INDIANAPOLIS – The man at the top of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan pit stand, team manager Ricardo “Rico” Nault, has aided Graham Rahal’s resurgence in the Verizon IndyCar Series season. During the offseason, Nault replaced team owner and Rahal’s father Bobby Rahal as the man calling the race strategy on the radio. And so far the dynamic has worked as the 26-year-old driver has produced back-to-back second-place finishes for the first time in his Verizon IndyCar Series career.
“There is definitely momentum,” Nault said at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as teams hit the oval Monday to begin practice for the 99th Indianapolis 500. “The guys are all pushing really hard and it helps drive them to do that extra little bit. I think they have that in them any way. It helps Graham and the guys know that we have a good car and will push at that at the Indianapolis 500.
“Although it’s a completely different animal, I believe if we give Graham a good car he can move to the front in the Indy 500. He has shown that over and over.”
In past seasons, Rahal would often be highly critical of his car and team for a poor performance. He remains concerned about Honda’s street and road course Aero Kit but has proven to be the best Honda driver in the series through the first five contests in 2015.
His second-place finish in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis has moved him into the top-five in IndyCar Series points.
“He is very motivated this year,” Nault said. “As far as the blame game, it’s a driver’s right and absolute duty to tell us what is wrong with the car so we can fix it. If we don’t hear it; we can’t fix it. I love to hear what is wrong so we can make it better. We have to do it right and we are trying to make it happen.
“Once we give him a car that can race the boy just races. And he is doing a great job.”
Having Nault on the radio has produced a more business-like environment on the team that is far different than having his father on the radio. That is not saying that Bobby Rahal, a three-time CART champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, was doing anything wrong but father/son relationships often create a more emotional dynamic than the team manager/driver relationship that Nault has with Rahal.
“With Bob not being on the radio we lose a lot of experience and savvy but we also lose a lot of emotion,” Nault said. “Sometimes Graham and Bob would argue with each other or discuss things. We have lost some of that on the stand but have gained things by not having the father/son dynamic.
“We get along well. I don’t argue with him. When he is right he is right. And when I make a mistake I tell him. We made a mistake in that pit stop on Saturday. He said it was his deal but it was mine because it’s my call to make. We stayed out one lap to long and got out behind Scott Dixon. Did it cost us a win? I don’t know but it cost us a chance to get closer to Will Power (GP of Indy winner).
“The boy is full of confidence. He is doing a great job and driving like a machine. He knows we all have his back. Nobody is pointing fingers at him when it goes wrong. We are a team and when it goes wrong it goes wrong together. When it goes right; it goes right together. He drives that bus so well.
“He is driving the wheels off that thing right now and making us all look good.”
A happy driver makes a happy team and a great deal of momentum heading into the biggest race of the year could produce tremendous results in the 99th Indianapolis 500.
“He is driving now because he likes it,” Nault said. “He is having fun. It is a lot of different when you know everyone is behind you and has your back. And we know he has ours. It’s going in the right direction.”