The month of May is now a distant memory in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan camp. Graham Rahal took his second pole of the season today at Portland International Raceway. After six years without a pole, Rahal now has earned two in three races.. The team’s 2023 season resume now reads 4 poles and one win. Christian Lundgaard won at toronrto and also has two p[ole positions. Except for the Indianapolis 500, the team has had a solid year.

The decision to stay on primary tires stemmed from the team having an extra set of sticker black tires. The team did not feel the red tires were much faster.

The resurgence of this team since May has been amazing to watch. Turning a team around mid-season is a Herculean task Just one goal remains for Rahal- to win tomorrow’s 110 lap race. It’s nice to have five truly competitive teams in the series.

Rahal elected to stay on primary tires for the entire Fast Six round.. His best lap of 58.3185 beat pole favorite Scott McLaughlin by 0.0340 seconds.

The expected Team Penske dominance of qualifying never occurred. Josef Newgarden crashed into the tire barrier in turn 12 less than three minutes into Round 2. Will Power missed the cut to the final round by 0.0531 seconds. Rahal grabbed the final spot in the Fast Six.

Newgarden starts 12th and Power rolls off seventh tomorrow.

Unofficial Lineup