# Bobby Rahal

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.
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

   And 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 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. 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.

## IndyCar owner

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. 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

In 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. 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. 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.

## Awards

* International Motorsports Hall of Fame (2004)
* Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (2004)
* SCCA Hall of Fame (2013)
* Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame (2014)
* Simeone Foundation Spirit of Competition Award (2014)

## Tribute

At WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the back straight leading up to the corkscrew was named the "Rahal Straight" in his honor.

## Personal life

He is the son of Barbara and Michael Rahal (1924-2017) who raced autos for over two decades. His father is of Lebanese descent and his mother is of English descent. His father owned a wholesale food distribution business. 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, where his father also graduated.
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.
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
### SCCA National Championship Runoffs

| 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

(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 |
| 1978 | Walter Wolf Racing | Wolf WR1 | Ford Cosworth 3.0 V8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | CAN Ret | NC | 0 |

### Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(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

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

#### PPG Indy Car Series

PPG Indy Car Series results :
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points |
| 1982 | Truesports Co. | March 82C | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX 18 | ATL | MIL 20 | CLE 1 | MCH 3 | MIL 2 | POC 3 | RIV 15 | ROA 3 | MCH 1 | PHX 5 | | | | | | | | | 2nd | 242 |
| 1983 | Truesports Co. | March 83C | Cosworth DFX V8t | ATL 21 | INDY 20 | MIL 6 | CLE 19 | MCH 5 | ROA 10 | POC 5 | RIV 1 | | MCH 2 | | | PHX DNS | | | | | | | 5th | 94 |
| 1983 | Truesports Co. | March 83C | Chevrolet V8 | | | | | | | | | MDO 3 | | CPL 9 | LAG 7 | | | | | | | | 5th | 94 |
| 1984 | Truesports Co. | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 14 | PHX 7 | INDY 7 | MIL 14 | POR 14 | MEA 11 | CLE 14 | MCH 18 | ROA 2 | POC 3 | MDO 2 | SAN 2 | MCH 5 | PHX 1 | LAG 1 | CPL 7 | | | | 3rd | 137 |
| 1985 | Truesports Co. | March 85C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 27 | INDY 27 | MIL 9 | POR 20 | MEA 25 | CLE 28 | MCH 6 | ROA 4 | POC 4 | MDO 1 | SAN 10 | MCH 1 | LAG 1 | PHX 6 | MIA 2 | | | | | 3rd | 133 |
| 1986 | Truesports Co. | March 86C | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX 16 | LBH 18 | INDY 1 | MIL 6 | POR 20 | MEA 3 | CLE 15 | TOR 1 | MCH 10 | POC 14 | MDO 1 | SAN 1 | MCH 1 | ROA 5 | LAG 1 | PHX 3 | MIA 8 | | | 1st | 179 |
| 1987 | Truesports Co. | Lola T87/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 24 | PHX 2 | INDY 26 | MIL 2 | POR 1 | MEA 1 | CLE 2 | TOR 3 | MCH 3 | POC 5 | ROA 23 | MDO 2 | NAZ 2 | LAG 1 | MIA 7 | | | | | 1st | 188 |
| 1988 | Truesports Co. | Lola T88/00 | Judd AV V8t | PHX 16 | LBH 2 | INDY 5 | MIL 6 | POR 12 | CLE 2 | TOR 5 | MEA 5 | MCH 2 | POC 1 | MDO 18 | ROA 2 | NAZ 12 | LAG 4 | MIA 18 | | | | | 3rd | 136 |
| 1989 | Kraco Racing | Lola T89/00 | Cosworth DFS V8t | PHX 18 | LBH 4 | INDY 26 | MIL 13 | DET 18 | POR 2 | CLE 3 | MEA 1 | TOR 19 | MCH 9 | POC 6 | MDO 22 | ROA 28 | NAZ 7 | LAG 6 | | | | | 9th | 88 |
| 1990 | Galles-Kraco Racing | Lola T90/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | PHX 2 | LBH 12 | INDY 2 | MIL 4 | DET 2 | POR 11 | CLE 2 | MEA 25 | TOR 22 | MCH 2 | DEN 3 | VAN 8 | MDO 6 | ROA 7 | NAZ 3 | LAG 5 | | | | 4th | 153 |
| 1991 | Galles-Kraco Racing | Lola T91/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | SRF 2 | LBH 2 | PHX 2 | INDY 19 | MIL 4 | DET 2 | POR 3 | CLE 3 | MEA 1 | TOR 3 | MCH 11 | DEN 20 | VAN 2 | MDO 3 | ROA 4 | NAZ 2 | LAG 24 | | | 2nd | 200 |
| 1992 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola T92/00 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | SRF 3 | PHX 1 | LBH 2 | INDY 6 | DET 1 | POR 14 | MIL 2 | NHA 1 | TOR 2 | MCH 11 | CLE 4 | ROA 3 | VAN 22 | MDO 24 | NAZ 1 | LAG 3 | | | | 1st | 196 |
| 1993 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Rahal-Hogan RH-001 | Chevrolet 265C V8t | SRF 6 | PHX 22 | LBH 2 | INDY DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4th | 133 |
| 1993 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola T93/00 | Chevrolet 265C V8t | | | | | MIL 4 | DET 5 | POR 4 | CLE 28 | TOR 4 | MCH 9 | NHA 7 | ROA 3 | VAN 2 | MDO 6 | NAZ 6 | LAG 7 | | | | 4th | 133 |
| 1994 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola T94/00 | Honda HRX V8t | SRF 26 | PHX 14 | LBH 30 | | MIL 7 | DET 6 | POR 12 | CLE 28 | TOR 2 | MCH 28 | MDO 27 | NHA 9 | VAN 7 | ROA 9 | NAZ 14 | LAG 29 | | | | 10th | 59 |
| 1994 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Penske PC-22 | Ilmor 265D V8t | | | | INDY 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10th | 59 |
| 1995 | Rahal-Hogan Racing | Lola T95/00 | Mercedes-Benz IC108B V8t | MIA 3 | SRF 2 | PHX 21 | LBH 21 | NAZ 6 | INDY 3 | MIL 13 | DET 24 | POR 3 | ROA 5 | TOR 2 | CLE 4 | MCH 8 | MDO 26 | NHA 10 | VAN 5 | LAG 7 | | | 3rd | 128 |
| 1996 | Team Rahal | Reynard 96i | Mercedes-Benz IC108C V8t | MIA 5 | RIO 6 | SRF 20 | LBH 14 | NAZ 6 | 500 19 | MIL 7 | DET 21 | POR 6 | CLE 15 | TOR 3 | MCH 24 | MDO 5 | ROA 2 | VAN 2 | LAG 7 | | | | 7th | 102 |
| 1997 | Team Rahal | Reynard 97i | Ford XD V8t | MIA 16 | SRF 10 | LBH 10 | NAZ 6 | RIO 10 | GAT 20 | MIL 11 | DET 9 | POR 24 | CLE 5 | TOR 9 | MCH 17 | MDO 3 | ROA 6 | VAN 24 | LAG 19 | FON 5 | | | 12th | 70 |
| 1998 | Team Rahal | Reynard 98i | Ford XD V8t | MIA 19 | MOT 17 | LBH 17 | NAZ 6 | RIO 8 | GAT 8 | MIL 5 | DET 11 | POR 6 | CLE 8 | TOR 4 | MCH 7 | MDO 3 | ROA 8 | VAN 25 | LAG 16 | HOU 23 | SRF 25 | FON 11 | 10th | 82 |

#### Indianapolis 500 results

| 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 | Failed to Qualify | Rahal/Hogan |
| 1994 | Penske | Ilmor | 28th | 3rd | Rahal/Hogan |
| 1995 | Lola | Ilmor-Mercedes | 21st | 3rd | Rahal/Hogan |

### NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

#### Winston Cup Series

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 | |

### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| 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 |