Bobby Rahal

Robert Woodward Rahal (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born January 10, 1953) is an American racing driver and motorsports executive. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. As co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, he won the Indianapolis 500 in 2004 and 2020 with drivers Buddy Rice and Takuma Sato, respectively.

After retiring as a driver, Rahal held managerial positions with the Jaguar Formula 1 team and also was an interim president of the CART series. Rahal was also a sports car driver during the 1980s, and made one NASCAR start for the Wood Brothers.

Racing career

Template:Quote box Rahal began his career in SCCA feeder categories, eventually finishing second to Gilles Villeneuve in the 1977 Formula Atlantic championship. The following year, he competed in the 1978 New Zealand Grand Prix with Fred Opert Racing (Formula Pacific) and in European Formula Three with Wolf Racing. Near the end of the season, Rahal raced for the Wolf Formula 1 team in the 1978 United States Grand Prix and the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix.<ref name=racer/> The deal with Wolf did not continue into the 1979 season, as Wolf signed up James Hunt for the one and only car available. Rahal began the 1979 racing a Chevron in Formula Two, but returned to America mid-season and raced in the Can-Am series. During the next few seasons, he competed in various sports car events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the IMSA GT Championship.

File:Bobbyrahal1986.jpg

Rahal during the 1986 Indianapolis 500

In 1982, Rahal entered the CART Indy car series with the Truesports team, winning two races and finishing second in the championship behind Rick Mears. He continued racing for Truesports through the 1988 season, winning at least one race every year. In 1986, Rahal dramatically passed Kevin Cogan on a restart with two laps to go to win the Indianapolis 500, only days before his team owner, Jim Trueman died of cancer. Later that year, Rahal won his first CART championship, and successfully defended it the following year.

In 1988, Rahal won the last race the Truesports team ever won, the Quaker State 500 at Pocono, the first and only Indy car victory for the Judd engine.

During his CART career, Rahal also won races in IMSA and IROC. By 1989, Rahal had ended his occasional forays into sports car racing and focused solely on CART. He moved over to the Kraco race team, but this association produced only two wins over three seasons.

Rahal competed in one NASCAR race in his career. In November 1984 he drove the 7-11 sponsored Wood Brothers #21 Ford (substituting for Buddy Baker) to a 40th-place finish in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Speedway, completing only 44 laps before breaking a rear end gear.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

IndyCar owner

File:Bobby-rahal mid-ohio 08-10-1996.jpg

Rahal driving for Team Rahal at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 1996

After losing the championship to Michael Andretti in 1991, Rahal (with partner Carl Hogan) acquired the assets to the former Pat Patrick Racing team, with Rahal becoming an owner-driver. The team was an immediate success in 1992, producing four wins for Rahal and his third CART championship, making him the last owner-driver to win the CART title, and the last driver to win a race with his own team until Adrian Fernandez did so in 2003. In 1993, Rahal attempted to develop his own Rahal-Hogan chassis, but reverted to the Lola chassis after failing to qualify for the 1993 Indianapolis 500. In 1994 the team brought the Honda engine into the CART series. Except for a second-place finish at Toronto, he and teammate Mike Groff struggled to show the full potential of an engine that would soon dominate the series. In 1995 at Long Beach Rahal became the 10th driver in Championship Car history (including AAA, USAC, and CART) to start 200 races in his career.<ref>ChampCarStats.com</ref> Despite no wins, Rahal finished a strong 3rd in the 1995 standings using the Mercedes engine.

Rahal continued as a racing driver until his retirement in 1998. Meanwhile, Hogan left to form his own team and talk show host David Letterman became a minority owner in 1996. The team became known as Team Rahal in 1996 and Rahal Letterman Racing in 2004, when Rahal switched from CART to the IRL full-time.

Other business roles

From 1997–1999, Rahal co-owned a team in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with sportscar-racing veteran Tom Gloy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The team, called Gloy-Rahal Racing, competed part time in 1997 and full time for the remainder of existence.

In 2000, Rahal joined the Jaguar Formula One team in a managerial capacity. During this time, Rahal attempted to hire championship-winning aerodynamicist Adrian Newey, briefly believing that the deal had been completed, but was unsuccessful. However, Rahal was fired after reportedly attempting to sell driver Eddie Irvine to rivals Jordan.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Ironically, the team fired Irvine little more than a year after firing Rahal, while Newey joined in 2006, a year after the team was sold to Red Bull.

Rahal was the interim President and CEO of CART for six months during the 2000 season.

His business interests include Bobby Rahal Automotive Group, a network of car dealerships in western and central Pennsylvania selling Acura, BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volvo.

In 2021, Rahal began to venture into race promoting with the help of former IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Rahal's first move in race promotion was to return the popular Iowa Speedway round to IndyCar after it had been left off of the 2021 calendar. Rahal was able to recruit Iowa supermarket chain Hy-Vee as a sponsor and secured a multi year agreement between IndyCar and Iowa Speedway to run a double header event at the track starting in 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards

• International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2004)
• Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2004)<ref name=MSHoF>Bobby Rahal at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America</ref>
• SCCA Hall of Fame (2013)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame (2014)
• Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award (2014)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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Tribute

At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the back straight leading up to the corkscrew was named the "Rahal Straight" in his honor.

Personal life

He is the son of Barbara and Michael Rahal (1924-2017) who raced autos for over two decades.<ref name=Goldsborough>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=aw20120820>Template:Cite journal</ref> His father is of Lebanese descent and his mother is of English descent.<ref name=Glick>Template:Cite news</ref> His father owned a wholesale food distribution business.<ref name=Goldsborough/> Rahal was raised in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn and attended Glenbard West High School as class of 1971. Rahal is a graduate of Denison University,<ref name=Glick/> where his father also graduated.<ref name=Goldsborough/>

Rahal formerly lived in New Albany, Ohio. He now lives in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. His son is Graham Rahal, who races in the IndyCar Series.<ref name=aw20120820/>

Rahal owns a 1975 Lola T360 which he occasionally races at vintage racing events.

In 2023, Rahal had knee surgery which he is currently recovering from.

Motorsports career results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

Year	Track	Car	Engine	Class	Finish	Start	Status
1974	Road Atlanta	Lola T290	Ford	B Sports Racing	3	3	Running
1975	Road Atlanta	March 75B	Ford	Formula B	1	2	Running
1977	Road Atlanta	March 75B	Ford	Formula B	18	1	Retired

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position / Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Formula One results
Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WDC	Pts
1978	Walter Wolf Racing	Wolf WR5	Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA Template:Small		NC	0
		Wolf WR1																	CAN Template:Small

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Formula Two results
Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Template:Tooltip	Pts
Template:F2	Chevron Racing Team	Chevron B48	Hart	SIL Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	THR Template:Small	NÜR Template:Small	VAL Template:Small	MUG Template:Small	PAU Template:Small	HOC Template:Small	ZAN Template:Small	PER Template:Small	MIS Template:Small	DON	11th	10

American Open Wheel Racing

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

PPG Indy Car Series

PPG Indy Car Series results
Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points	Ref
1982	Truesports Co.	March 82C	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX Template:Small	ATL	MIL Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POC Template:Small	RIV Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	PHX Template:Small									2nd	242	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1983	Truesports Co.	March 83C	Cosworth DFX V8t	ATL Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	POC Template:Small	RIV Template:Small		MCH Template:Small			PHX Template:Small							5th	94	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
			Chevrolet V8									MDO Template:Small		CPL Template:Small	LAG Template:Small
1984	Truesports Co.	March 84C	Cosworth DFX V8t	LBH Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	POC Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	SAN Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	CPL Template:Small				3rd	137	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1985	Truesports Co.	March 85C	Cosworth DFX V8t	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	POC Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	SAN Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	MIA Template:Small					3rd	133	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1986	Truesports Co.	March 86C	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	POC Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	SAN Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	MIA Template:Small			1st	179	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1987	Truesports Co.	Lola T87/00	Cosworth DFX V8t	LBH Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	POC Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	MIA Template:Small					1st	188	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1988	Truesports Co.	Lola T88/00	Judd AV V8t	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	POC Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	MIA Template:Small					3rd	136	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1989	Kraco Racing	Lola T89/00	Cosworth DFS V8t	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	POC Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small					9th	88	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1990	Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola T90/00	Chevrolet 265A V8t	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	DEN Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small				4th	153	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1991	Galles-Kraco Racing	Lola T91/00	Chevrolet 265A V8t	SRF Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MEA Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	DEN Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small			2nd	200	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1992	Rahal-Hogan Racing	Lola T92/00	Chevrolet 265A V8t	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	NHA Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small				1st	196	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1993	Rahal-Hogan Racing	Rahal-Hogan RH-001	Chevrolet 265C V8t	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	INDY Template:Small																4th	133	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Lola T93/00						MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	NHA Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small
1994	Rahal-Hogan Racing	Lola T94/00	Honda HRX V8t	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small		MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NHA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	LAG Template:Small				10th	59	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
		Penske PC-22	Ilmor 265D V8t				INDY Template:Small
1995	Rahal-Hogan Racing	Lola T95/00	Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8t	MIA Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	PHX Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	INDY Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	NHA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small			3rd	128	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1996	Team Rahal	Reynard 96i	Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8t	MIA Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	500 Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small				7th	102	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1997	Team Rahal	Reynard 97i	Ford XD V8t	MIA Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	GAT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	FON Template:Small			12th	70	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1998	Team Rahal	Reynard 98i	Ford XD V8t	MIA Template:Small	MOT Template:Small	LBH Template:Small	NAZ Template:Small	RIO Template:Small	GAT Template:Small	MIL Template:Small	DET Template:Small	POR Template:Small	CLE Template:Small	TOR Template:Small	MCH Template:Small	MDO Template:Small	ROA Template:Small	VAN Template:Small	LAG Template:Small	HOU Template:Small	SRF Template:Small	FON Template:Small	10th	82	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Indianapolis 500 results

File:Bobbyrahal1986.jpg

Rahal during the 1986 Indy 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1982	March	Cosworth	17th	11th	Truesports
1983	March	Cosworth	6th	20th	Truesports
1984	March	Cosworth	18th	7th	Truesports
1985	March	Cosworth	3rd	27th	Truesports
1986	March	Cosworth	4th	1st	Truesports
1987	Lola	Cosworth	2nd	26th	Truesports
1988	Lola	Judd	19th	5th	Truesports
1989	Lola	Cosworth	7th	26th	Kraco
1990	Lola	Chevrolet	4th	2nd	Galles/Kraco
1991	Lola	Chevrolet	4th	19th	Galles/Kraco
1992	Lola	Chevrolet	10th	6th	Rahal/Hogan
1993	Rahal	Chevrolet	Failed to Qualify		Rahal/Hogan
1994	Penske	Ilmor	28th	3rd	Rahal/Hogan
1995	Lola	Ilmor-Mercedes	21st	3rd	Rahal/Hogan

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	Template:Tooltip	Pts	Ref
1984	Wood Brothers Racing	21	Ford	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	NWS	DAR	MAR	TAL	NSV	DOV	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	NSV	POC	TAL	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	CLT	NWS	CAR	ATL	RSD Template:Small	91st	43	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Template:Tooltip	Template:Tooltip
1980	Template:Flagicon Dick Barbour Racing	Template:Flagicon Bob Garretson Template:Flagicon Allan Moffat	Porsche 935 K3	IMSA	134	DNF	DNF
1982	Template:Flagicon Garretson Developments	Template:Flagicon Skeeter McKitterick Template:Flagicon Jim Trueman	March 82G	C	28	DNF	DNF

External links

• Rahal Letterman Racing website
• Rahal's automobile dealerships website
• The Greatest 33
• Template:Racing-Reference driver