“We were in trouble”: When an emotional Graham Rahal opened up on his feelings after missing the 2023 Indy 500

Graham Rahal faced heartbreak after being knocked out from the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 during final qualifying on May 21, 2023. His teammate Jack Harvey’s late effort edged Rahal out of the race by a mere 0.007 mph, leaving the then 34-year-old driver stunned and emotional.

In the final qualifying session at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team found itself in a difficult position. All three of its full-time drivers: Graham Rahal, Christian Lundgaard and Jack Harvey were in the bottom four.

With no time left for another attempt, the Ohio-born driver could only watch his teammate’s final attempt from his car as his chance to compete in "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" slipped away.

"I knew from the start we were in trouble," an emotional Rahal told ESPN before walking away from the interview.

"This place, it doesn't come easy, and it doesn't just happen, and we weren't good enough. We were the slowest of our cars on pure pace all week. Unfortunately, that happens," he added.

While teammate Harvey was happy about making it onto the starting grid, he admitted that it was an awful feeling to see one of the RLL cars get knocked out.

"It's an amazing feeling and an awful feeling at the same time," Harvey was quoted by ESPN.

Coincidently, Bobby Rahal, father of Graham Rahal and a former winner of the prestigious Indy 500 event, also suffered a similar fate in the past.

---

Graham Rahal experienced the same misfortune his father suffered in 1993

The pain of being bumped from the Indianapolis 500 is one that Rahal's family knows all too well. In 1993, Graham's father faced a similar setback. Bobby Rahal was the defending IndyCar champion that season when he failed to qualify for the race, something that had never happened in the history of the sport.

Even before the final qualifying on Sunday, Bobby had been the slowest driver and needed a strong final attempt to make the grid. Despite his best efforts, his average speed of 216.342 mph fell short of the target average speed of 217.230 mph, leaving him outside the 33-car field.

"It’s not like golf, where if you’ve won (before), you get an exemption. There are no exemptions here. When I heard my time was 216 on the second time around, I was just glad they let me finish my four laps. It was disappointing, but what can you do?" Bobby Rahal was quoted by the Los Angeles Times.

Thirty years later, he had to go through the same nightmare again when Graham Rahal suffered the same fate at the Indianapolis Oval.