The fourth IndyCar Wrap-Up has us looking at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team that won in 2023 and showed competitiveness despite some shortcomings in the organization. Those shortcomings came to the forefront in 2024. The speed was not quite there. A few races saw the team stand out but most of the races had RLLR cars fighting from behind. The team was not close to the same level, and it was a long season.
Christian Lundgaard
Last year, Lundgaard had a breakout season and scored his first career victory at Toronto. The expectations were high for 2024, as Lundgaard looked to take RLLR to the next level. There were some good days early, but the speed was not there at the same consistent level. Lundgaard was not the surprise frontrunner, he was not nearly as much of a frontrunner as he was the year before.
What objectively was his best race?
His only top five finish of the season, Lundgaard was third in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and he was in contention for the race victory. Lundgaard led from the start and led much of the first third of the race, but he was caught out in pit strategy when he was caught behind Felix Rosenqvist, who made an early second pit stop. This traffic caused Lundgaard to lose time and he fell back to finish third behind Álex Palou and Will Power.
What subjectively was his best race?
Sadly, the only race where Lundgaard looked like Lundgaard from 2023 was the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. If he stops a lap or two earlier, he might win this race as he avoids losing time in traffic and he could have kept Palou and Power behind him. He led 35 of the first 39 laps and only did not lead during the pit cycle over that portion of the race.
What objectively was his worst race?
Lundgaard had a top ten running going in the Grand Prix of Long Beach until he was penalized for an unsafe release on his final pit stop after he made contact with Kyle Kirkwood in pit lane. Then Lundgaard had to make a stop for a splash of fuel on the final lap as his car was not full. This led to a 23rd place finish for the Dane.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Lundgaard had a top ten running going in the Grand Prix of Long Beach until he was penalized for an unsafe release on his final pit stop after he made contact with Kyle Kirkwood in pit lane. Then Lundgaard had to make a stop for a splash of fuel on the final lap as his car was not full. This led to a 23rd place finish for the Dane.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Ovals were not Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's strong suit in 2024, and Iowa wasn't fair to anybody, but Lundgaard spun on the opening lap in the first Iowa race and he needed repairs. He was able to rejoin the race, but he was only able to complete 178 of 250 laps and he finished 22nd.
Christian Lundgaard's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 11th (312 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 53
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 14.529
Average Finish: 13
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 53
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 14.529
Average Finish: 13
Graham Rahal
In his 17 seasons in IndyCar, Rahal has been all over the place. He has competed for championships, he has been at the bottom, he has been in the middle. This year, Rahal was back toward the bottom, and it was continuing a trend backward. Rahal took another slip back and he was not close to the level we saw the year before.
What objectively was his best race?
Ovals were tough for RLLR, but Rahal qualified eighth and finished eighth in the second Iowa race. The nature of Iowa meant as long as you did nothing wrong, you were not going to fall down the running order. Rahal didn't make a mistake. The pit stops were clean. Rahal ended up finishing where he started, benefitting from the misfortunes of others.
What subjectively was his best race?
RLLR has the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course figured out, and Rahal had a good run in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He lost time on the primary tire but he was still able to finish ninth and he spent the entire race in the top ten. He didn't quite get to the same level as Lundgaard.
What objectively was his worst race?
Rahal was collected when Kyffin Simpson spun exiting turn five at Laguna Seca, and this ended up putting Rahal in 24th in the final results, but the race was not going that well prior to that accident.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Rahal was collected when Kyffin Simpson spun exiting turn five at Laguna Seca, and this ended up putting Rahal in 24th in the final results, but the race was not going that well prior to that accident.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Fifteenth in the Indianapolis 500 should be a decent day, especially since Rahal started 33rd, but this was another case of Rahal being in the Last Row Shootout and facing being bumped from the Indianapolis 500 for a second consecutive year. RLLR had Takuma Sato qualify tenth, but its other three cars started 28th, 30th and 33rd. Rahal had a better race car than a qualifying car, but it was another long week in May and there were few moral victories to take from this experience.
Graham Rahal's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 18th (251 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 7
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 5
Average Start: 17.235
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 7
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 1
Fast Twelves: 5
Average Start: 17.235
Average Finish: 15.588
Pietro Fittipaldi
RLLR was looking for a jumpstart in its third entry after two years of struggling to get all three cars competing at a high level. Enter Fittipaldi, a driver who had dabbled in IndyCar, but had yet to compete full-time. Full-time competition was rather rare for Fittipaldi over the last five years. IndyCar was a change of pace for the Brazilian. In his first foray in IndyCar, Fittipaldi had some impressive results and hopes were high. Reality did not live up to it.
What objectively was his best race?
Fittipaldi had two finishes of 13th. He was 13th in the season opener at St. Petersburg and he was 13th at Detroit. It was a 13-spot improvement at St. Petersburg and a two-spot improvement at Detroit. Two of those spots at St. Petersburg came from the disqualification of Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.
What subjectively was his best race?
Even if you don't consider the disqualification of the two Penske cars, Fittipaldi still made up 11 spots at St. Petersburg. However, I don't think Fittipaldi had a good race all season. Even at Detroit, he mostly just stayed in-between 13th and 15th. He wasn't a threat at any race.
What objectively was his worst race?
Fittipaldi was caught in the opening lap accident in the Indianapolis 500 when Tom Blomqvist spun in turn one and this left Fittipaldi in 32nd of the final results.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Fittipaldi was caught in the opening lap accident in the Indianapolis 500 when Tom Blomqvist spun in turn one and this left Fittipaldi in 32nd of the final results.
What subjectively was his worst race?
There were many rough days. Barber Motorsports Park was particularly tough. Fittipaldi was run into by Patricio O'Ward and this knocked Fittipaldi off the course when he was doing nothing wrong. Fittipaldi had a steering rack failure in practice. It was a tough weekend across the board, and it ended with a 27th-place result.
Pietro Fittipaldi's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 19th (186 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 2
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 21.0588
Average Finish: 19.647
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 2
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 21.0588
Average Finish: 19.647
An Early Look Ahead
Lundgaard is gone. Rahal is around, but he has been talking about stepping away from competing recently. I don't know what the team does with Fittipaldi. At the end of 2021, it felt like RLLR was on the verge of breaking into a higher level. After last year, you could argue RLLR was IndyCar's fourth-best team over Arrow McLaren. At the end of 2024, it is difficult to see how much ground RLLR can gain in 2025, but it will at least have a promising young talent joining the team with Indy Lights champion Louis Foster signed to a multi-year contract.
It had a good thing with Lundgaard, but Lundgaard wanted more. Struggling to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 gets old quickly. If Lundgaard can win with RLLR and finish in the top ten in the championship, he must believe at a better team he can compete for more. We are going to see if that is the case at McLaren.
Where does RLLR go from there?
It has signed Foster, a driver that dominated Indy Lights, but Indy Lights has not been the great indicator for success in IndyCar. The previous ten Indy Lights champions have made an average of 37.3 starts in their IndyCar careers. Of those ten drivers, only Patricio O'Ward has surpassed 75 starts in IndyCar. Whether that is down to talent or ability or opportunity is a matter of debate. Either way, Indy Lights champions don't get a long leash.
RLLR found a gem with Lundgaard. It felt like the team was ready to take on the big time. It will give Foster a chance but Foster is not entering with a buzz. It is hard to believe he will lift RLLR's level, especially considering the team's oval form. Foster has only made eight oval starts in his life, the largest being the 1.333-mile Nashville Superspeedway. Though RLLR has him on retainer, Jüri Vips is not at the level of Lundgaard. Vips could be a suitable driver, but it does not seem he can be the answer for something greater.
Though Lundgaard took RLLR to great heights, the perception of the team has taken a hit over the last few seasons. It drew some big sponsors. It found IndyCar's newest great partner in HyVee, but RLLR has kind of let HyVee down. At HyVee's big event at Iowa Speedway, RLLR has not been anywhere close to competitive. If a sponsor does not feel like it is getting the most bang for its buck, it will leave, either the series entirely or for another team. There are other more competitive teams out there.
This is a team whose leader is a driver close to completing two decades in IndyCar with one championship push and who is going on eight years without a race victory. It has hired the Indy Lights champion who was clearly best driver from that level. RLLR has gone from a team on the verge of breaking into that upper tier to a team on the decline with no sight of where this team will fall, but it is re-tooling and hoping for the best.
