By David Morgan, Associate Editor
LEBANON, Tenn. – There are bad days and then there are days like Graham Rahal had on Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway in preparation for Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.
Rahal, who is in the midst of a season that has seen somewhat of a resurgence from the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team, has been put through the gauntlet on a smoldering hot day at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
After bringing up the rear in the opening practice of the day, things didn’t get any better for him in qualifying when a mechanical issue would sideline him from making a qualifying run, relegating him to the back of the field for Sunday’s race.
“We had a fuel…I don’t know. The engine wouldn’t run so we ran out of our 60 second clock. It started okay. We were getting temp and then power just shut off and it wouldn’t restart. So, I mean, we’ve got a lot of work to do, unfortunately,” Rahal said of his qualifying issues.
“I mean, even our other two, I though Mick [Schumacher] actually had a great run. He’s already 10th with probably 10 or more to go, which is a little surprising because I thought maybe he’d sneak into the top 12 or 15 there. So, we’ve got work to do as a team. Sad to not get a qual run.”
Rahal added that he had a feeling there was something amiss with his car, which was confirmed in both qualifying and later in practice.
“The realist in me says that we would’ve qualified about the same place,” Rahal said after qualifying. “I hate to be that way, but the realist in me says that we are not where we need to be.”
Fast forward to final practice and the gremlins that had been following him all day long reared their head again when Rahal, who was running well off the pace, found himself in the outside wall early in the going, ramping up the frustrations on what had already been a trying day in Middle Tennessee.
A difficult day takes another turn for Graham Rahal. pic.twitter.com/nphTKMbuMA
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 18, 2026
“The car is…it’s loose on the straightaways and I’m not exaggerating. Loose in the trioval and it feels like I’m going to spin through the trioval. I don’t know what to say,” said Rahal.
“Like, I can’t…I feel completely…the sensations I felt out there, I’ve never had in my career. It’s not like it was this morning…I mean, I feel bad for everybody. I’m out there holding up the train, struggling my ass off to do 27s.
“There’s nothing you can do in that situation. You’ve got to go back out. You’ve got to keep trying to fix it, but I had a hunch that something was broken when I started the session. Just never got any better.
Rahal added that his team has thrown the kitchen sink at his car to try and remedy the situation, but will be hoping they can find something overnight to get him in better position for Sunday’s race.
The issues appear to be isolated to Rahal’s car as his RLL teammates Mick Schumacher and Louis Foster were able to finish practice without incident, with Schumacher finishing the session in fourth and Foster timing in 15th.
“If it’s like that in the race, it’ll be like that. I won’t make it more than a few laps before I’m out,” said Rahal. “I hate that for all of our sponsors and everybody. Obviously, Mick and Louis are doing much better, so something with my car is…it’s unreal. I don’t know what to tell you.
“You guys can see it; it’s not like I’m saying it’s loose and it’s just a driver feel thing. No, it’s actually going around on me and I’m not sure with everything we’ve done. Man, we’ve tried a lot today and at other tests, but today in particular, it just doesn’t get better.”
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