Graham Rahal Reflects On Father Bobby Rahal Ahead Of Documentary Premiere At Sonsio Grand Prix Weekend

Bobby and Graham Rahal collaborate on the set-up of Graham's 2025 No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara Honda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the INDY500. Image Credit: Paul Hurley via NICS (2025)

Graham Rahal Reflects On Father Bobby Rahal Ahead Of Documentary Premiere At Sonsio Grand Prix Weekend

Graham Rahal sat in the ZOOM Call press conference ahead of this weekend’s Sonsio Grand Prix and spoke with clear pride about his legendary father, Bobby Rahal. The occasion allowed for Graham to respond to questions centered on the upcoming global debut of the documentary “Bobby Rahal: True American Racer,” set to air Friday night on FS1.

The one-hour version, produced by Chassy Media and directed and edited by Travis Long with support from Scott Borchetta and Nate Adams, premieres at 7:30 p.m. ET. It will re-air multiple times throughout May to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bobby Rahal’s stirring 1986 Indianapolis 500 victory. 

### Premiere and Main Airing

- **Premiere**: Friday, May 8, 2026, at **7:30 PM ET on FS1** (also mentioned with FOX One in some promotions).

- It followed NASCAR Truck Series coverage that night on FS1.

No airings are listed on the main **FOX** channel (the over-the-air network); it has been primarily on **FS1** and **FS2**.

### Re-Airs (as of May 9–10, 2026, and ongoing)

It re-airs multiple times throughout May on FS1 and FS2 to tie into Indy 500 coverage. Examples from current TV listings include:

**On FS2 (recent/ongoing examples)**:

- Sunday, May 10: 6:00 AM ET

- Other morning slots (e.g., around 8:00 AM) and evening repeats in the following days.

**On FS1**:

- Evening slots like 6:00 PM ET on various days (e.g., May 9–10 window and later in the month).

Schedules can shift for live sports (e.g., IndyCar practice/racing on FS1/FS2), so check local listings, the FOX Sports app, or sites like TV Insider for the latest. It may also be available on-demand via platforms like Fubo, DirecTV, or FOX Sports streaming.

For the most up-to-date schedule, visit **foxsports.com** or use your TV provider's guide, as re-airs continue through the Indy 500 period (May 2026). A full-length version of the documentary is expected later in 2026.

This television cut focuses on Bobby’s early years through his emotional win with close friend Jim Trueman, who sadly lost his battle with cancer shortly afterward. A longer, full-length edition covering Bobby’s complete and still-active career arrives later in 2026.

Travis Long described the project, which began in 2022, as deeply compelling. He conducted a seven-hour interview with Bobby and gathered 25 interviews totaling more than 30 hours of footage. Long noted that Bobby’s story stood out because of his hands-on approach to everything from Formula Atlantic and endurance racing to building his own successful team and businesses.

Graham Rahal admitted he had not yet seen the film but expressed genuine excitement about viewing it. He voiced deep admiration for his father not only as a racer but also as a father, businessman, and entrepreneur. 

Graham explained that he strives daily to follow in Bobby’s footsteps by developing ventures outside of racing. This approach allows the sport to remain a true lifelong passion rather than solely a driving career, precisely as Bobby has demonstrated for decades.

When asked what defined Bobby’s racing success - including the Indy 500 triumph, three CART championships, and capturing a title in his first season as an owner - Graham highlighted two standout qualities. First, Bobby proved himself a methodical thinker and supremely talented racer. Second, and perhaps most importantly, Bobby possessed a rare gift for surrounding himself with exceptionally smart and capable people and placing them in the right roles.

Graham pointed to early collaborations such as Adrian Newey at Rahal Hogan, along with loyal team members like Tim, JP, Jimmy Prescott, Clay Wilson, and Ricardo Nault, many of whom have been with the family for 40 to 50 years and are now considered family. He also cited smart business hires such as Ron Ferris for the car dealerships. Graham observed that this same talent for building strong, enduring teams explains the sustained success of top organizations like Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Andretti.

Bobby Rahal’s ability to excel both on and off the track, combined with his leadership in people and vision, continues to inspire his son and the broader racing and business communities.

Addendum: Graham Rahal’s Strong IMS Road Course Record

As it relates to this weekend's Month Of May race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Graham Rahal brings an impressive history to this weekend’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. In 12-plus NTT IndyCar Series starts there since 2015, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver owns two runner-up finishes - charging from 17th to second while leading nine laps in 2015, and starting fourth, leading 18 laps, and finishing second in 2020.  

He has posted additional strong results including fourth (2016), fifth (2021), and sixth-place runs (2017 and 2025), with top-10 finishes in 15 of 17 starts and an average finish of roughly 7.6 positions. No wins yet, but consistent podium contention marks his affinity for the 14-turn circuit.

Currently 10th in the 2026 championship standings with 106 points, Rahal will chase his first victory at the venue in Race 6 of the season.

Broadcast Details: Practice and qualifying Friday, May 8. The 85-lap Sonsio Grand Prix goes green Saturday, May 9 at 4:30 p.m. ET, live on FOX and the FOX Sports app.

Former teammates Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal share a friendly conversation during a
pre-race driver autograph session ahead of the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Image Credit: Titus Slaughter - NICS (2026)

Post Race Update:

Christian Lundgaard, in the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, delivered a stellar performance - qualifying P4 and going on to win the race, his second in his NICS career - while Graham Rahal charged from P7 to a strong (highest placing Honda) P3 podium finish in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda. A great moment between two respected competitors catching up off the track. These two drivers shared the podium (and the image above - just over Lundgaard's shoulder) with Team Penske's David Malukas driving the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet, who qualified P5 and secured P2 after leading in the late stages of the race.

Month of May at IMS post-race comments from Rahal (drawn from team reports, broadcasts, and related coverage) typically emphasize satisfaction with the result on a track where RLL has historically performed well, relief at converting a solid qualifying position into a podium amid chaos (incidents, strategy battles, and pit decisions), and praise for the team's execution.

Lundgaard will try to repeat Alex Palou’s 2025 “double” - on his way to a third consecutive season championship for a total of four in the last five years - of winning the Sonsio Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge when the 110th edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” takes place Sunday, May 24. Practice on the fabled 2.5-mile oval opens Tuesday, May 12 Rahal, Malukas, and thirty other drivers will be there to make sure this will not happen. 

For the Rahals, this Sonsio Grand Prix weekend is complete.

... notes from The EDJE

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Graham Rahal On The Prospect Of Racing In Washington DC - Freedom 250 Grand Prix

TAGS: #IndyCar, #BobbyRahal, #TrueAmericanRacer, #SonsioGrandPrix, #RahalLegacy, #Indy50040th, #TheEDJE, #IndyCarOnFOX

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Land Mick Schumacher – A New Chapter Written In Quiet Confidence

Mick Schumacher officially unveiled in RLL black: No. 47 Honda, full-time 2026, ready to take on ovals, streets, and everything INDYCAR throws at him. A new chapter begins. Image Credit: NICS ZOOM Call Video (2025)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Land Mick Schumacher – A New Chapter Written In Quiet Confidence

In the often theatrical world of modern motorsport announcements, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing chose understatement. 

A simple press release on Monday, followed by a Tuesday morning ZOOM Call, confirmed what had been whispered for weeks: Mick Schumacher, 43-race Formula 1 veteran and three-time World Endurance Championship podium finisher, will drive the No. 47 Honda full-time in the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The move is seismic, yet the tone from team owner Bobby Rahal, president Jay Frye, and Schumacher himself was characteristically Midwestern: measured, pragmatic, and already focused on the work ahead.

Bobby Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 champion turned team principal, opened with credit where it was unequivocally due. “I give tremendous credit to Jay for really making this all happen,” he said of Frye, the former INDYCAR competition czar who has injected new life into RLL since taking the reins earlier this year. Rahal also singled out sportscar veteran Dirk Müller for facilitating the initial introduction. In an era of manufactured drama, Rahal’s willingness to share the spotlight felt refreshingly joyful and authentic.

Jay Frye, a man who has closed more difficult deals than most team presidents ever attempt, described the courtship with the calm of someone who knew the outcome weeks ago. A four-day evaluation in October – simulator runs, seat fits, and finally a full-day private test on the Indianapolis road course – convinced everyone involved. “It was pretty quick,” Frye said with a grin. “After those four days, Mick had 150 new followers inside the team.” The mechanics, engineers, and fabricators had voted with their enthusiasm long before any contract was signed.

Mick Schumacher appeared on the press conference call from Europe, polite and composed, carrying the quiet gravitas that comes from growing up as Michael Schumacher’s son. When asked about reclaiming his familiar No. 47 – the number he created in Formula 1 by merging the unavailable 4 and 7 – he allowed himself a small, private smile. “There were so many little funny twists with that number,” he said. That INDYCAR had it available felt almost predestined, another subtle thread connecting past and future.

Rahal was characteristically blunt about what sealed the deal. “Everybody was impressed with Mick – not just his pace, but his persona, his humility, the way he went about his work.” Coming from a team owner who once employed drivers of the caliber of Kenny Bräck, Buddy Lazier, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, the praise carried weight. Rahal declared the 2026 trio of Schumacher, Graham Rahal, and reigning Rookie of the Year Louis Foster the strongest three-car lineup in the team’s history – a bold statement from a man not prone to hyperbole.

Frye laid out the aggressive integration plan with military precision: four dedicated oval tests, two additional road-course days, and a single street-course session at Sebring. The schedule is deliberately front-loaded to compress Schumacher’s learning curve before the season opener in St. Petersburg. For a driver who has never competed on an oval at speed, the program is ambitious, but no one on the ZOOM Call betrayed even a flicker of doubt.

Schumacher addressed the inevitable European question about oval danger with a maturity that silenced skeptics. “Motorsports on the whole is dangerous,” he said, echoing a truth American open-wheel fans have lived with for generations. He specifically credited Frye and INDYCAR’s safety advancements for giving him confidence. It was the answer of someone who had done far more than skim headlines – he had studied the data, spoken to the right people, and made peace with the risk.

The contrast with his Formula 1 experience could not have been clearer. In F1, Schumacher noted, “you have a pretty good idea where you’re going to finish before the lights go out.” INDYCAR, by contrast, is glorious uncertainty. “Almost anybody can win a race,” he said, and the hunger in his voice was unmistakable. After two seasons largely spent on the sidelines at Haas, he is returning to a formula where driver skill can still overturn the odds.

Bobby Rahal: 1986 Indy 500 champion, team owner, and the man who just built RLL’s strongest ever lineup. Quietly
reloading for 2026. Image Credit: NICS ZOOM Call Video (2025)

Louis Foster, the soft-spoken Englishman who claimed the 2025 Rookie of the Year title in a dramatic late-race pass at Portland combined with a dramatic late race swing at the season finale at Nashville now finds himself measuring against the ultimate yardstick. Foster’s meteoric rise – Indy NXT champion in 2024, consistent top-six runner in his debut INDYCAR season – suddenly shares garage space with a global name. The internal competition has been elevated to a level RLL has rarely enjoyed.

Graham Rahal, long the standard-bearer for the family legacy, sounded genuinely energized by the new dynamic. With his oval expertise, Foster’s road-course brilliance, and Schumacher’s elite single-seater pedigree, the trio forms a complementary whole greater than the sum of its parts. For the first time in years, RLL enters an offseason believing it can fight for podiums on every weekend, not just the ones that suit the car - as it seemed to be the case at some event venues in 2025.

Behind the scenes, Frye has orchestrated a quiet revolution. Gavin Ward, fresh from engineering Josef Newgarden to the 2023 championship, is already embedded in the Schumacher program. New personnel – some already announced, many more still under wraps – are flowing into the Indianapolis shops. The team that limped to inconsistent results for much of the past decade is being rebuilt from the ground up.

When pressed for specific goals, Schumacher refused the trap of premature promises. “Everything will be new – tracks, ovals, teammates,” he said. Success, for now, is measured in adaptation and integration rather than trophies. It was the answer of a driver who has learned the hard way that motorsport punishes hubris.

Bobby Rahal, ever the realist, defined victory in terms any longtime INDYCAR observer would recognize: consistent competitiveness on every type of circuit, week in and week out. “This is a tough series,” he reminded everyone. “Everything has to go your way to win.” Yet for the first time in a long time, Rahal Letterman Lanigan believes the pieces are finally aligned for everything to go their way more often than not.

As the ZOOM Call ended and the screen went to check-out mode ... one truth lingered. Mick Schumacher is not coming to INDYCAR as a refugee from Formula 1 or a marketing exercise. He is coming because he believes this is the purest, most demanding single-seater racing on earth – and because Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, under Jay Frye’s relentless direction, is finally positioned to prove him right.

The sun, as Bobby Rahal likes to say, has indeed risen on the horizon. Come March in St. Petersburg, the No. 47 Honda will roll to the grid carrying more than a famous name. It will carry the quiet, steely expectation that a sleeping giant in American open-wheel racing has finally awakened.

... notes from The EDJE

TAGS: #MickToIndyCar, #MickSchumacher, #RLLRacing, #No47Honda, #INDYCAR2026, #RahalLettermanLanigan, #JayFrye, #BobbyRahal, #LouisFoster, #GrahamRahal, #OvalReady, #StPete2026, #TheEDJE