"Thermal Club's a killer": Graham Rahal shoots the truth about IndyCar's newest race

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Graham Rahal has shared his thoughts ahead of the upcoming Thermal Club Grand Prix weekend. The veteran IndyCar driver stated that he is wary of the challenges the 3.067-mile track will throw his way.

In line with this, Graham Rahal specifically mentioned that the Thermal Club Grand Prix will take a heavy toll on his body, especially the neck area.

"I feel like they are pretty different in many regards, what I need to be testing out is my neck. You know, thermal is a kill. I'm not worried about the rest of me, but thermal is a killer. It's got some high-speed corners, a lot of long-duration high-speed areas and you know, stuff like that," Rahal said via IndyCar's YT channel. (5:03 onwards).

Graham Rahal is coming into Round 2 of the ongoing 2025 IndyCar season on the back of a 12th-place finish at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He ended his 100-lap outing behind Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward.

Graham Rahal's take on his 2025 RLL Racing teammates

While Graham Rahal has asserted that the Thermal Club Grand Prix will take a heavy toll, especially on his neck, via the well-known Doug and Drivers show on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's YT Channel, he recently took the time to talk about his RLL Racing's 2025 teammates.

For the 2025 IndyCar season, Graham Rahal has Devlin DeFrancesco and the 2024 Indy NXt Champion, Louis Foster, as his teammates.

"You know, Dev, obviously I've known Dev for a long time. He's such a great kid, I think often misunderstood too, you know, people have this perception of Devlin that's actually quite wrong, who he is and things. I'm excited to help him take the next level in his career." Rahal said. (2:36 - 2:49)

While talking about Foster, Rahal added:

"Now Louie, you know, Louie obviously come out of Indy Lights, you win the championship, you dominate you know, that category. Louie, you know, hasn't asked much, hasn't said much yet, I'm sure he will with time." (3:08 - 3:20)

Graham Rahal is one of the most experienced drivers in IndyCar. He has been competing in the sport since 2008 and has so far amassed a whopping 278 race starts.

Moreover, he had a strong 2024 season for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team (given the outfit is a small team in comparison to the heavy hitters). The 36-year-old ended his 17-race campaign in 18th place with 251 points to his name, amassing five top-ten finishes.

While Rahal came 12th in the season-opening race of this year's IndyCar series, hhis teammates had a rough outing. While Deviln DeFrancesco finished 22nd, Louis Foster was unable to finish the race and came 27th.