Graham Rahal had his two fastest laps omitted in qualifying at St. Pete
Graham lost control of the race car on the slick course and made contact with a tire barrier which brought out a red flag.
Photo by: Bret Kelley
The start of the three-round qualifying session was delayed more that three hours after an afternoon storm.
Conditions improved as each round took place and teams installed racing “slick” tires. Graham lost control of the race car on the slick course and made contact with a tire barrier which brought out a red flag.
His two fastest laps were omitted, one of which was sixth fastest and would have allowed him to progress to Round 2 and start in the top-12. Instead, Ryan Briscoe set the sixth fastest time (1:15.6860) and progressed.
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 National Guard Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I just messed up. I went into Turn 4, thought I was under control, thought I broke pretty well but all of a sudden the right front locked and I just went straight on (into the tires). Unfortunately we did a lap time that would have advanced us but the lap time doesn’t count. Obviously I’m very disappointed. I would have liked to advance but I didn’t do a good enough job today so we’re going to have our work cut out for us in the race.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
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