Graham Rahal Avoids Another Dramatic LCQ, Narrowly Locks in Indy 500 Field

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

For the third year in a row, all Graham Rahal could do was watch.

As if everything was on repeat, Rahal sat in the cockpit of his No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda and looked on as Marco Andretti, Marcus Armstrong and Rinus VeeKay took their respective best shots to knock him out of a spot to lock into the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500. 

That’s where the comparison’s stopped, though, as this wasn’t a replay of 2023 when Rahal was bumped in the final seconds by then-teammate Jack Harvey and failed to qualify (later replacing an injured Stefan Wilson to start the race with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing). It also wasn’t a repeat of last year when he narrowly made the field by qualifying in the final spot. 

No, this time, it never came to that as the 36-year-old Ohio native did just enough to escape the drama of participating in Last Chance Qualifying for a third consecutive year. But it was a little too close for comfort as Andretti got within razor-thin margin (0.004, to be exact) after hitting a four-lap average of 229.859mph to Rahal’s 229.863mph run. 

In the end, Rahal’s pace was enough to fend off Andretti, along with the Dale Coyne Racing duo of Rinus Veekay and rookie Jacob Abel, along with the backup car pieced together like Frankenstein driven by Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong.

“Two of the last guys to run there – between Rinus and Marco – are guys that I respect the most around here,” said Rahal, who made two qualifying attempts on the day. “(They are) so talented and so fast around this place. You just never know. I know, if anything, Rinus, in particular, he’s going to hang on and hang it out and see what he can do. But, I’m really proud of our No. 15 United Rentals team.”

THAT is what #Indy500 qualifying is all about. pic.twitter.com/PfNb8fZH57

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 17, 2025

A third-place finisher twice in the Indy 500 (2011, 2020), Rahal admitted things have been extremely difficult for his RLL squad.  

“It did not start good,” Rahal said. “The last few days have been a massive challenge, but they’ve kept their head down today and we were able to find enough speed. I think had we gotten a rerun, we would have gone faster. But we were in a tough spot. You can’t pull you’re time because you hadn’t been bumped, and yet you’re watching these guys run and it’s pretty intense times.”

And now that he’s not having to worry about fighting to make the Indy 500?

“Now,” Rahal said, “it’s time for a beer.”