Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has had to shift to a backup ahead of this weekend’s Verizon IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – backup transporter, that is.
A minor fire was discovered when the transporter was in Louisville, Ky., approximately two hours from the team’s Brownsburg, In. base.
Per the team, “It is believed that the fire originated in the engineering lounge where the damage was restricted. The exact cause is under investigation.”
But the quick work of transporter drivers Phil Davis and Paul Sheehan caught the fire before there was any major damage to either the No. 15 National Guard Honda driven by Graham Rahal, or any of the equipment.
The transporter returned to the race shop, with all equipment transferring into another transporter.
This is not the first transporter fire in recent memory, as this also happened to Ed Carpenter Racing last year. The team reached out to RLL via social media early Tuesday.
@stevewittich @RLLracing Hope everyone is okay. Tough way to start the 2014 season. Good luck to @RLLracing. We have been thru that before.
— Ed Carpenter Racing (@ECRIndy) March 25, 2014
@RLLracing Great to hear. Be safe.
— Ed Carpenter Racing (@ECRIndy) March 25, 2014