"We’ve had a lot of near-misses, and that’s a major frustration": When Graham Rahal shared his raw emotions on disappointing winless streak

Driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team co-owned by his father, Graham Rahal ended the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with his lowest championship finish in a decade (18th place). The 36-year-old driver is currently on a long winless streak, now standing at 126 races.

Rahal's last victory came in June 2017 at Belle Isle Park. At the end of the 2024 season, he opened up on his continued run of disappointment and said (via IndyCar):

"Frankly, when it takes that long to be in the position that I’m in without a win, the desire gets stronger and stronger. That also becomes an annoyance," Graham Rahal said.

Claiming how the slightest of hiccups can turn into big setbacks on race day, Rahal added:

"In racing, some people get all the luck, and some people get none. That’s a real thing... We’ve had a lot of near-misses, and that’s a major frustration when it continuously bounces the wrong direction."

Rahal’s INDYCAR journey began on a high note. At just 19 years old, he claimed a debut win in the 2008 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, becoming only the fourth driver in history to win their first race in the series. Since then, he has secured six victories and 29 podiums in nearly 300 race starts.

However, 2024 turned out to be a particularly dismal season for the Ohio-born driver, who could only manage a best starting grid position of P7 and a best finishing position of P8 throughout the season having secured two pole positions and a podium in the previous season (2023).

Despite his continued run of disappointing results, the 36-year-old looks forward to the 2025 season hoping to make a strong comeback.

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Graham Rahal remains optimistic about the team's performance in 2025

Graham Rahal entered the 2015 season with a similarly long winless streak (123) and went on to win two races, eventually finishing in fourth place in the standings. He would be hoping that history will repeat itself in 2025.

He also spoke about how the team has slowly been making incremental gains in performance and is going in the right direction.

"Things are getting better. People fail to remember that our team has taken a big step forward. They want to knock us and kick us when we’re down, but we never get the praise that we deserve when you look at how much better we have gotten in many regards," Rahal said.

Graham's father, Bobby Rahal, a former Indy 500 winner and the team's co-owner also shared similar sentiments about the team's progression.

"We're continuing to invest in our performance with our R&D group... I think we've got some good feel for where we need to be," Bobby said.

The 72-year-old went on to explain how they have been performing well on the road and street courses but still need to find a bit more performance on the ovals, which could be the key to getting Graham Rahal back to winning ways.