Bobby Rahal reunites with sponsor from 26 years ago in new multi-year deal - MotorSportsTalk

Young race car drivers, take note: never burn bridges with former sponsors. You never know when you may team back up with them again.

Bobby Rahal is the perfect example. Back in 1992, when he earned his third IndyCar championship, Rahal was sponsored by Total S.A., one of the largest oil and lubricant companies in the world.

Fast forward 26 years and Rahal and Total are once again partners, as it was announced Wednesday that the company’s TOTAL QUARTZ brand will become the official lubricant for the No. 15 Indy car that will be driven by Graham Rahal in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series.

In what is being termed a multi-year deal, TOTAL QUARTZ will serve as an associate sponsor on Graham Rahal’s car for the entire season, and will also serve as primary sponsor for April 15th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“I am very pleased to welcome Total back to the team after many years,” said Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, with David Letterman and Mike Lanigan. “Reuniting with a world class company like Total, that is not only the fourth largest oil and gas company in the world, but one that also has a long and successful history in motorsports globally, is very exciting.

“Renewing the relationship with them after having been together for my championship year in 1992 is a real thrill for me personally given our success. It is an exciting time for the company as they expand in North America. We look forward to helping spread the word and flying the Total colors at Long Beach as the primary sponsor and seeing them on our cars as an associate sponsor for many years to come.”

Total is a major player in motorsports, including partnerships in Formula 1, 24 Hours of Le Mans, World Rally Championship, and Dakar Rally, among others. It’s also the official lubricant partner of Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and also the Red Bowl Global Rallycross series.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan was looking for additional sponsorship for this season for his son’s car, while Total was looking to partner with an IndyCar team. Because of Bobby Rahal’s relationship, once both sides started talking, it was a quick route to sealing a new deal.

“We looked to them, they looked to us,” Bobby Rahal said. “Consequently, the conversation was very lively, very passionate.

“Clearly having had a previous relationship didn’t hurt, that we had so much success before. I think clearly the success of the team over the last several years was a draw.

“Total has a great reputation in motorsports in particular, many Formula One championships, World Rally championships, Le Mans victories.

“For us Total represented in particular the potential of a real technical advantage that we might be able to fashion with them in terms of lubricants and what have you. It just seemed like a good fit as we approached it from both ends.”

INDIANAPOLIS — The first Indy 500 victory for Josef Newgarden also was the richest in race history from a record 2023 purse of just more than $17 million.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who continued his celebration Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway earned $3.666 million for winning the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The purse and winner’s share both are the largest in the history of the Indianapolis 500.

It’s the second consecutive year that the Indy 500 purse set a record after the 2022 Indy 500 became the first to crack the $16 million mark (nearly doubling the 2021 purse that offered a purse of $8,854,565 after a crowd limited to 135,000 because of the COVID-19 pandemic).

The average payout for IndyCar drivers was $500,600 (exceeding last year’s average of $485,000).

Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske, whose team also fields Newgarden’s No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, had made raising purses a priority since buying the track in 2020. But Penske but was unable to post big money purses until the race returned to full capacity grandstands last year.

The largest Indy 500 purse before this year was $14.4 million for the 2008 Indy 500 won by Scott Dixon (whose share was $2,988,065). Ericsson’s haul made him the second Indy 500 winner to top $3 million (2009 winner Helio Castroneves won $3,048,005.

Runner-up Marcus Ericsson won $1.043 million after falling short by 0.0974 seconds in the fourth-closest finish in Indy 500 history.

The 107th Indy 500 drew a crowd of at least 330,000 that was the largest since the sellout for the 100th running in 2016, and the second-largest in more than two decades, according to track officials.

“This is the greatest race in the world, and it was an especially monumental Month of May featuring packed grandstands and intense on-track action,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said in a release. “Now, we have the best end card possible for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500: a record-breaking purse for the history books.”

Benjamin Pedersen was named the Indy 500 rookie of the year, earning a $50,000 bonus.

The race’s purse is determined through contingency and special awards from IMS and IndyCar. The awards were presented Monday night in the annual Indy 500 Victory Celebration at the JW Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The payouts for the 107th Indy 500:

1. Josef Newgarden, $3,666,000
2. Marcus Ericsson, $1,043,000
3. Santino Ferrucci, $481,800
4. Alex Palou, $801,500
5. Alexander Rossi, $574,000
6. Scott Dixon, $582,000
7. Takuma Sato, $217,300
8. Conor Daly, $512,000
9. Colton Herta, $506,500
10. Rinus VeeKay, $556,500
11. Ryan Hunter‐Reay, $145,500
12. Callum Ilott, $495,500
13. Devlin DeFrancesco, $482,000
14. Scott McLaughlin, $485,000
15. Helio Castroneves, $481,500
16. Tony Kanaan, $105,000
17. Marco Andretti, $102,000
18. Jack Harvey, $472,000
19. Christian Lundgaard, $467,500
20. Ed Carpenter, $102,000
21. Benjamin Pedersen (R), $215,300
22. Graham Rahal, $565,500*
23. Will Power, $488,000
24. Pato O’Ward, $516,500
25. Simon Pagenaud, $465,500
26. Agustín Canapino (R), $156,300
27. Felix Rosenqvist, $278,300
28. Kyle Kirkwood, $465,500
29. David Malukas, $462,000
30. Romain Grosjean, $462,000
31. Sting Ray Robb (R), $463,000
32. RC Enerson (R), $103,000
33. Katherine Legge, $102,000

*–Broken down between two teams, $460,000 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, $105,500 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports