No one was injured March 24 when the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team transporter caught on fire en route to the Verizon IndyCar Series season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Drivers Phil Davis and Paul Sheehan discovered the fire while on I-65 in Louisville, Ky., about two hours after leaving the race shop in Brownsburg, Ind. It is believed that the fire originated in the engineering lounge where the damage was restricted. The exact cause is under investigation.
The No. 15 race cars to be driven by Graham Rahal and most of the racing equipment was not damaged thanks to the efforts of Davis and Sheehan as well as the Zoneton Fire Protection team, which responded within a few minutes. The transporter returned to the race shop and the equipment was transferred to another transporter.
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is March 28-30. Rahal won the race in 2008 and was the pole winner in '09.