“I feel strongly about certain things”: Graham Rahal speaks candidly on his outspoken nature

Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing driver, Graham Rahal, has been plying his trade in IndyCar since 2008. He is one of the most experienced drivers on the current grid, and in line with this, he has taken the time to dwell on his outspoken nature in the sport.

Rahal recently made a special appearance on the SpeedFreaks YouTube show, where he was asked to talk about his 'speaking his mind' attitude. He said:

"Yeah, I think it's, look, obviously with social media, it has given a lot of people a voice who shouldn't have a voice, or don't know enough to have a voice. You know, but in my case, look, I feel strongly about certain things. I feel strongly about, you know, my sport. The time, the effort, the dedication that hundreds of people put in week in and week out, to make it possible," Rahal said. (00:50 onwards).

The 36-year-old has so far competed in over 270 races in the highest class of open-wheel racing in America. He has always been an aggressive racer, and this is one of the reasons why he has so far managed to amass six wins, 29 podiums and five pole positions. During the ongoing 2025 IndyCar season, he is also acting as the leader at RLL Racing with two relatively less-experienced drivers as his teammates.

---

Graham Rahal defends the 2025 Thermal Club race

While Graham Rahal has given his take on not backing down from stating his opinions, via the same show, he also took the time to defend the much-talked-about Thermal Club race weekend (Round 2).

The event was run in an exclusive format with limited capacity for the fans, and this is something that did not sit well with several people. With quite some time having passed since the event (March 21-23), Rahal has defended the event in a blunt fashion. He said via the aforementioned YouTube show (2:24 onwards):

"A lot of people didn't like Thermal as far the location, it felt like rich people only. Okay, well that's fine. There were tickets on sale and you know what, people they came and as far I knew, the ones I talked to, they loved it, they thought it was amazing."

The 2025 Thermal Club Grand Prix received mixed reactions from fans for the way it was organized, but amid all the noise, the 65-lap Grand Prix truly delivered. From start to finish, the race was packed with high-octane action.

Alex Palou triumphed in the event and Graham Rahal, on his end, also put in a strong outing to end his race in P11 behind Scott Dixon. Rahal is currently in 12th place in the standings and will be hoping to continue his strong form at the upcoming Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend.