Rahal recounted. "2021, I strongly believe we should have won that race if the left rear tire wouldn’t have fallen off after the pit stop. We were really in the catbird seat to go and win that race. And in the end, the guy who we were really racing hard was Helio, and he ended up winning it. So I do think that we would have been in a great position there, but it hurts to look back on now. It doesn’t really matter."
He replays it in his mind constantly, especially during each month of May, and understandably so.
"That one’s going to sting for many years to come. and particularly if I never get a win here," he said. "You’re always going to look back at 2021 and wonder what if, and that’s just the way it’s going to go."
But Rahal's lowest point at the Speedway came back in 2023, when he was the one and only driver on the entry list who failed to qualify.
He did still get to race, due to an injury to Stefan Wilson following a post-qualifying practice crash, but the DNQ for the greatest race in the world is still a part of his journey.
He spoke about his perspective on experiencing that kind of heartbreak as the actual athlete, versus what the average fan experiences when simply watching their favorite athlete or team go through that same heartbreak.
"It is hard; I’m not going to lie," he said. "You feel, no matter what, you feel empty. I think when it’s you personally, you feel worse for sure. As a fan, it’s easier to say, ‘should have done this, should have done that’, whatever, because you’re not really in the situation to experience it and understand the decisions that were made and necessarily why they were made."
Rahal, as IndyCar fans know, is a massive Ohio State Buckeyes fan. Just a few months prior to his Indy 500 DNQ, Ohio State missed what would have been a game-winning field goal against Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinals, as the clock struck midnight on New Year's Day. Georgia went on to win the national championship by 58 points over TCU.
"For me, the Georgia-Ohio State game was super disappointing with the lead that they had," he noted. "I mean, we’ve had Ohio State-Michigan games recently. Obviously, not last year, but the year before that, we completely let all the fanbase down as well. So I’ve been on both sides of that.
"At the end of the day, what ties us all together is the passion and the competitive spirit that we’ve got: us as individuals competing, or being a fan of a team. So in many ways, those align very closely. It’s just harder when it’s you personally because you feel the goods and the bads more."
No bumping, no stress, but more frustration
With only 33 cars on this year's entry list for the first time since 2022, Rahal, who was also involved in the Last Row Shootout in 2024 and narrowly avoided it a year ago, was relieved that he didn't risk being bumped again in 2026.
That said, he wasn't happy with his qualifying effort, and he knows that things are still a far cry from where they were in 2020 and 2021, when he might well have won twice.
"It was less stressful, but I was just really disappointed to not qualify better," he admitted. "I think for me, after my run, I wasn’t like, oh, hey, maybe I’m not going to qualify. Instead, it was just like, damn, I wish I had another shot at it because that was terrible and I know we can do considerably better than what we did. For me, that was what I would say the biggest difference was."
Speaking before Friday's Carb Day session, Rahal admitted that he and the No. 15 team, along with the rest of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing organization, were not where they needed to be in race trim, either.
"I think we've got work to do," he conceded. "I’m not going to sugarcoat it. We've done a really good job this month in general, but I would like to see us find some good things for Carb Day. I think it’s really important that we improve. Monday wasn’t great."
But while many teams and drivers will claim every year that they have better race cars than qualifying cars, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing have consistently demonstrated that. In Rahal's own career, he's finished at least 10 positions higher than he's started in seven of his 18 Indy 500 starts, including each of his three most recent.
"In the middle of last week, I felt great with the car," he said. "That’s part of the thing with this race and what it’s all about is it’s not consistent. One day you can be feeling like a hero, and then the next day in practice, it kind of all goes sideways."
Rahal was 12th quickest in the Carb Day practice session, ahead of teammates Louis Foster in 18th and rookie Mick Schumacher in 29th. Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato led the team in fifth.
"For me, I’m cautiously optimistic," he added. "I think we’ll get it right. I really do. We’ve been through this a lot before, so we as a team know the changes and the things that need done in order for us to make sure that our car is competitive on Sunday, and I believe we’ll do those things."
Speaking about the NTT IndyCar Series as a whole, Rahal has been pleased with his start to the 2026 season, which has seen him collect two podium finishes, his first two podium finishes since 2023.
He's ninth in points, and he could be as high as fourth after the Indy 500.
Rahal has been known for not putting up with social media trolls, especially in recent years, but he confessed that he's still had to deal with some of them this year, even though his performanace has picked up.
"Oh, I still get it!" he said. "They’re silent on the good weekends, but the minute that you have a bad qualifying, they’re out there chirping once again. There’s no real reason for me to be too worried about what they say. I do enjoy chirping back sometimes and making them look like fools, but at the end of the day, that doesn’t do a whole lot of good either. It’s just kind of funny more than anything."
Now a 19-year Indy 500 veteran, Graham Rahal reflect
As Rahal prepares to make his 19th career Indy 500 start this Sunday, he took time to reflect on some of the race's biggest icons, specifically those not actually competing in it who still made impacts at the Speedway that are felt to this day.
"I did; many times," he responded, when asked if he had ever had the opportunity to meet the late, great Jim Nabors. "Many times, in my earlier years here when Jim’s health was good and everything else. He’s an icon around here."
Nabors performed "Back Home Again" a total of 36 times before the race from 1972 to 2014. He passed away in November 2017, just six months after Jim Cornelison established himself as the new regular singer of the traditional pre-race song. Cornelison is set for his 10th consecutive performance this Sunday afternoon.
"In my early years, there were a lot of icons," Rahal continued. "Mari Hulman George, doing what she did, and Jim Nabors was a massive, massive part of this event as well. But like everything, times change, and new traditions are born, and we have to evolve.
"I was blessed to be able to still be a part of that era that those individuals were part of, people who were here when my dad was here and people I grew up watching and seeing as such a massive part of the 500. I was blessed to at least be there at the tail end of their time as well."
Live coverage of the 110th running of the Indy 500 is set to be provided by Fox from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 24. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing"!
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