Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal in the No.15 Fifth Third Bank Honda says it’s always great to back on home soil as the Ohio native prepares for his home race the Mid-Ohio Sportscar course this weekend.
It’s always great to be home in Central Ohio. I think it’s been a great place for us over the years. If we look at our record, we have 10 top-10’s, six top-five’s, six of the last eight in the top-five, and of course a win there in 2015 and podium in ’17. We have very high hopes and expectations as we always do when we go back to Mid-Ohio. There are some things from Road America that I think will carry over, however we had a big test at Sebring before the race where we worked on developing a lot of the damper stuff and figure out where our weaknesses are and try to improve in that regard. Obviously at Road America we did not qualify well so we need to improve as best as we can and get the Fifth Third Bank car up front. I’d love to get a podium or a win there at home. Fourth of July weekend is a big weekend for everybody. We can’t wait to be back in Central Ohio.”
Christian Lundgaard in the No.30 Hendrickson Honda is hoping he can continue his strong road course momentum this weekend saying:
I’ve done some simulation work at Honda and at home in my own sim as well. The Mid-Ohio track itself is pretty cool. It’s a challenging road course and I know a lot of drivers like the track. It’s tough to overtake on and I’ve heard it’s my style so let’s crack on and get a good result there. We learned a lot of stuff in Road America and also learned a lot at our tests in Sebring and Iowa, so it was a productive break. I feel like we’re starting to solve a lot of our challenges or at least get a better understanding of them so we’re in a better position now going into Mid-Ohio and that’s positive. I’m looking forward to getting out on the road course. I’ve heard it’s pretty slippery in the wet and it looks like it’s going to rain for some of the weekend so it’s going to be a fun first time for me.”
Jack Harvey in the No.45 Hy-Vee Honda is looking forward to this weekend’s race saying:
I’m looking forward to Mid-Ohio. There is good energy heading there. I’ve got a lot of good memories at Mid-Ohio. I’ve always felt like I’ve had some good speed there but maybe not gotten the end result we want yet in INDYCAR. I got my first win in Indy Lights there so my first win in North America came at Mid-Ohio. Its always a track I personally enjoy driving at. Obviously, with it being Bobby and Graham’s home race, and one of the home races for the team, we’re all really hopeful we can have a great weekend. There is some good optimism heading into the weekend and hopefully we can get it done.”