Interview With Graham Rahal Part-2
Apr 16, 2008
IndyCar
Question: What were your thoughts crossing the finish line?
GRAHAM RAHAL: Well, first off, I must admit that everybody had been talking about the history. But I’ve got to tell you that I didn’t even remember the history part of it until Kathi [Lauterbach] said something to me, just as I had stopped the car and was getting ready to get out it. Didn’t even cross my mind whatsoever.
I also should probably say that I really don’t think it’s even hit me yet that I’ve won, because you know, being as busy as I’ve been, it takes a long time to hit you and doesn’t seem to have taken the effect of course when you win, it feels so good to win and to win in the fashion that we did, and everybody might say that we lucked into it because of strategy
But I think we proved in the end that no one there had the speed to contend with us. And it felt a lot like my Atlantic days when we were winning a lot of races, because it just felt so good to finally be in a car that was that good and that you could just you felt like you felt like you were the quickest car and that no one could keep up with you. You know, to have that feeling of power, it was just an awesome day.
Question: I know you’re new to this series, but certainly not new to the sport, been around with it your dad for a long time; what kind of feeling do you kind of take into this weekend of this being the last Champ Car race? What do you think the mood is going to be, and what does it mean to you? And on top of that, what would it mean to you to win the last race of the CART/Champ Car era?
GRAHAM RAHAL: Obviously I think it’s going to be a little different than the past, but I think it’s a great thing we are capping off such a fantastic history by going to Long Beach or ending it in Long Beach, because obviously Long Beach over the last, you know how long has Long Beach been around, 33 years or something? It’s been around forever.
So I think you know, it’s good that we are finishing it there, because that has been one of the most successful races in all of auto racing, and of course, you’ve got a huge fan support there, and you know, of course to win there would be so nice, because obviously since dad never won it, you know, it would be great to win there from that perspective.
But also just to say I’ve won a Champ Car race. You know, I think that it’s one of those things I don’t know if it would be another record of youngest ever winner in a Champ Car event, but I think we finished that one off last weekend. It would just be it would be great to go and do it again. Of course, like I said, points in mind here, that’s the maximum points, so of course it would be great for us
Question: How much of an adjustment is it, or is it much at all; you’re just kind of getting the hang of the IRL car and now you go back to the Panoz for a race, is that going to take a while to adjust or are they so much the same that it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other?
GRAHAM RAHAL: Well, I think they are pretty similar actually. Of course, every little car has got its own little features that are different from one another, but a good car is a good car, and I think we found that at St. Pete. When I was going quick, the car felt to me a lot like my good Champ Car would have in the past.
So, you know, I go out there and I’m just like I said, I’m trying to go and do my best, and I think that we’ve got a great base setup for these Champ Cars, and you know, I don’t know I don’t think it’s going to take too long to adjust really.
Question: You alluded earlier to the strengths of your car at Long Beach; what are they?
GRAHAM RAHAL: I think certainly over time when we were there last year, the car was pretty good from my memory banks. And I will say I am young and I have a tough time remembering what happened yesterday, so probably not saying too much.
I think the biggest thing is that over the last year of running the Champ Car, from the time that we were in Long Beach, you know, we had adjusted and changed the setup quite a bit from that point, and really developed the car into at end of the year, I think we were really a force in the series. Of course, Sebastien [Bourdais] was still winning a lot, and pretty much all the races, but we were much closer than at the start.
I think going back to Long Beach, the car ought to be even better than it was last year, and I ought to be a lot better than I was last year.
Obviously that was my first Champ Car race and we had some issues. We were running really well in the race there, we were running fourth and then we had fueling issues because of the fact the cars were so new.
So I think we ought to have a good shot this weekend.
