LEXINGTON, Ohio — The scent of champagne hung heavy in the room when Graham Rahal sat down to address the media after winning last year’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
The significance of his third career Verizon IndyCar Series victory wasn’t lost on Mid-Ohio’s prodigal son.
“Of all the races other than the (Indianapolis) 500, this would be the one to mean the most, that I would want to win the most,” Rahal said at the time. “No matter how many races I’ve won in my career, if I had never won here it would have been pretty disappointing. To get this one, you have no clue what this means.”
Rahal’s relationship with Mid-Ohio is well documented. His father, three-time CART series champ and hall of famer Bobby Rahal, had a record eight podium finishes and two wins (1985, 1986) at Mid-Ohio. Graham, who was born in 1989, remembers accompanying dad onto the podium late in the elder Rahal’s career.
A New Albany native, Graham began his IndyCar Series career in 2008 and finished 16th at Mid-Ohio. He has raced at what he considers his home course every year since, but never finished higher than fifth before last year.
“Mid-Ohio is home to me. I grew up at the track and spent so many days there as a kid,” he said earlier in the week. “Watching races there, being a part of it, seeing and loving what it’s all about is a big part of who I am.”
Last year’s win wasn’t as improbable as Scott Dixon’s worst-to-first victory in 2014, but it wasn’t far off. Rahal started 13th after being slowed during qualifying. He was in 11th place when he pitted on lap 66, just as a caution came out for Sage Karam — who had slowed Rahal during qualifying. When the leaders pitted, Rahal cycled to the front and stayed there. He led for 23 laps and won by more than three seconds.
“It happened to go yellow right as we came in, which was absolutely perfect,” Rahal said. “It worked out great for us.
“There was so much pride involved in that day. It’s hard for me to explain the feelings that I had to people. It was a great moment in my life.”
A lifelong Ohio State fan, Rahal wore an OSU football-themed racing helmet during last year’s race. He plans to wear it again this weekend.
“I think it was well-received and obviously it worked out pretty good,” Rahal after a test at Mid-Ohio last week. “The fans really enjoyed it most of all.”
So what will Rahal do for an encore?
“Now there is probably less pressure because we have won there,” he said. “I sure hope it happens again, but you never know.”
