RLL successfully punks the racing world with “Bobby Rahal returning” PR

By Apr 1, 2014, 11:45 AM EDT
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Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has been in the news a lot this year, primarily due to its new commercial partner of the National Guard, and new (old) second driver Oriol Servia on a part-time basis along with Graham Rahal.

Then they had a transporter fire on the way to St. Petersburg for the Verizon IndyCar Series season opener, needed to turn around and head back for a new one, and Graham Rahal successfully threw down in practice on Friday. He ended 14th in the race, which was an unrepresentative result given a monster start from 21st up to 10th.

And then today happened… and the racing world got Rahal-Rolled.

From a team press release:

Although the 1998 season was billed as “Rahal’s Last Ride,” 1986 Indi­anapolis 500 winner and three-time Indy car cham­pion Bobby Rahal has decided to come out of retire­ment to partic­i­pate in the 98th running of the Indi­anapolis 500. Details of the spon­sor­ship for the No. 61 entry, to be fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, will be unveiled in the near future.

Funny, but it ain’t happening. It was just an April Fools’ joke.

That’s not to say people weren’t tweeting about it when it happened, including former INDYCAR CEO Randy Bernard. Here are some tweets that came in after that announcement.

This from Rahal’s former competitor and another team owner, Jimmy Vasser.

This was Porsche factory sports car driver Patrick Long’s reaction.

Veteran race reporter John Kernan tweeted this out, and Florida-based reporter Brant James said he read through most of the press release.

Fans wanted in, too.

Even Graham Rahal tweeted about it… before giving away the joke at the end with a smiley face.

As it is, the number, 61, is Bobby Rahal’s age. He hasn’t raced in North American open-wheel racing since 1998 and his last Indianapolis 500 appearance was in 1995, when he finished third behind winner Jacques Villeneuve and Christian Fittipaldi. Villeneuve is making his return to the race for the first time in 19 years in a third Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry.

The team has stated it is unlikely to run a third car for the Indianapolis 500 anyway, and Honda can only likely accommodate one more engine lease anyway beyond its current number of 17 at the Indianapolis 500.

Anyway, that was your morning fun and games. Fun as it would be, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winning driver and 2004 winning owner has plenty on his plate with the RLL IndyCar and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship BMW programs, and other activities such as bobsled and the Road Racing Drivers’ Club.

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

By Mar 20, 2023, 5:05 PM EDT
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Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan
Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

Lawrence defends Deegan
A block pass by Haiden Deegan led to a series of events that eventually led to Jordon Smith failing to make the Main. – Feld Motor Sports

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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