Robert Woodward Rahal (/ˈreɪhɔːl/ RAY-hawl; born January 10, 1953) is an American former auto racing driver and current team co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing along with Mike Lanigan of Mi-Jack Products and Television Host David Letterman. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the Indianapolis 500 in 2004 and 2020 as team owner for Buddy Rice and Takuma Sato, respectively.
| Bobby Rahal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rahal in 2021 | |||||||
| Born | Robert Woodward Rahal January 10, 1953 Medina, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| CART Championship Car (1986, 1987, 1992) Major victories 24 Hours of Daytona (1981) Indianapolis 500 (1986) 12 Hours of Sebring (1987) Pocono 500 (1988) | |||||||
| Champ Car career | |||||||
| 265 races run over 17 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 1st (1986, 1987, 1992) | ||||||
| First race | 1982 Kraco Car Stereo 150 (Phoenix) | ||||||
| Last race | 1998 Marlboro 500 (Fontana) | ||||||
| First win | 1982 Cleveland Grand Prix (Cleveland) | ||||||
| Last win | 1992 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix (Nazareth) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Formula One World Championship career | |||||||
| Nationality |  American | ||||||
| Active years | 1978 | ||||||
| Teams | Wolf | ||||||
| Entries | 2 | ||||||
| Championships | 0 | ||||||
| Wins | 0 | ||||||
| Podiums | 0 | ||||||
| Career points | 0 | ||||||
| Pole positions | 0 | ||||||
| Fastest laps | 0 | ||||||
| First entry | 1978 United States Grand Prix | ||||||
| Last entry | 1978 Canadian Grand Prix | ||||||
| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 91st (1984) | ||||||
| First race | 1984 Winston Western 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
| |||||||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |||||||
| Years | 1980, 1982 | ||||||
| Teams | Barbour, Garretson | ||||||
| Best finish | DNF (1980, 1982) | ||||||
| Class wins | 0 | ||||||
After retiring as a driver, Rahal held managerial positions with the Jaguar Formula 1 team and also was an interim president of the CART series. Rahal was also a sports car driver during the 1980s, and made one NASCAR start for the Wood Brothers.
Racing career
editAnd it was frigid. A very cold day, and the race long – long for me. The longest I'd done before that was a 100-mile Formula Atlantic race, and this was a 200-mile grand prix. I just wanted to get to the end and get to the next race. It was a workman-like debut.
Rahal, speaking about his Formula One debut at Watkins Glen[1]
Rahal began his career in SCCA feeder categories, eventually finishing second to Gilles Villeneuve in the 1977 Formula Atlantic championship. The following year, he competed in the 1978 New Zealand Grand Prix with Fred Opert Racing (Formula Pacific) and in European Formula Three with Wolf Racing. Near the end of the season, Rahal raced for the Wolf Formula 1 team in the 1978 United States Grand Prix and the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix.[1] The deal with Wolf did not continue into the 1979 season, as Wolf signed up James Hunt for the one and only car available. Rahal began the 1979 racing a Chevron in Formula Two, but returned to America mid-season and raced in the Can-Am series. During the next few seasons, he competed in various sports car events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the IMSA GT Championship.
In 1982, Rahal entered the CART Indy car series with the Truesports team, winning two races and finishing second in the championship behind Rick Mears. He continued racing for Truesports through the 1988 season, winning at least one race every year. In 1986, Rahal dramatically passed Kevin Cogan on a restart with two laps to go to win the Indianapolis 500, only days before his team owner, Jim Trueman died of cancer. Later that year, Rahal won his first CART championship, and successfully defended it the following year.
In 1988, Rahal won the last race the Truesports team ever won, the Quaker State 500 at Pocono, the first and only Indy car victory for the Judd engine.
During his CART career, Rahal also won races in IMSA and IROC. By 1989, Rahal had ended his occasional forays into sports car racing and focused solely on CART. He moved over to the Kraco race team, but this association produced only two wins over three seasons.
Rahal competed in one NASCAR race in his career. In November 1984 he drove the 7-11 sponsored Wood Brothers #21 Ford (substituting for Buddy Baker) to a 40th-place finish in the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Speedway, completing only 44 laps before breaking a rear end gear.[2]
IndyCar owner
edit
After losing the championship to Michael Andretti in 1991, Rahal (with partner Carl Hogan) acquired the assets to the former Pat Patrick Racing team, with Rahal becoming an owner-driver. The team was an immediate success in 1992, producing four wins for Rahal and his third CART championship, making him the last owner-driver to win the CART title, and the last driver to win a race with his own team until Adrian Fernandez did so in 2003. In 1993, Rahal attempted to develop his own Rahal-Hogan chassis, but reverted to the Lola chassis after failing to qualify for the 1993 Indianapolis 500. In 1994 the team brought the Honda engine into the CART series. Except for a second-place finish at Toronto, he and teammate Mike Groff struggled to show the full potential of an engine that would soon dominate the series. In 1995 at Long Beach Rahal became the 10th driver in Championship Car history (including AAA, USAC, and CART) to start 200 races in his career.[3] Despite no wins, Rahal finished a strong 3rd in the 1995 standings using the Mercedes engine.
Rahal continued as a racing driver until his retirement in 1998. Meanwhile, Hogan left to form his own team and talk show host David Letterman became a minority owner in 1996. The team became known as Team Rahal in 1996 and Rahal Letterman Racing in 2004, when Rahal switched from CART to the IRL full-time.
Other business roles
editIn 2000, Rahal joined the Jaguar Formula One team in a managerial capacity. During this time, Rahal attempted to hire championship-winning aerodynamicist Adrian Newey, briefly believing that the deal had been completed, but was unsuccessful. However, Rahal was fired after reportedly attempting to sell driver Eddie Irvine to rivals Jordan.[4] Ironically, the team fired Irvine little more than a year after firing Rahal, while Newey joined in 2006, a year after the team was sold to Red Bull.
Rahal was the interim President and CEO of CART for six months during the 2000 season.
His business interests include Bobby Rahal Automotive Group, a network of car dealerships in western and central Pennsylvania selling Acura, BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volvo.
In 2021, Rahal began to venture into race promoting with the help of former IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George.[5] Rahal's first move in race promotion was to return the popular Iowa Speedway round to IndyCar after it had been left off of the 2021 calendar. Rahal was able to recruit Iowa supermarket chain Hy-Vee as a sponsor and secured a multi year agreement between IndyCar and Iowa Speedway to run a double header event at the track starting in 2022.[6]
Awards
edit- International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2004)
- Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2004)[7]
- SCCA Hall of Fame (2013)[8]
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame (2014)
- Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award (2014)[9]
Tribute
editAt WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the back straight leading up to the corkscrew was named the "Rahal Straight" in his honor.
Personal life
editHe is the son of Barbara and Michael Rahal (1924-2017) who raced autos for over two decades.[10][11] His father is of Lebanese descent and his mother is of English descent.[12] His father owned a wholesale food distribution business.[10] Rahal was raised in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn and attended Glenbard West High School as class of 1971. Rahal is a graduate of Denison University,[12] where his father also graduated.[10]
Rahal formerly lived in New Albany, Ohio. He now lives in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. His son is Graham Rahal, who races in the IndyCar Series.[11]
Rahal owns a 1975 Lola T360 which he occasionally races at vintage racing events.
In 2023, Rahal had knee surgery which he is currently recovering from.
Motorsports career results
editSCCA National Championship Runoffs
edit| Year | Track | Car | Engine | Class | Finish | Start | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Road Atlanta | Lola T290 | Ford | B Sports Racing | 3 | 3 | Running |
| 1975 | Road Atlanta | March 75B | Ford | Formula B | 1 | 2 | Running |
| 1977 | Road Atlanta | March 75B | Ford | Formula B | 18 | 1 | Retired |
Complete Formula One World Championship results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position / Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Formula One results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978 | Walter Wolf Racing | Wolf WR5 | Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA 12 |
NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wolf WR1 | CAN Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Complete European Formula Two Championship results
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Formula Two results | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
| 1979 | Chevron Racing Team | Chevron B48 | Hart | SIL 4 |
HOC 7 |
THR 5 |
NÜR Ret |
VAL 4 |
MUG 6 |
PAU Ret |
HOC 6 |
ZAN Ret |
PER Ret |
MIS 7 |
DON | 11th | 10 |
American Open Wheel Racing
edit(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
PPG Indy Car Series
editIndianapolis 500 results
edit | Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | March | Cosworth | 17th | 11th | Truesports |
| 1983 | March | Cosworth | 6th | 20th | Truesports |
| 1984 | March | Cosworth | 18th | 7th | Truesports |
| 1985 | March | Cosworth | 3rd | 27th | Truesports |
| 1986 | March | Cosworth | 4th | 1st | Truesports |
| 1987 | Lola | Cosworth | 2nd | 26th | Truesports |
| 1988 | Lola | Judd | 19th | 5th | Truesports |
| 1989 | Lola | Cosworth | 7th | 26th | Kraco |
| 1990 | Lola | Chevrolet | 4th | 2nd | Galles/Kraco |
| 1991 | Lola | Chevrolet | 4th | 19th | Galles/Kraco |
| 1992 | Lola | Chevrolet | 10th | 6th | Rahal/Hogan |
| 1993 | Rahal | Chevrolet | Failed to Qualify | Rahal/Hogan | |
| 1994 | Penske | Ilmor | 28th | 3rd | Rahal/Hogan |
| 1995 | Lola | Ilmor-Mercedes | 21st | 3rd | Rahal/Hogan |
NASCAR
edit(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
edit| NASCAR Winston Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | NWCC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||
| 1984 | Wood Brothers Racing | 21 | Ford | DAY | RCH | CAR | ATL | BRI | NWS | DAR | MAR | TAL | NSV | DOV | CLT | RSD | POC | MCH | DAY | NSV | POC | TAL | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | CLT | NWS | CAR | ATL | RSD 40 |
91st | 43 | [30] | ||||||||
24 Hours of Le Mans results
edit| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Dick Barbour Racing
|
Bob Garretson Allan Moffat
|
Porsche 935 K3 | IMSA | 134 | DNF | DNF |
| 1982 | Garretson Developments
|
Skeeter McKitterick Jim Trueman
|
March 82G | C | 28 | DNF | DNF |
References
edit- ^ a b Pruett, Marshall (December 11, 2015). "Reflections: 1978 Formula 1 at Watkins Glen". racer.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
- ^ "1984 Winston Western 500". racing-reference.info. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ^ ChampCarStats.com
- ^ "Lauda Criticises Rahal over Irvine Offer to Jordan". Atlas F1. Autosport.com. August 28, 2001. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
- ^ Martin, Bruce (August 7, 2021). "George & Rahal Discuss Iowa Speedway". Speed Sport. Turn 3 media. Retrieved August 11, 2021.
- ^ IndyCar. "NTT INDYCAR SERIES RETURNS TO IOWA FOR 2022 DOUBLEHEADER". IndyCar.com. IndyCar Group. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
- ^ Bobby Rahal at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
- ^ Lewandowski, Dave (January 8, 2013). "Notes: Rahal among five elected to SCCA Hall". IndyCar. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal to receive Simeone Spirit of Competition Award/". www.hemmings.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
- ^ a b c Goldsborough, Bob (2017). "Amateur racer inspired Indy 500-winning son". The Chicago Tribune.
- ^ a b Cavin, Curt (August 20, 2012). "Family Playground: Mid-Ohio is home for the Rahals". Autoweek. 62 (17): 60–61.
- ^ a b Glick, Shav (April 13, 1988). "A New Driving Force : Bobby Rahal Switches to Judd Engine in Bid for Third Straight Indy Car Title". The Los Angeles Times.
Rahal, the son of an English mother and a Lebanese father, graduated from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, with a degree in history.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1983 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1987 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1988 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1996 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1997 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1998 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
- ^ "Bobby Rahal – 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
External links
edit- Rahal Letterman Racing website
- Rahal's automobile dealerships website
- The Greatest 33
- Bobby Rahal driver statistics at Racing-Reference