When Graham Rahal looked back on “a year of tremendous potential” 

IndyCar legend Graham Rahal has been plying his trade in the sport since 2008. He has so far managed over 270 appearances, and in line with this, back in 2017, he took the time to shed light on his impressive 2016 campaign with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

That year, Graham Rahal ended the IndyCar season in fifth place in the drivers' championship. Moreover, he missed out on the fourth place by just 18 points against Josef Newgarden (two-time world champion).

Ahead of the 2017 season, he looked back on his previous year's heroics and added the following:

"I thought 2016 was a year of tremendous potential. The potential really that we did tap into, if you look at our qualifying performance, was pretty solid everywhere compared to 2015, where our qualifying was certainly weak. But 2016 we were in the ballpark a lot. We were in the (Firestone) Fast Six a lot. I want to say every single road course we were, other than Watkins Glen, where we got the penalty," Rahal said via IndyCar.

In 2016, Graham Rahal amassed a solitary Grand Prix win alongside eight top-fives and eight top-ten finishes. Moreover, his overall tally stood at 484 points in comparison to the championship winner, Simon Pagenaud (659).

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Graham Rahal insisted on maintaining a certain 'performance level' in 2017

Graham Rahal stands on the grid during Carb day for the 101st Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 26, 2017 - Source: Getty

While Graham Rahal talked in detail about his impressive 2016 IndyCar season in February 2017, via the same interaction, he also looked ahead to the upcoming campaign that year.

In line with this, the 36-year-old back then emphasized maintaining a certain level of performance throughout the season.

"Lots of potential and we just have to find going forward a way to keep that performance level, enhance it a little bit. Obviously the cars aren't really going to change at all. We'll see what Firestone brings on the tire front and what we have to adjust to there, but hopefully we can keep the speed (in) the car," Rahal via the aformentioned source.

In the 2017 season, Graham Rahal ended his campaign in sixth place in the standings, but despite this, he was able to put on board two victories in comparison to his solitary win in 2016.

Moreover, alongside this, the 36-year-old was able to secure one pole position, six top-fives, and 12 top-ten finishes. His overall points tally stood at 522 as he finished sixth.

2016 and 2017 were strong years for Rahal in IndyCar, but in recent times, things have been tough for him. In 2023, he ended his campaign in 15th place, whereas last year, he slipped to P18 in the standings.

The ongoing 2025 season is two rounds down, and Rahal currently finds himself in 11th place in the standings.