Rahal Finishes Sixth At Texas

Rahal Finishes Sixth At Texas

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fleet Cost & Care Dallara/Honda/Firestone: "Overall I can't complain too much about finishing sixth. The Fleet Cost & Care team did a good job with strategy, we did a good job in the pits and the car was pretty good. We were able to make some moves but as everybody could see, it was hard out there today to get a whole lot done. We've got to work on the aero package this week and move forward to allow us to follow a little bit easier but overall I can't be too unhappy with that. We salvaged another really good result out of a really tough start. We'll keep our heads down and move on."

· FAST FACTS: Started 20th and took the opportunity to pit during the first caution for a fire on Leist's car on Lap 9 after running 19th. This enabled him to stretch his fuel and cycle into the lead on Lap 68 before making his second stop on Lap 72 and returning to the track in 14th. He took over 13th when Veach made contact and then into 12th when Newgarden pit due to a tire going down. The field had been watching for tire wear, particularly on the right front and rear, and Rahal reported a vibration on lap 101/248. As the next pit cycle began, he moved up to second by Lap 127 before making his stop on L128. Her returned to the track in 13th place and moved up to eight when a caution came out for Wickens and Carpenter, who made contact on Lap 173. At this point, he was in seventh and a lap down but was waved around before he made his next pit stop on L183. When the race restarted, he held seventh place and another caution came out for Power and Claman De Melo who made contact as Claman De Melo was passing on the high side. He was in sixth and the team elected to pit for new tires when the pits opened. The race was restarted on Lap 215/248 and Rahal maintained his position until the checkered flag… In his previous 10 races here, his best start came in 2012 of third and best finish is his win in 2016… Has SIX IndyCar Series wins (2008 - St. Pete street course; 2015 - Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 - Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and THREE poles (2009 - St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 - Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He moved from seventh to sixth in series point standings with a total of 250 points.