"Throwing money around like drunk sailors" - $80M-worth Bobby Rahal calls out IndyCar rivals for recklessly increasing costs

Over the past few years, the cost of running an IndyCar team has increased tremendously, and Bobby Rahal is critical of this trend. The 72-year-old has called out the newer teams in the league for "throwing money around like drunk sailors" for elevating the personnel costs within the racing sphere.

Three-time IndyCar champion and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing co-owner expressed his unhappiness with the current direction the racing sphere is headed. With the introduction of hybrid engines, the cost of operating a single charter has blown up, which has taken a toll on teams' budgets.

Moreover, the increase in operating costs has left a sour taste among team owners as Bobby Rahal revealed. The $80-million-worth team co-owner made a hilarious analogy with "drunk sailors" while referring to big giants within IndyCar and condemned their actions. He said (via RACER):

"Some people are just throwing money around like drunk sailors. Our personnel costs were up 25 percent, and that’s forgetting all the other stuff, the upgrades to the car and the hybrid unit. I really look back (on going hybrid), and did you really need to do that? Because it put a big demand on the teams, and maybe some were better able to support that than others, but I think everybody noticed the difference. I don’t mean on track; at your bank. It was expensive, but without question, personnel costs have gone up considerably in the last two, three years, because you have teams like Arrow McLaren, big money, right? Foyt, big money."

Meyer Shank Racing owner, Mike Shank, doubled down on Arrow McLaren's influence in the whole sage. He elaborated on how Zak Brown has played a major role in inflating the wages of the crew members in the IndyCar sphere and said:

"What’s really cost us is employees. Labor costs. These guys, like Zak at Arrow McLaren, Dan (Towriss at Andretti Global), they just drive the market crazy. We need a correction on salaries. The labor costs are out of control. And there’s a reason; they’re good people, and they just demand a lot of money. Zak, specifically, just throws a ton of money at people... He’s doing what he feels like he can do, which is throw a bunch of cash around to try to get people to help his program, which, okay, that’s fine. But the labor market is just brutal."

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will run three charters for the upcoming 2025 season.

---

Bobby Rahal revealed why he hired Louis Foster for the 2025 season

Bobby Rahal at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Qualifying - Source: Getty

Bobby Rahal's co-owned team will field Graham Rahal (his son), Devlin DeFrancesco, and Louis Foster. However, Foster appears as the anomaly as he will make his debut run this season.

Fielding a rookie is a big task for any team but Bobby Rahal has faith in the young British driver and he revealed why he took up Foster to run his third charter.

"Obviously Louis had a great year. He has won championships pretty much at every level, and the last couple years at least, there's no doubt that I think he's got what it takes... I was very impressed about his racing this year. He really doesn't seem to make mistakes. He can run quick pace lap after lap after lap without making those mistakes and seems to be smart behind the wheel. Particularly being smart behind the wheel, I think is so critical," Rahal said via Forbes.

The first race of the season will take place on March 2. St. Petersburg will host the season opener and Bobby Rahal will be hoping for the best result for his team at the venue, which they previously achieved in 2018 with Graham Rahal finishing second.