McDONALD’S DRIVER RAHAL AND TEAMMATE SERVIA PLAN TO MAKE THE MOST OF THE FINAL ROAD RACE OF THE SEASON – THE INDY GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA

SONOMA, Calif. (August 20, 2009) --- The final stretch of the 2009 IndyCar Series season begins this weekend at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway in the heart of California’s wine country. Only four races remain this season – one on a road course and three on ovals -- and McDonald’s driver Graham Rahal and teammate Oriol Servia plan to make the most of the final road race of the season on the 12-turn, 2.303-mile picturesque Infineon Raceway road course.

“I am not going to lie; expectations are high for the race at Infineon Raceway,” said Servia, who returned to the team at the previous race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after earning a second place season-ending rank for them in 2005 as a replacement for the injured Bruno Junqueira. “Mid-Ohio was a great race that helped as a warm up for me after not being in the race car for a while. I feel that for this weekend we are much better prepared. It is hard to know exactly what to expect from us as we didn't come to test like other teams but there is no doubt we come much better prepared than the last race and I liked this track a lot last year so I wouldn't discount the possibility of having both team cars on the podium.”

“The McDonald’s team has been extremely competitive on all road courses this season, only missing the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying once,” added Rahal, of his pole in St. Pete and total of five top-six qualifying positions in six road/street course events. “I think we can continue this, but having missed the test there last week where most of the other teams ran, put us behind but my hopes, as well as the teams, stay high. We need to make every minute count in an already shortened weekend. It’s a tough circuit as is so that makes it difficult to be good there as well. We will have to push our hardest from the second practice begins to make sure we are competitive.”

The IndyCar Series will hold its fifth annual event at Infineon Raceway this weekend and it will be the second time for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing to compete here. In 2008, team driver Justin Wilson missed his first Firestone Fast Six of the season and started seventh, ran as high as fourth and finished ninth in a race that saw multiple pit strategies which limited his finishing position. Rahal started 15th and finished eighth.

“Last year I think we had a pretty normal race,” said Rahal. “We tried to stay out of trouble and the goal was to just make it to the end. We struggled throughout the weekend, so we knew if we just had a basic race with no issues then we would get a better result than our starting position. I think our experience will help us, but what will help us as well is having the experience of (race engineer) Martin (Pare) coming from another team and having a completely different opinion on setup.”

Like Pare, Servia will add another opinion on car setup for the 12-turn, multi-elevation road course after having started sixth last year for KV Racing Technologies. He ran well but finished a disappointing 15th due to running what ultimately turned out to be the wrong pit strategy like Wilson and a large portion of the field. He’s hoping to recreate one of his 2005 memories where he earned one win, one pole and a total of seven podium finishes in 14 races with the team.

“Last year at this race we probably had one of the best cars out there,” said Servia. “Unfortunately the final result didn't show it as we got caught in the wrong strategy but we definitely had to pace to win. It is my second race with the team this season but it also happens to be the last road course so basically it becomes the last chance to win a non-oval race this year. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has always been the most competitive at this type of track so we don't want to miss the opportunity to shine in what it is a more familiar terrain. Back in 2005 when I last raced for the team you could hardly get us off the podium so we don't expect any different from this weekend.”

Of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing’s 107 wins and 109 poles, 80 wins and 90 poles have come on road and street courses. Rahal is ranked eighth in series point standings with 289 and is only 32 back from fifth place ranked Danica Patrick, who has 321. He has set his goals for the remaining road course race at Sonoma and ovals in Chicago, Japan and Homestead and hopes to close on a top-five, season-ending rank as well as carry on the team’s tradition of earning at least one win per season, which has been accomplished all but one year prior to 2009.

“I would love to have another pole, and gain a win before the season is over,” said Rahal, who started from pole twice this season and has a highest finish of third on the oval in Richmond. “We have been close, and I don’t see why we can’t get another podium, and hopefully be good enough to capture my second career win for the team.”

Honda Performance Development has allotted 15 presses of the overtake assist button for 15 seconds each for the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma this weekend. The overtake assist option, instituted for the race at Kentucky Speedway earlier this month, provides a 5-20 horsepower boost based on fuel setting and 200 RPMs (for a total of 10,500) for each time the system is engaged. A button is on each steering wheel. There is a 10-second recharge period between presses.

“I think the push to pass is a great option that in one way or another will end up becoming normal in all types of racing,” said Servia of the feature. “It feels only natural, from the driver and spectator perspective. Many race arcade games have "nitro shots" or "super boost" to pass or to not be passed, and it becomes one more element for the drivers to play with and the fans to follow. It is my opinion though that we need a little more aggressive strategy with it than we have now. Honda does an outstanding job providing great powerful and reliable engines but I think that a bigger "kick" in the push to pass would just help them get more recognition, as they deserve.”

The 2009 IndyCar Series season continues Aug. 23 with the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway, Round 14 of 17. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at 5 p.m. (EDT) by VERSUS. A one-hour qualifying show will be telecast by VERSUS at 6 p.m. on Aug. 22. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast also will be carried on www.indycar.com.




GRAHAM RAHAL, driver of the #02 McDonald’s Dallara / Honda / Firestone:
AT SONOMA: Will be his second race here. He started 15th and finished 8th here last year. He started from pole on the streets of St. Pete and 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway oval this year.

2 POLES, 1 PODIUM SO FAR IN 2009 INDYCAR SEASON: Rahal ran the fastest lap times on Friday and Saturday on the streets of St. Pete to become the youngest pole winner in series history at 20 years, 90 days old. As the field entered the wide Turn 1 at the start of the race, second place starter Justin Wilson pulled slightly ahead on Rahal’s left while fifth place starter Dario Franchitti made a daring move on his right heading into the right hander. Rahal was not only squeezed in the process, he was hit from behind by Tony Kanaan which spun him sideways and into the grass. He dropped to the rear of the field but rebounded to finish seventh…Qualified seventh in Long Beach and pitted from second place but was waved out of the pits before the fuel nozzle was disengaged. Was ordered to let three cars pass as a penalty then was served another one when the officials deemed he didn’t do it quick enough although he only ran ½ lap before doing so. After a drive through penalty he could only recover enough to finish 12th…Won his first oval pole in Kansas and led eight laps, maintained a top-three position for the first half of the race and top-five second half before a caution came out when he was preparing the enter the pits. Had to get back on track and enter a closed pit for an extra stop the next time by for a splash of fuel before he came in again when the pits opened on the next lap and lost four spots. Dropped to 10th but finished seventh…Qualified fourth for his second Indy 500 but made contact after attempting to lap Duno and retired in 31st place after 56/200 laps…Qualified 2nd in Milwaukee and briefly took the lead at the start but dropped to third by the end of the lap and ultimately finished fourth, his highest finish on an oval…Qualified 12th and retired in 22nd in Texas. Struggled to control his race car in the opening laps and dropped from 12th to 18th on the first lap and continued to fall back before he lost control and made contact…Started ninth based on entrant points in Iowa after qualifying was canceled and ran as high as sixth but contact with Patrick forced an unscheduled stop which put him two laps down and he ultimately finished 11th…Qualified fifth at Watkins Glen but failed the post qualifying tech inspection for being a few pounds underweight. Penalized 10 positions and started 15th, ran as high as second on an alternate pit strategy but finished 13th…Started third in Toronto but was hit by second place started Will Power who squeezed him to the wall on the opening lap before T1. A forced stop to replace his front wing dropped him to the back but he charged through the field into seventh place but held his position behind Patrick but flat-spotted his tires which led to losing three positions before his next stop. Tried to pass the lapped car of Carpenter on the inside a right hander but the contact ended his race in 20th place…Started fifth and finished seventh at Edmonton…Started 10th based on entrant points in Kentucky due to “weepers” but hoped to qualify much higher based on winning pole at similar track (Kansas; previous 1.5 mile track). Finished fifth in what he called “his best car on an oval ever”…Started fourth at home race at Mid-Ohio and looked likely to finish fourth before an off-track excursion while fifth late in the race led to an eighth place finish…Is ranked 8th in series points with 289 (only 32 behind fifth place Patrick, 321).

YOUNGEST RACE & POLE WINNER IN SERIES HISTORY: Became the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history when he drove to victory in his series debut in St. Pete in 2008 at the age of 19 years and 93 days old. The previous mark was held by Marco Andretti who won at Infineon Raceway at 19 years, 167 days old. Rahal had only run 10 laps at testing speed in an ICS car on a road course (Sebring) due to a pre-race three hour test (4-1) being cancelled due to rain. One year later he became the youngest pole winner in series history at 20 years, 90 days old when he returned to St. Pete.

YOUNGEST RACE & POLE WINNER IN SERIES HISTORY: Became the youngest winner in IndyCar Series history when he drove to victory in his series debut in St. Pete in 2008 at the age of 19 years and 93 days old. The previous mark was held by Marco Andretti who won at Infineon Raceway at 19 years, 167 days old. Rahal had only run 10 laps at testing speed in an ICS car on a road course (Sebring) due to a pre-race three hour test (4-1) being cancelled due to rain. One year later he became the youngest pole winner in series history at 20 years, 90 days old when he returned to St. Pete. He also became the youngest pole winner on an oval at Kansas Speedway on April 25, 2009.

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 02 McDonald’s Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Last year I think we had a pretty normal race. We tried to stay out of trouble and the goal was to just make it to the end. We struggled throughout the weekend, so we knew if we just had a basic race with no issues then we would get a better result than our starting position. I think our experience will help us, but what will help us as well is having the experience of (race engineer) Martin (Pare) coming from another team and having a completely different opinion on setup.

“The McDonald’s team has been extremely competitive on all road courses this season, only missing the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying once. I think we can continue this, but having missed the test there last week where most of the other teams ran, put us behind. We could potentially struggle more this weekend than the others, but my hopes, as well as the teams, stay high. The main contenders will be the same people as usual; I don’t think there will be any surprises. The teams that tested have a leg up on us so we need to make every minute count in an already shortened weekend. It’s a tough circuit as is so that makes it difficult to be good there as well. We will have to push our hardest from the second practice begins to make sure we are competitive.

“I would love to have another pole, and gain a win before the season is over. We have been close, and I don’t see why easily we can’t get another podium, and hopefully be good enough to capture my second career win for the team.”




ORIOL SERVIA, driver of the #06 Dallara / Honda / Firestone:
ORIOL AT SONOMA: Will be his second open wheel race here. Last year he started sixth and finished 15th for KV Racing.

INDYCAR SERIES: Ran a full season with KV Racing in 2008 and earned four top-5 and six top-10 finishes in 16 races to finish the season ranked ninth overall. Highest start was third place, two times (Edmonton & Detroit) and highest finish was fourth in Detroit. In total he earned four, fifth place finishes (Long Beach, Richmond, Mid-Ohio & Edmonton) for a total of five, top-five finishes. Led two races for a total of six laps. In 2009, his only other ICS event was the Indy 500 where he started 25th for Rahal Letterman Racing and retired in 26th with mechanical failure.

2ND IN 2005 CCWS STANDINGS WITH NHR: Ran first two races with Dale Coyne Racing…Started 14th in season-opener in Long Beach and finished 11th…Started seventh in Monterrey, Mexico and was in second place late in the race before he spun and ultimately finished ninth in the event and was ranked 13th in the point standings…Made his debut for NHR in Milwaukee as the replacement for Junqueira who was injured in the Indy 500 on May 29. Qualified ninth and went on to pass his new teammate Bourdais and ultimately finish third and move up to sixth place in the standings…On June 9 was named to drive the PacifiCare car until Junqueira recuperates…Started 12th in Portland and had pitted in fourth place after running fifth when his drive shaft failed and he retired in 16th place...Started sixth and finished third in Cleveland as well as set the fastest race lap...Earned his best qualifying position with team of fourth place in Toronto and matched his best career finish of second place after he led 20 laps but lost the lead with 11 to go…Started fourth, led two laps and finished second in Edmonton to move from his fifth place rank in the standings to fourth with 135 points to leader Bourdais’ 182…Matched his best career start of second place in San Jose but dropped to a third place finish when Paul Tracy short-filled and passed him in the pits…Moved into third in the standings with a fourth place finish in Denver despite starting a disappointing 8th due to struggling to find a good set-up. Closed to within 13 points of P. Tracy for second place (196-183)…Matched his best qualifying position of second place in Montreal and remained in the top-three for the entire race. Was in second place in the final stage of the race and made two attempts to pass Timo Glock for the lead but the German made an illegal move and shortcut the chicane each time. He was warned after first time and served a penalty the second which enabled Servia to take the lead on the final lap and earn his first Champ Car win as well as take over second place from Tracy (215-211, plus 4) who finished eighth after a pit problem…Started second, ran although he was within 0.5 to one-second of the leaders for the majority of the race and finished second in Las Vegas to increase lead over third place Paul Tracy (243-216, plus 27) with two event to go in season…Earned his first Champ Car pole in Australia but was hit from behind by Cristiano da Matta before the first turn of L1 and dropped to the back of the field. Recovered to finish fifth…Started seventh in Mexico City and was in third when the team discovered a fuel pressure problem before his final pit stop and he ultimately finished fourth to claim second place in the season-ending point standings with 288.

1 WIN, 1 POLE & 14 PODIUMS IN CHAMP CAR: Of his 14 career top-three podium finishes, he has ONE win (Montreal 2005), and SIX second place finishes (2007: Long Beach; 2005: Toronto, Edmonton, Las Vegas; 2003: Milwaukee, Montreal). He has SEVEN third place finishes (2006: Cleveland; 2005: San Jose, Cleveland, Milwaukee; 2004: Laguna Seca; 2003: Denver; 2000: Detroit) and ONE pole (Australia 2005). Of his results, his 1 win, 1 pole and seven of his 14 podiums came with NHR.

ORIOL SERVIA, No. 06 Dallara-Honda-Firestone: “I am not going to lie; expectations are high for the race at Infineon Raceway. Mid-Ohio was a great race that helped as a warm up for me after not being in the race car for a while. I feel that for this weekend we are much better prepared. It is hard to know exactly what to expect from us as we didn't come to test like other teams but there is no doubt we come much better prepared than last race and I liked this track a lot last year so I wouldn't discount the possibility of having both team cars on the podium.
“Last year at this race we probably had one of the best cars out there. Unfortunately the final result didn't show it as we got caught in the wrong strategy but we definitely had to pace to win.

“I find the Sonoma track extremely difficult. There are many elevation changes with constant blind spots that make it very challenging for any driver to put the four wheels at the right place for the whole race. Because of the different elevations, I find it is almost impossible to have to perfect car setup and the team that makes the best compromises ends up winning. It will be very competitive, the usual suspects will be at the top with Ganassi, Penske and my former team mate Power but I also expect to have more contenders than usual because of how peculiar the track is. I know Graham and myself are expecting to be fighting for the highest honors.

“It is my second race with the team this season but it also happens to be the last road course so basically it becomes the last chance to win a non-oval race this year. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has always been the most competitive at this type of track so we don't want to miss the opportunity to shine in what it is a more familiar terrain. Back in 2005 when I last raced for the team you could hardly get us off the podium so we don't expect any different from this weekend. I am very excited to have a chance to race for such a great organization again. Not only do they give a driver the best tools; at the same time everybody loves doing it! It is a team of real racers.

“I think the push to pass is a great option that in one way or another will end up becoming normal in all types of racing. It feels only natural, from the driver and spectator perspective. Many race arcade games have "nitro shots" or "super boost" to pass or to not be passed, and it becomes one more element for the drivers to play with and the fans to follow. It is my opinion though that we need a little more aggressive strategy with it than we have now. Honda does an outstanding job providing great powerful and reliable engines but I think that a bigger "kick" in the push to pass would just help them get more recognition, as they deserve.”