Graham Rahal to receive sportsmanship award - MotorSportsTalk

For successfully handling one of the tougher moments in his IZOD IndyCar Series career, Graham Rahal will receive the Texas Motor Speedway Sportsmanship Award on Apr. 11 at the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame Gala.

Rahal was running up front with two laps remaining in last June’s Firestone 550 at TMS when handling issues on his No. 38 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda finally caused him to brush the wall coming out of Turn 4. Justin Wilson eventually chased down Rahal on the backstretch and went on to win for the first time in his career on an oval.

Had Rahal won, it would have been his first victory since his 2008 triumph in St. Petersburg, which was his first start ever in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Afterwards, however, Rahal stayed professional.

“It always will be one that got away from me until I win my next one,” said Rahal, who now runs with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. “Then I won’t think about it. There are a lot of cases where I look back and it’s frustrating that you didn’t get to see it through. This is certainly one of them.

“It would have been nice to win and get rid of all the questions of when I’ll win again, and all that sort of thing. But I think it adds fuel to the fire to come back here and do a good job this year.”

Rahal soldiered on to finish second at TMS, which was his best finish of the 2012 season. He left Ganassi to join RLL last November in a multi-year agreement.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”