Eventful Doubleheader at Houston

RACE 1 NOTES / QUOTES - October 5, 2013

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 blu eCigs Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "The blu e Cigs guys did a great job making the right decisions in the race. Neil (Fife, race engineer), Wayne (Gross, assistant engineer) and everybody who made the tweaks to this thing went in the right direction. To go from 24th to seventh is always a good day, you can't complain. I think we could have, and should have had James (Jakes) and (Josef) Newgarden there at the end but ran out of time. There was some close racing there so I just figured I would be a little bit smarter and lift off. Overall I thought it was a good day. If we can qualify a little more toward the front tomorrow I feel really good about our chances in Race 2. If we can qualify in the front, we can definitely run up there."

FAST FACTS: This morning Rahal set the 10th fastest time in Group 2 of qualifying to earn a 19th place starting position but he was assessed a 10-grid penalty for an unapproved engine change and started 24th. The team employed good pit strategy and Rahal was able to move up to a seventh place finish. It was his second Indy car race here and third overall. His first Indy car race here was Round 3 of the Champ Car World Series on April 22, 2007 and he became the youngest driver to earn a Champ Car podium with his second place finish at the age of 18 years, 3 months and 18 days. Rahal skipped his prom to compete in Houston and qualified sixth. His second place brought Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing their first 1-2 finish since the 2005 Las Vegas race with teammate Bourdais earning the win from a second place start. He also competed in the 2006 Atlantics race where he started third and was in second place when he collided with Raphael Matos while attempting to take the lead with three laps to go and finished 15th… His best finish this season is second place in Long Beach and best start is 6th at Iowa… Is ranked 17th in series standings with 292 points.

RLL AT HOUSTON / LANIGAN'S ROLE IN EVENT: The team competed on the temporary circuit downtown around the George R. Brown Convention Center from 1998-2001 but this will mark the first time for RLL to not only compete at Reliant Park, it will also be the first time for RLL to compete in a race promoted by team co-owner Mike Lanigan's company, MJ Promotions, since he joined the team in 2011. The event will mark the third overall Indy car race at Reliant Park and first since the 2006 and 2007 Champ Car races that MJ Promotions also promoted.

RACE 2 NOTES/QUOTES - October 6, 2013

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 blu eCigs Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "On the first lap we got hit by Simona and that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. It was going to be very hard to get a lap back on this track and unfortunately I spun and hurt the rear wing a little later. It's a shame because the car was really, really fast. I'm not sure we had a 59.5 lap like some of the leaders -- I haven't seen their times -- but we certainly could have run the 59's. It's a shame because the car was very good. I think if we had been up front, we probably could have stayed there but unfortunately this is what we get for being where we are in the championship. But most of all, I hope Dario and all those guys are okay because that (crash) was scary."

FAST FACTS: Qualifying for Race 2 was cancelled this morning due to standing water on the course so the field was set by Entrant Points and Graham started the race 19th It was his third Indy car race here and fourth overall. Rahal was hit on the opening lap by Simona de Silvestro who was penalized for "avoidable contact" and hat to pit for a new nose which put him a lap down. Later he had to pit for a new rear wing which dropped him another lap down. He finished in 18th place. His first Indy car race here was Round 3 of the Champ Car World Series on April 22, 2007 and he became the youngest driver to earn a Champ Car podium with his second place finish at the age of 18 years, 3 months and 18 days. Rahal skipped his prom to compete in Houston and qualified sixth. His second place brought Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing their first 1-2 finish since the 2005 Las Vegas race with teammate Bourdais earning the win from a second place start. He also competed in the 2006 Atlantics race where he started third and was in second place when he collided with Raphael Matos while attempting to take the lead with three laps to go and finished 15th… His best finish this season is second place in Long Beach and best start is 6th at Iowa… Rahal has 304 points.

NEXT UP: The series will take next weekend off and reconvene for the MAV TV 500 at Auto Club Speedway October 19. RLL has earned one win (Vasser 2002), four podiums and led 400 laps at the track. Last year, Rahal qualified 11th with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing, started 18th after grid penalties were assessed and finished sixth. Jakes qualified 24th, started 12th after grid penalties were assessed and finished 12th with Dale Coyne Racing.