Interview With Graham Rahal Part-1
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Apr 16, 2008
IndyCar
Question: I know it’s been an eventful last few days for you, Graham, and we appreciate you taking the time. And if I’m not mistaken, you are enjoying the sun in Columbus and on your way to a golf course?
GRAHAM RAHAL: Yeah, absolutely. It’s a beautiful day here in Columbus. So I decided, you know, this is going to be my one last day of relaxation before I move off to Long Beach.
And then of course, you know, for us, pretty well right after Long Beach, you go to Kansas, and then we are in Indy for a month. So I figure this is my shot to play a little golf and have a little fun.
So, yeah, the weather is great here and just taking a little time to relax and as you said, it’s been awfully busy the last couple of weeks, especially after the win. So it’s nice to get a little time.
Question: Well, you’re coming to beautiful weather here in Long Beach. It’s going to be nice all week here, as well. Tell us a little bit about what’s kind of gone on since you won the race and I’m sure you’ve been going a mile a minute. Tell us a little bit about the experience.
GRAHAM RAHAL: Yeah, well, you know, it’s just been very busy with a lot of PR happening. You know, for me, I had already agreed to do an appearance at Bridgestone. So yesterday I was in Nashville, and then on Friday I had to go to the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing shop to make a new seat for the IRL. It’s been busy; that’s the only way to say it.
Every single day, it’s been quite tough, so I don’t even know how many interviews I’ve done, but they are so spread out through the day that it’s even tough to have a little time to work out to be honest
So it’s been busy but you know, as I said to many people, if this is the price you’ve got to pay for winning, I’m more than happy to take it.
Question: Well, tell us about your memories about the Toyota Grand Prix last year, and obviously similar to this year actually, you started out disappointed with the race in Las Vegas where you didn’t do well, and then you bounced back and had a pretty decent Long Beach. Tell us a little bit about that race and your memories of Long Beach.
GRAHAM RAHAL: Well, you know, I’ve gone to Long Beach many, many times, and been very close friends with the owner of a bar there called Smooth’s, and my father, he’s one of my dad’s best friends. As kids we used to go and spend a lot of time out there with John’s kids, and so obviously there was a lot of time spent in Long Beach. So you always have fond memories being there.
And then of course in Atlantic, we had a pretty good run and even better in Champ Car. I think it was our first good qualifying session, obviously, because Las Vegas for us was disappointing, but you know, I look forward to going there and yet again, I think that it’s a chance for us to win.
Obviously the team is on a bit of a high right now and we don’t want to ever be overconfident, but I think that, you know, we really did feel that we were going to have an opportunity to win a championship this year in the Champ Car series. So now that it’s one series, obviously it’s a little bit tougher for us.
But Long Beach is a place where we feel we need to capitalize on our strengths, and of course, you know, it’s a great circuit and looking forward to being part of it.
