Graham Rahal claps back at 'uninspiring' criticism, defends IndyCar's on-track product at Thermal

Graham Rahal has expressed his disagreement with an IndyCar reporter calling the Thermal Club GP "uninspiring". The American predicted that the event at Thermal will likely have the most passes of any road course this year and claimed that some fans and viewers find ways to remain "negative".

Graham Rahal has been racing with Rahal Letterman Racing in IndyCar since 2013, a team partially owned by his father, Bobby Rahal. The 36-year-old finished the Thermal Club GP in 11th, marking a relatively decent result for his team.

After the race, Rahal clapped back at IndyCar journalist Nathan Brown on X, who shared his feelings that the Thermal Club GP was "uninspiring" and that the series should not even be racing at the venue in California.

Replying to this observation, Rahal blasted Brown, mentioning what he felt made the Thermal event good. He wrote:

"Uninspiring product…probably the most passes a RC will see this year, green flag, physical with awesome battles all the way, strategy up on the air, tire deg conducive to great wheel to wheel racing… some can’t be pleased and some can’t help but be negative."

Graham Rahal qualified 18th for the Thermal Club GP and was running in the top 10 until Scott Dixon passed him in the final stages of the race, leaving him in 11th.

Rahal first raced in IndyCar back in 2008 with what was then known as the Newman/Haas Racing team. Later, in 2011, he joined Chip Ganassi's roster for two years before joining the RLL Racing team in 2013.

Outside of IndyCar, he has also dabbled in other motorsports series, including endurance racing, and even won the 24 Hours of Daytona with Chip Ganassi in 2011.

---

Graham Rahal reflected on RLL Racing's competitiveness during the Barber test on March 11

Graham Rahal driving the #15 RLL Racing car at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Day 1 - Source: Getty

Graham Rahal shared that the RLL team's ambition is to be competitive and to be racing for victories and podiums, speaking during the Barber test. Eight teams conducted a private test at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 11.

Rahal explained how the team hopes to be competitive, especially at Barber, where they will be racing for Round 4 of the 2025 IndyCar season on May 4.

"As a team, we want to be competitive, we have been competitive, here at least, we know in years past. But it would be great to come back here with a chance to win," said Rahal. [via Indycar.com]

While Rahal finished the race at Thermal in 11th, his teammates had a poor outing, especially Devlin DeFrancesco. The American driver crashed into Scott McLaughlin on the formation lap and finished the race in 20th position. After the race, he even had a public altercation with the Kiwi driver, as both blamed each other for the incident.

Rookie Louis Foster endured yet another disappointing outing, as he finished 24th in the race. In his debut in IndyCar, the Briton had to retire on Lap 1 after getting caught up in the incident involving Scott Dixon and Nolan Siegel.