Graham Rahal is “excited across the board” about the 2026 IndyCar season as he aims for podium finishes.
He is entering his 13th full-time IndyCar season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and is ready to see the progress of the team’s new personnel. With Mick Schumacher entering RLL for his rookie season and Brian Barnhart coming in as Senior Vice President of Operations, the American hopes to see a better team than last year. Barnhart was previously at Arrow McLaren and a key player on Christian Lundgaard’s car.
Rahal vying for a podium
The 37-year-old hopes to fight for podiums in 2026. In 2025, Rahal had only had 3 Top 10 finishes in his No. 15 car. However, with personnel changes within RLL, he hopes the mistakes made last season will not happen again.
When asked during IndyCar’s media days about what a successful season looks like, Rahal answered to Pit Debrief and other media outlets, “I mean, we got to get back on the podium. Obviously want to go win races, but let’s walk before we run. We had a lot of top 10s, finished almost every lap last year, bar a couple. Finished every race, but a couple laps down in Milwaukee, Nashville.”
The 6-time IndyCar race winner hopes to utilise every moment on track to achieve a podium finish in 2026. Rahal recounted last year’s Detroit GP, where he was favored to perform. However, a “wheel nut issue” costed the American a satisfying finish. Rahal hopes that these incidents.
“For me, I think that’s the single most critical thing, get back on a podium, get a lot more top fives, maximise every opportunity. If you look at Detroit last year, we’re in the catbird seat or looking really good. Rasmussen it was I think and me, maybe Rossi and me. Rasmussen and me. We have a wheel nut issue.
“Those sorts of things took us from being in contention to laps down or certainly at the back, and we can’t have those things. As a team, we need to make sure that we don’t have those missteps. I feel confident that we won’t.” Rahal continued, “I feel like we’ve got a great group of guys and gals on my team, a great group across the board on all three of our cars.”
Positive changes at RLL for IndyCar’s 2026 season
Rahal hopes Barnhart’s appointment will clean up the team for the 2026 IndyCar season. With Barnhart’s long career in IndyCar, as a former IndyCar Series President, RLL has a great resource in their back pocket to perform better in 2026.
“I think having Brian Barnhart is a huge part of that. We’ve always been very close, but fundamentally he’s an asset that shouldn’t be underutilised as we look at this year. He’ll be on my stand, too. I think strategy-wise we’ll see a good step forward.”
The American is excited to show RLL’s improvements on track sharing, “I’m excited across the board. I think we got a good opportunity to surprise some people this year, for sure.”
Barnhart improving RLL before the start of the season
Before the season officially started, Rahal noted the great positive change Barnhart had made to the team. Rahal noted that RLL is even more prepared for the 2026 IndyCar with Barnhart’s leadership creating “stability” in the team.
“I think coaching. I think getting – sorry Christian [Lundgaard] – but getting Barnhart for us was a big deal because we struggled a little bit in that area.” Rahal continued, “I think we just needed a little bit of, I don’t know, operational fortitude. I don’t know what the right word is. We needed somebody up top to give a little bit more stability.
“Having said that, obviously we lost Derek Davidson who I had nothing but love for. He’s at Carpenter now. I still love Double D. Donnie Stewart left.
“Donnie and I were together from when I was 12 years old in go-kart. That’s quite an unusual thing. Wanted to move back to Ohio; he did that.“
Rahal noticed a more positive RLL team at the start of the season than in years past. With the new leadership from Barnhart and Jay Frye, who joined as RLL’s President in April 2025, Rahal and RLL are entering the 2026 IndyCar season with a great attitude and greater confidence.
“I will also say that the positivity that I see around our shop is at an all time high as of the last couple of weeks. I think are we perfect? No, we’re not perfect. This is what I remind guys every day. Every one of us can complain about something. We have to be grown men and women, figure out how to make this work and be as positive as we can. I’ve seen a lot of positivity. I think our players are always strong.” Rahal added, “I think we’ve always had good mechanics. I think Christian will say the same thing.
“Our guys at RLL have always been great guys, but we need a little more up top. With Jay at the top, that’s changed a lot. It’s gotten a hell of a lot better up top. Now the steps below or in sync. A lot of positives.”
