HONDA INDY 200

Column: Rahal born to win at Mid-Ohio

Rob McCurdy
Reporter
  • Graham Rahal’s grandfather Mike Rahal raced at Mid-Ohio in its opening seasons in the early 1960s.
  • Rahal’s father won twice in CART and finished on eight podiums at Mid-Ohio.
  • Rahal won an amateur racing national championship at Mid-Ohio in 2005.
  • His victory at Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio was his first at the track and career third.

LEXINGTON – The Verizon IndyCar Series drivers all say they enjoy racing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

They like the big crowds and knowledgeable fans. They get a kick out of camping for a weekend. They love the challenge the twisty ribbon of 2.25 miles of asphalt gives them. The foreign-born drivers like how it reminds them of racing when they were kids.

However, for 23 of the drivers Sunday, the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio is just one of 15 stops they’ll make this year.

There is one exception. Graham Rahal was born to race in Lexington.

His grandfather, Mike Rahal, competed in club events Mid-Ohio hosted in the first couple years of its existence in the early 1960s.

His father, Bobby Rahal, made his name first as a sports car ace then transitioned to open-wheel racing under the guidance of Jim Trueman, who bought Mid-Ohio in the early 1980s. Because of his Ohio roots and his ties to the track owner, Rahal was a natural favorite in Lexington.

Two wins and a record eight podium finishes in Bobby’s CART days coupled with a pair of IMSA wins and two IROC victories helped strengthen the bond between the Rahal family and Mid-Ohio.

Born in 1989 in the midst of his father’s career, Graham literally grew up at the track. He ran around the 330 acres on race weekends, sneaking away for golf cart rides under the cover of night. In 1998, he and the rest of his family gave the command to start the engines in his dad’s final pro race at Mid-Ohio.

As a teen, he and his buddies would drive to the Steak ’n Shake at I-71 and Ohio 13 for cheese fries and milkshakes just to get away from the track. In 2005, his finest hour as an amateur racer came at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs when he won the Formula Atlantic title at Mid-Ohio.

Other than the Indianapolis 500, which his father won in 1986, no other race and place holds more meaning to the youngest Rahal. He said it in early July when he won for just the second time of his pro career, and he reiterated it Sunday evening after winning the Honda Indy 200 for his third IndyCar victory.

“This is special to me,” Rahal said after mentioning the numerous connections between Mid-Ohio and his family. “This means more than any of the others obviously. (There are) only three in IndyCar, but anything that I’ve ever accomplished before — the Daytona 24 included — this is the best thing for me.”

To show his Ohio heritage, Rahal donned gloves and a racing helmet in the design of an Ohio State football helmet complete with Buckeye leafs on the back. He shouted O-H to the crowd and made the block O signal with his arms.

Like they did his father a generation earlier, the fans loved it and showed it not only on his victory lap around the track, but even during the race.

“I could see them all going crazy. That was pretty cool,” Rahal said. “Under the yellow, when I got cycled to the lead, people were standing up on the fence. I saw them all going crazy. I was like, ‘This is awesome.’”

Also awesome for him was the fact that his dad acted as his spotter in the Esses, his siblings and Ohio friends were there, and his mother Debi got to see him win a pro race for the first time in person. The only one missing was his fiancee Courtney Force who was in California racing her NHRA Funny Car at the same time.

“It’s just like the ties to this are amazing,” he said. “That’s why it’s so cool to have my whole family here and be able to do something like this.

“A very special day for us.”

It was a day he was born to experience.

Rob McCurdy covers motorsports for the News Journal and can be reached at rmccurdy@gannett.com or 419-521-7241. On Twitter follow @McMotorsport.

Rahal in IndyCar title hunt

Graham Rahal finds himself just nine points out of first place in the Verizon IndyCar Series standings behind former champ and current Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya. With only races at Pocono and Sonoma remaining in the 2015 schedule, Rahal is trying to do what his father Bobby Rahal did in 1986, 1987 and 1992 by winning a championship.

“We’re in a good spot right now,” Rahal said. “I think if we can race him down, we’ll race him down. If we can’t, there’s absolutely no shame in finishing second in points. We got to keep that in mind.”

— Rob McCurdy