Graham Rahal raced with '16%' less pace per lap after unusual issue at Long Beach GP

Graham Rahal went into IndyCar's Long Beach Grand Prix weekend hoping to win the race for his wife, Courtney Force. However, Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood won the race while he finished towards the rear end of the 27-car grid after suffering an unusual fueling issue on his No. 15 Honda.

Rahal's qualifying performance was commendable as he continued the streak of improving his starting position - from P21 in St. Petersburg to P18 in Thermal to P16 in Long Beach. However, for the first time in three races, the IndyCar veteran did not gain any positions on the track. Instead, he finished six positions down in P22.

After the race, Graham Rahal revealed the reason for his dismal performance. This was because during his second pit stop of three, the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing squad filled his fuel tank four gallons short because of a false reading, as he explained in an X post.

"Unfortunately, we had some fueling issues with a false vent that short-filled the car by 4 gallons and sent us into a massive fuel save from the second stop on. Killed our momentum, but the cars got pace and we’ll keep digging. See you in Barber!" he wrote.

In a statement on RLL's website, Graham Rahal revealed how he had to operate at a 16% lesser pace after the second pit stop to avoid running out of fuel. His rookie teammate, Louis Foster was the team's best performer, finishing in P16 while RLL's third driver, Devlin DeFrancesco, could only manage a P24 result.

Rahal not winning the 50th edition of the Long Beach Grand Prix meant that his family remained winless at the iconic street circuit. Retired racer, Bobby Rahal, also the father of Rahal, had finished second at Long Beach four times in the past, but never won the Grand Prix.

Graham Rahal promises a comeback with RLL at the upcoming Grand Prix of Alabama

Graham Rahal drives his No. 15 Honda at IndyCar's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

IndyCar's fourth race weekend of 2025 is the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Parl from May 2nd to 4th. After an underwhelming result at the Long Beach Grand Prix, Graham Rahal sent a strong message of intent for the next race.

He said in a statement on Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's website:

"We’re going to keep our heads down and keep working on every area. We’re disappointed, but we will be stronger in Barber and also look forward to going to the Indy Grand Prix, where we’ve been very strong."

Rahal has stood on the podium twice at Barber in 2015 and 2016. His performances at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the IMS road course, which is the fifth race of the season, have been even better. The RLL driver has finished in the Top 10 in nearly every attempt, including several podiums.

The Long Beach debacle has pushed him from 12th to 17th in the championship standings. Yet, he remains RLL's lead driver.