Paddock Buzz: Improved Pit Performance Could Boost RLL on Sunday

Success in motorsports extends beyond the driver.

Time spent on pit road often determines race outcomes, especially in the Indianapolis 500, which features the most pit stops of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

That’s great news for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, which enters the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge with an improved pit stop program.

Graham Rahal’s No. 15 United Rentals pit crew (photo, top) climbed from ninth in last year’s Firestone Pit Performance Award standings to first this season. The crew delivered the second-best performance at Phoenix Raceway, the top performance at the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington and the third-best performance in the Sonsio Grand Prix on May 9 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Rahal starts 28th Sunday, so pit stops and strategy are expected to play a crucial role in his planned charge through the field.

He hoped to showcase his speedy crew in Friday’s Oscar Mayer Pit Stop Challenge, but the competition was canceled after five matchups because of rain.

Rahal was scheduled to face teammate Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) in the opening round while teammate Mick Schumacher (No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) was set to face fellow rookie Dennis Hauger (No. 19 Only Bulls Honda for Dale Coyne Racing) before deteriorating weather conditions prompted the first rainout since 2008.

The only other years the competition was not held were 2020 and 2021 because of the global pandemic.

Foster’s crew ranks ninth after finishing 23rd last season. The group ranked second in pit performance at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the March 29 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst.

RLL credited its pit road improvement to pit stop manager Kyle Sagan.

Sagan previously worked with Chip Ganassi Racing and contributed to Alex Palou’s 2023 championship effort. He then joined Arrow McLaren, where he helped improve the team’s pit stop performance during the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

“Kyle’s been phenomenal,” Rahal said. “His professionalism and focus on the details stand out. It’s about consistency. You don’t need to be a hero, but you don’t want to be a zero.”

Rahal said the attention to detail extends to every aspect of pit road performance, including pit-in speed, pit-out speed and stopping precision.

“We were doing it before, but now we’re focusing more on the details,” Rahal said. “All those things make a difference, and we’ve done a much better job of that.”

Practice Runs Full Distance

With rain threatening and Monday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice lasting only 1 hour, 18 minutes before rain ended the two-hour session early, many teams viewed Miller Lite Carb Day practice as critical to dialing in Race Day comfort.

Under cloudy skies and temperatures in the low 60s, all 33 drivers took to the famed 2.5-mile oval for two hours of preparation ahead of Sunday’s race (10 a.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

A total of 2,169 laps were completed during the two-hour session.

Josef Newgarden topped the speed charts at 228.342 mph in the No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden, who starts 23rd Sunday, also paced Monday’s abbreviated session before rain ended practice 42 minutes early.

Many drivers believed their cars were race-ready during last week’s cooler conditions, but Monday’s temperatures climbed into the low 80s, creating a hotter and slicker track surface that significantly altered handling characteristics.

That made Carb Day practice in cooler conditions essential for validating data and gathering additional information ahead of Sunday’s race.

Newgarden was among several drivers who parked their cars early after feeling satisfied with their setups.

Kyle Kirkwood shared similar confidence in his No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda. Kirkwood starts 25th and was seventh fastest Friday at 225.917.

“We feel really strong,” Kirkwood said. “Hopefully we create some excitement for you guys because we’re going to be able to pass some cars. We’re putting a bowtie on it and putting some bubble wrap around it and bringing it out on Race Day.”

Palou the Face of Indianapolis

Alex Palou is the face of the INDYCAR SERIES and became the face of Indianapolis.

The four-time series champion is featured on the ticket for Sunday’s race after winning last year’s Indianapolis 500. His 2025 winning car is on display in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum. A car featuring his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing livery from earning Sunday’s pole also is displayed in the Starting Line Experience exhibit.

Palou’s 2025 Indianapolis 500 victory image is also displayed on the JW Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis.

Fittingly, that is the same location where Palou met with Chip Ganassi in fall 2020 to sign a life-changing contract.

“We snuck off to a hotel room in the JW Marriott and sat down and talked about it together with Chip, and we chose him,” said Mike Hull, managing director of Chip Ganassi Racing. “I think it’s validated.”

Palou competed as an INDYCAR SERIES rookie in 2020 for Dale Coyne Racing. During that year’s Indianapolis 500, Palou started seventh and pitted two stalls behind Ganassi driver Scott Dixon.

Palou introduced himself to Ganassi that month, and his performance caught the team’s attention. When Felix Rosenqvist left the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda that fall for Arrow McLaren, the team found its replacement.

“I felt a lot of pressure,” Palou said about meeting Ganassi. “He's one of those team owners that you see on TV and he kind of has a big character, so I felt very small. I just didn't want to say something that was not appropriate. But I just said that I was Alex Palou, that I was an INDYCAR driver and that I wanted to drive for Chip one day.”

Ninety starts, 22 wins, including last year’s “500,” and four championships later, the decision proved monumental.

Ferrucci Enters 100th Career Start

Santino Ferrucci enters Sunday’s race owning seven top-10 finishes in seven career “500” starts, including a career-best third-place result in 2023 during his first season with AJ Foyt Racing.

Sunday also marks Ferrucci’s 100th career INDYCAR SERIES start, giving the 26-year-old an opportunity to pair the milestone with his first career victory. He starts fifth in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.

Ferrucci (photo, above) said his approach at Indianapolis always has centered on patience and avoiding mistakes early in the 500-mile race.

“Treat it like any other race,” Ferrucci said. “As long as you stay in and keep your nose clean for the first 120, 150 laps, you’re going to be there in the end.”

That strategy has consistently paid off.

A victory Sunday also would end AJ Foyt Racing’s 13-year winless streak in INDYCAR competition. The team’s last victory came in 2013 at Long Beach with Takuma Sato.

If Ferrucci wins, he would become just the fourth driver since 1967 to earn his first INDYCAR victory in the Indianapolis 500, joining Arie Luyendyk (1990), Buddy Lazier (1996) and Alexander Rossi (2016). It also would rank as the fourth-latest first win in series history at 100 starts, trailing only Michel Jourdain Jr. (129 starts), George Snider (126 starts) and Ed Carpenter (113 starts).

Ferrucci said resisting the pressure surrounding Indianapolis has been key to his success at the speedway.

“People put so much pressure on a single day,” Ferrucci said. “When you do that to yourself, you just tend to make mistakes.”

Ferrucci believes Sunday could be his day to shine.

“Got all the top-10 stats,” Ferrucci said. “I need to win this damn race.”

Ericsson Has Plan To Win

There’s an alternate reality where Marcus Ericsson enters Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 as a three-time winner.

Ericsson captured the 2022 victory with Chip Ganassi Racing and came within one lap of repeating in 2023. A late caution created a one-lap shootout to the finish. Although Ericsson led at the white flag, Newgarden surged past on the final lap for the dramatic victory.

Last year brought even more heartbreak.

Ericsson was passed by Palou on Lap 187 while leading and initially finished second. However, he was relegated to 31st the following day after post-race inspection revealed technical violations.

“Probably tougher to finish second and be that close to winning and sort of kicking myself for not being able to win,” Ericsson said. “It was another gut punch the next day. Even finishing second – maybe the worst place to finish here – it’s still a great result for points and for the team. To get that taken away is really tough, and it kind of set the tone for the rest of the year.

“Unfortunately for us, we had a really tough second half of the season after that. It shows how much this race means for the drivers, the crews, the mechanics, everyone. The biggest thing for Sunday is bringing back that confidence and the level we showed last year.”

Ericsson sits 12th in points and earned his first career NTT P1 Award at the March 15 Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, along with three top-10 finishes through six starts in the No. 28 Phoenix Investors Honda for Andretti Global.

He starts 17th Sunday.

Artemis II Astronaut Visits IMS

Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, a member of the recent Artemis II crew that circled the moon, visited IMS on Friday as part of his role as an honored guest for race weekend.

Hansen visited the Chip Ganassi Racing garage and chatted with Palou (photo, above). He also sat on the team’s pit stand during final practice and wore a headset, talking with engineers.

Mission specialist Hansen was one of the four crew members aboard NASA’s historic Artemis II lunar flyby last month. The 10-day mission captivated the world, marking the first time in 54 years that humans have traveled within the vicinity of the moon.

Hansen will walk the red carpet on Race Day before watching the race.

Schumacher Adds Indy 500 Sponsor

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Friday that Würth Group will serve as the primary sponsor for Schumacher’s No. 47 Honda in Sunday’s race.

Schumacher, the son of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, earned Indianapolis 500 Fastest Rookie honors by posting a four-lap qualifying average of 229.450 mph, placing him 27th.

Odds and Ends

• “New York Dog” passed last year’s winner, “Slaw Dog,” on the backstretch during the final lap and narrowly edged “Chili Dog,” which also passed Slaw Dog on the final lap, to win the second running of the “Wienie 500,” a two-lap race featuring all six Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles (photo, above). The race aired on FOX after streaming on the app last year.

• For the third consecutive year, Indianapolis 500 winners gathered Friday morning for a group photo on the Yard of Bricks alongside the Borg-Warner Trophy (photo, above). Each of the 16 drivers wore the exclusive navy blue blazer reserved for “500” champions, similar to the green jacket awarded to winners of The Masters. The left breast of each blazer features the iconic “Wing and Wheel” logo while the lining inside each coat showcases photos from the driver’s Indianapolis 500 victory.

• OnlyBulls announced the launch of its “Last Row to Legend” Bitcoin Challenge, built around a historic milestone: No driver has won the Indianapolis 500 from the last row in the modern 33-car era. If a driver starting 31st (Sting Ray Robb), 32nd (Caio Collet) or 33rd (Jack Harvey) wins Sunday’s race, OnlyBulls will award one Bitcoin to the winning driver, one Bitcoin to a randomly selected OnlyBulls user and the equivalent of two additional Bitcoins distributed among eligible users with verified active accounts on Race Day, paid in either Bitcoin or BitcoinMAX tokens.

• Longtime motorsports media and publishing executive Paul Pfanner was honored with the 2026 Russo-Marvel Award for passion, dedication and commitment to motorsports.

• Veteran Indianapolis Motor Speedway and INDYCAR Director of Editorial Paul Kelly was honored with the 2026 Jim Chapman Award for excellence in motorsports public relations.

• Andy O’Gara won the Clint Brawner Award, named for legendary Indianapolis 500-winning chief mechanic Clint Brawner. O’Gara is Katherine Legge’s crew chief on the No. 11 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing. O’Gara is a veteran mechanic and the husband of former INDYCAR SERIES driver Sarah Fisher.

• A total of 3,331 practice laps – 8,327.5 miles, the approximate distance between San Francisco and Mumbai, India – were completed this month, with Christian Rasmussen’s speed of 232.255 in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet for ECR the fastest.

• Carson Hocevar, a Spire Motorsports driver in the NASCAR Cup Series, returned to IMS to attend Carb Day with Andretti Global. Spire and Andretti Global are owned by TWG Motorsports, so Hocevar spent the practice session in Will Power’s No. 26 TWG AI Honda pit stall. He also attended practice at the track last week with Andretti.