A strategic charge from the back of the field culminated in heartbreak for Graham Rahal on the final lap at the XPEL Grand Prix, as he was forced off the track just two corners shy of the finish line.
The 37‑year‑old Ohio driver was on course for his fourth podium in seven races, battling for the checkered flag on the 4.014‑mile, 14‑turn course when a contact with Andretti Global’s Will Power sent him into the wall just two corners before the finish.
Starting 20th in his #15 Honda, Rahal leveraged strong pit work and precise strategy to navigate a 55‑lap race that saw five cautions. He methodically worked his way up to third place, setting up a final‑lap charge for the podium.
“…he ran into the back of my car; he wasn’t even next to me.” – Graham Rahal
Rahal’s hopes for a fourth podium in seven races were dashed at Turn 12 when Power made contact from behind, sending him into the wall. Although Rahal’s day ended in the barriers just two turns before the flag, Power held on to secure the final podium spot.
After the race, a frustrated Rahal praised his team’s effort but had little patience for the incident.
“Our position was all thanks to the pit crew and the team again,” Rahal said. “The guys did a wonderful job in the pits. My last in‑lap was a really good in‑lap and that helped us get some gap on a lot of guys like Power, (Alexander) Rossi and those guys. But I really just didn’t need the yellow at the end because our cars don’t fire off well on restarts and they definitely don’t when coming out of the pits.
“So, with Power, I fought the fight for about six or seven laps of him closing on me before the car kind of came to life a little bit more and we started to be able to pull away. So, that yellow with two laps to go, I really didn’t need to see for sure.
“Overall, it is what it is. It was just Power being Power. I had every right to move to the right at the end of the brake zone. People can say that I came back to the left, but he ran into the back of my car; he wasn’t even next to me.
“It’s frustrating to not be able to get the result that I felt like we deserved because Brian (Barnhart; strategist) did a great job and Yves (Touron; race engineer) did a wonderful job with the change that they made. Our race pace was significantly better than I think we expected it to be. And to not be able to see it through and have the result was quite frustrating.”