Last Chance Qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway prodcued a truly dramatic ending yesterday afternoon as one final attempt from Jack Harvey saw the Brit make the Indy 500 and bump out his teammate Graham Rahal in the process.
Immediately after their poor showing in Texas and at the Indy open test last month, it was clear it would not be easy for RLL in May. But the scale of their difficulties really showed over the weekend.
Three cars ultimately made the race with Katherine Legge in her off-one appearance impressing, Christian Lundgaard and Jack Harvey. However, they start P30, P31 and P33 on Sunday in a 33-car field.
Speaking afterwards, Bobby Rahal was extremely gracious for the job Dale Coyne Racing did to get Sting Ray Robb in the race, and he was pleased for his own drivers Harvey and Lundgaard.
“I’m glad for Jack, glad for his guys. All kudos to Sting Ray [Robb’s] guys — they got it together today and had a good time. Of course really happy Christian is in.”
Harvey departed Meyer Shank Racing at the conclusion of the 2021 season to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan for 2022.
It’s not been an easy spell with his current employers to date. A P10 finish at Nashville last year is the best result Harvey’s had in his time with the team.
The 30-year-old had qualified P4 for the Indy GP nine days ago, but he could only manage 20th in the race.
Rahal hopes this gives the Brit a confidence boost he desperately needs.
“Jack hasn’t had many things to cheer about this year or last for that matter. You know I’m really happy for Jack, I really am. This might be the one thing for him mentally that gets him going again.”
On the other side of the coin, Bobby Rahal saw his son get bumped. Understandably he felt bad for Graham, but he was fully aware that a lack of car pace across all four machines was the key reason why the 34-year-old won’t be taking the start this Sunday.
“I feel bad for him, but I feel worse for the cars we gave our drivers. We have got to get our act in order.
“We weren’t fast enough and that’s what racing is all about, being fast enough.
“I’m sure Graham will stay and be a teammate the whole of next week.”
Bobby Rahal also experienced the pain his son feels right now back in 1993. As the defending champion of the series heading into the event 30 years ago, it was absolutely enormous that he got bumped out and missed one of the biggest races in Motorsport.
He gave a brief summary when asked about it.
“It hurts, believe me, it hurts. We’ll get better by this. That’s the only thing you can do.”
Photo credit: Penske Entertainment | James Black
