Bobby Rahal

From Motorsportpedia

Bobby Rahal

IndyCar Career
Nationality	USA
Series / Years	1982-1998 (CART)
Current Team	None
Past Team(s)	Truesports (CART) Kraco Enterprises (CART) Galles-Kraco (CART) rahal-Hogan (CART) Team Rahal (CART)
Races	264 (CART)
Championships	3 1986, 1987, 1992 (CART)
Wins	24 (CART)
Poles	17 (CART)
First Race	1982 CART Phoenix
First Win	1982 CART Cleveland
Last Win	1992 CART Nazareth
Last Race	1998 CART California

Contents 1 Stats 2 Career 2.1 Early Career 2.2 Formula Atlantic 2.3 Formula 1 2.4 Formula 2 2.5 Sports Car Racing 2.6 Champ Car 2.7 NASCAR 2.8 Champ Car 2.9 IROC 2.10 After Racing 3 Team Ownership 3.1 Rahal-Hogan Racing 3.2 Team Rahal 3.3 Rahal Letterman Racing 4 Results 4.1 Formula Atlantic 4.2 Formula 1 4.3 Champ Car 4.4 IROC

Stats

• Full Name: Robert Woodward Rahal
• Born: January 10, 1953 - Medina, Ohio

Career

Early Career

The son of a club racer Michael Rahal, Rahal was born in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, but grew up in Chicago. He spent his youth following his father around the race tracks of the Mid West and began racing himself in SCCA sportscar events in the early 1970s, driving his father's Lotus. While racing he also took the time to get a degree in history from Denison University in Ohio.

Formula Atlantic

• 1975: In 1975 Bobby joined Capricorn Racing in the Formula Atlantic series, which at the time was run purely in Canada. Driving a Ford powered Lola for the team the highlights of his season were a 6th at Westwood where he started from pole and a second at Gimli. He scored 34 points in his rookie season and was 9th in the championship. He also featured in the non championship race at Trois-Rivieres where he failed to finish.

• 1976 IMSA: In 1976 the American IMSA set up a Formula Atlantic series to run alongside the Canadian series. Bobby competed in both series for Shierson Racing. At present very little is known on the results that season for the IMSA series. However we know Bobby didn't place 1st or 2nd in any of the 6 races. If you can help fill in the gaps for this season please do so. With 20 points Bobby placed 7th in the championship.

• 1976 CASC: Alongside his racing in the IMSA Formula Atlantic series, Bobby continued in the CASC Formula Atlantics. Racing for Shierson Racing in a March He finished 4th at Gimli and 5th at Mont Tremblant. He won the final race of the season at Mosport but was beaten to the championship by future Formula 1 legend Gilles Villeneuve. With 57 points he was 5th in the Canadian championship.

• 1977 CASC: He started the 1977 season in Canada driving a Ford March for Morgan Racing. He finished 7th at Mosport and won Gimli. He finished 4th at Edmonton before his season tailed off with 10ths at Westwood and Halfiax and a 13th at St. Félicien. He failed to qualify for the non championship race at Trois-Rivieres and then left the team. He joined Pierre's Motors Racing to drive a Ralt in the final race of the season in Quebec which helped him to second in the championship, again behind champion Gilles Villeneuve but ahead of another future Formula 1 star Keke Rosberg.

• 1978: In 1978 the IMSA and CASC Formula Atlantic series merged to form one unifed North American series. Bobby returned with Pierre's Motors Racing to drive a Ralt Ford. A slow start to the season saw Bobby fail to finish the first three races. He was victorious in round 4 of the season at Lime Rock Park and then third at Road America and Hamilton. He managed to finish 4th at the non championchip race at Trois Rivieres before finishing off the season with another DNF at Montreal. The poor start to the season had dented his championship challenge and he was 5th in the classifications with 68 points.

Formula 1

• 1978: Following the completion of the Formula Atlantic season in September Bobby darted of to Europe to race in Formula 3, driving a Dallara-built Wolf chassis, funded by Canadian oil millionaire Walter Wolf. It was the connection with Walter Wolf which led to him making his Formula 1 debut with the Wolf team in the final two races of the 1978 season in Canada and in the United States. Bobby finished 12th in the USA at Watkins Glen and failed to finish in Canada at Montreal. With no points he wasn't classified in the World Drivers Championship.

Formula 2

He tried to make it in European Formula 2 in 1978 with Chevron but eventually decided to return to the United States fulltime after enjoying some success in CanAm.

Sports Car Racing

For the 1980 and 1981 seasons he concentrated on sportscars, winning the Daytona 24 Hours in the second season.

Champ Car

• 1982: In 1982, thanks to the patronage of Jim Trueman of the Red Roof Inns company, Rahal was able to move into Champ Car racing with Trueman's Truesports team. He won his first race in the series in his fourth race at Cleveland and his second later in the season at Michigan. He also finished on the podium at the first Michigan race, the second Milwaukee race and at Road America. He failed to finish four races but all all the races he managed to finish hislowest spot was 5th. An extreemly strong rookie season saw him come second in the drivers championship to Rick Mears and won the Rookie of the Year honours.

• 1983: Bobby returend to Truesports in 1983 mostly driving a March Cosworth. After some sporadic top ten results to start the season he finally won a race at round 8 at Riverside. He followed that podium finishes at the next two rounds in Mid-Ohio and Michigan. Follwoing the Michigan race the team swapped to Chevy power and scored top tens at Caesars Palace and Laguna Seca. Disaster struck at the final round in Phoenix when Bobby crashed the car in practice. he switched to his old car the March Cosworth but again crashed and did not qualify for the race. With 94 points he could not emulate his rookie season and was 5th in the drivers championship.

• 1984: 1984 saw Bobby and the Truesports team campaign the March Cosworth for the full season. The first half of the season saw just two top ten finishes, but everything imporved for the second half of the season. A string of podium finishes came at Road America, Pocono, Mid-Ohio and Sanair. Then he was victorious at Phoenix and Laguna Seca before rounding out the season with 7th at Caesars Palace. With 137 points he was classified 3rd int he drivers championship.

NASCAR

• 1984: Saw Bobbys only start in NASCAR where he competed on the road course at Riverside.

Champ Car

• 1985: The new season was another slow starter for Bobby and the Truesports team. Just a few top tens was Bobbys best result to start the season before his first podium of the season, a win at his home race in Mid-Ohio. He would win again at Michigan and Laguna Seca and finish the season with a podium at Tamiami Park, Miami where he started on pole. With 134 points he was again 3rd in the drivers championship.

• 1986: Started better than in recent seasons, a strong month of May with the Truesports team saw Bob win the Indianapolis 500 in a March Cosworth. Although the celebrations wer short lived as team owner and long time backer of Bobby's Jim Trueman died of cancer just weeks after his 500 victory. Bobby finished on the podium at Meadowlands before going out to stake his claim on the championship. He won at Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Sanair, Michigan and Laguna Seca. He rounded out the season with a 3rd at Phoenix and 8th at Tamiami Park, Miami. With 179 points he beat Michael Andretti to the championship by just 8 points.

• 1987: Before the start of the season Bobby added another title to his CV having won the 24 hour race at Sebring. He started the Champ Car season, again with Truesports, with a pair of 2nds at Phoenix and Milwaukee. The he took victories on the road course at Portland and on the streets at Meadowlands. More podiums would follow at Cleveland, Toronto, Michigan, Mid-Ohio and Nazareth. He won the penultimate race of the season at Laguna Seca and 7th at Tamiami Park, Miami was enough for Bobby to secure his second consecutive championship.

• 1988: For the 7th season in a row Bobby returned to the Truesport team in 1988. Driving a Lola Judd for the team. The two time reigning champion hoped to win a third consecutive championship with the team this season. He finished on the podium with 3 2nd place finishes at Long Beach, Cleveland and Michigan before getting his first win in round 10 of the season at Pocono. He finished 2nd again at Road America but that would be the end of his podium finishes for the season. Whilst he'd been consistant it wasn't enough and he ended up third in the championship handing over his title to new champion Danny Sullivan.

• 1989: The new season heralded a fresh start for Bobby, he switched to the Kraco Enterprises team to drive a Cosworth powered Lola. Bobby didn;t finish on the podium until rounds 6 and 7 when he was 2nd at Portland and third at Cleveland. He was victorious at the next round at Meadowlands his first win for his new team. But then he failed to finish on the podium again for the rest of the season. With just 88 points he was 9th in the drivers championship.

• 1990: Before the start of the 1990 season Kraco Enterprises and Galles Racing merged to form Galles-Kraco Racing. Galles brought their driver Al Unser Jr to the team and Kraco Enterprises brought Bobby to form a star line up for the new season. The two car team would use Lola chassis with the Chevy A powerplant. Bobby started the season with a podium finish at Phoenix. He would finish on the podium again at the Indianapolis 500, Detroit, Cleveland, Michigan, Denver and Nazareth. Whilst he consistantly finished on the podium the win eluded him this season and without any wins his championship challenge faultered. With 153 points he was 4th in the title race.

• 1991: '91 saw Bobby return to Galles Kraco Racing with the Chevy A powered Lola. He started out well with three 2nd place finished at Surfers Paradise, Long Beach and Phoenix. He failed to finish the Indianapolis 500 but was on the podium again at Detroit, Portland and Cleveland. He first win didn't come until round 9 of the season at Meadowlands and it would be his only win of the season. He finished the season with a string of more podiums at Toronto, Vancouver, Mid-Ohio and Nazareth. His consistant podiums weren't enough to see him take the title but they did steer him to 2nd in the championship classification with 200 points.

• 1992: By 1992 Bobby had bigger plans than becoming a driver and he teamed with Carl Hoganto buy Patrick Racing. They formed Rahal-Hogan Racing with backing from Miller beer and landed a Chevrolet engine deal and chassis from Lola. Bobby had a string start to the season coming 3rd at Surfers Paradise and winning at Phoenix. He was 2nd at Long Beach and 6th in the Indianapolis 500 before winning again at Detroit. More podiums followed with a 2nd at Milwaukee, a win at New hampshire and another second at Toronto. He finished off the season with a 3rd at Road America another victory at Nazareth and a 3rd at Laguna Seca. It was another consistant season for Bobby but with the addition of victories to his consistancy he took home the championship beating Michael Andretti by just 4 points.

• 1993: Follwoing his championship Bobby and Carl hogan decided the best way forward for the team would be to design and build their own chassis. They created the Rahal-Hogan to start the 1993 season again with Chevy power. With the new car they finished 6th at Surfers Paradise and 2nd at Long Beach before going into the month of May. The new car struggled at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so much so that for the first time in his career Bobby failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Follwoing the failure to qualify the team dumped the self made chassis and bought a set of Lola's. The first podium with the Lola didn'tcome until round 12 of the season at Road America where he finished 3rd. the following race at Vancouver he went one better finishing 2nd but it would be his last podium of the season. With 133 points Bobby finished 4th in the drivers championship.

• 1994: Having ditched the Rahal-Hogan chassis for good Bobby and Carl looked for the next move for the team. They would partner Honda in developing the Japanese firms engine to enter the Champ Car series. The venture was a disaster with 2 DNF's and a 14th place finish to show as they entered the month of May. For the secodn year in a row the team struggled at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the team again failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Determined not to sit out of the race for a second year they got their hands on a Penske chassis with Ilmor power and Bobby managed to qualify before finishing 3rd in the race. For the rest of the season they were back with their Lola chassis and Honda power. They got their first podium with Honda power at Toronto where Bobby finished 2nd but struggled for the remainder of the season. with just 59 points, the lowest tally of Bobbys career he was 10th in the drivers championship.

• 1995: Disillusioned with Honda the team switched to an Ilmor-Mercedes powerplant for 1995 with the trusty Lola chassis. Bobby scored posdiums from the start with a 3rd at Miami and 2nd at Surfers Paradise. More podiums followed at the Indianapolis 500, Portland and Toronto. Seemingly back on track with a consistant season he was 3rd in the championship with 128 pionts.

• 1996: Following the not most sucessful of partnerships Bobby and Carl Hogan went their different ways. Bobby decided to continue with his own team now to be called Team Rahal and of course he would be #1 driver. Bobby consistantly finished in the top ten driving the Reynard-Mercedes but it wasn't until round 11 in Toronto that he first finished on the podium. He would get two more podiums during the season at Road America and Vancouver. With 102 points he was 7th in the championship.

• 1997: Bobby stuck with Reynard for 1997 but switched to Ford-Cosworth power. Bobby struggled for most of the season, scoring just one podium a 3rd at his home race in Mid-Ohio. With 70 points he was 12th in the drivers championship his lowest ever classification.

• 1998: Bobby announced that 1998 would be his final year as a driver it was his 17th in the Champ Car series in a career that had spanned more than 20 years. It was another long slow season for Bobby but he consistantly finished in the top ten which was an improvement on the previous year. He scored the final podium of his career and his only one this season in round 13 at his beloved Mid-Ohio. With 82 points he was 10th in the drivers championship. Rounding out his Champ Car career which spanned 17 years he had 264 starts, 3 championships, 24 wins, 17 poles and 87 podium finishes.

IROC

• 1985: Bobby first took part in the International Race of Champions (IROC) series in 1985. The series consisted of four races a year, sanctioned by NASCAR and was an invite only series. It's aim was to pit the top drivers from a range of different series against each other. In his first season of competition Bobby competed against Mario Andretti, Darrell Waltrip, Derek Bell, John Watson and Jochen Mass amongst others. The first race of the season was traditionally at Daytona in Feburary. Bobby was involved in an accident in the last lap of the race and was classified 9th. Round 2 was at Bob bys home track of Mid-Ohio, Mario Andretti dominated most of the race but once Bobby had passed the legend with a lap to go he stayed ahead to win. Round 3 was scheduled for 28 laps at Talladega but was cancelled due to rain. The final round of the season was at Michigan where Bobby had to settle for a mid pack finish in 5th. He gained 40 points and $55,100 in prize money over the three races finishing 3rd in his rookie season.

• 1986: Bobby was invited back to IROC in 1986 competing against Al Unser Jr, Rick Mears, Bill Elliot and Cale Yarborough. In Daytona in February for the season opener Bobby was involved in an accident with Al Unser Jr and Jochen Mass on lap 4 of the race. The accident took all 3 drivers out of the race, Bobby was classified 12th and dead last in the results. Round 2 this year was again at Bobbys home track Mid-Ohio, he finished 2nd this year with Al Unser Jr leading all 29 laps. Race 3 was again at Talladega and the rain held off this year to allow the race to go on, Bobbys first outing on the track brought him home 10th. The final race of the season was at Watkins Glen in August, Bobby came home 4th. With 37 points and $29,000 in prize money Bobby was classified 7th in the championship.

• 1987: Bobby returned for a third year to IROC in 1987, this year competing against Wally Dallenbach Jr, Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Dale Earnhardt and Derek Bell. In Daytona in February Bobby finished 8th 9 laps off the pace but still running. He won round 2 at his beloved Mid-Ohio ahead of Wally Dallenbach Jr and Michael Andretti and finished 9th at Michigan in Round 3. The season finale was at Watkinbs Glen where Bobby finished 3rd. He scored 51 points and $57,800 in 1987 finishing 3rd in the championship.

• 1988: In his forth season of IROC competition Bobby was pitted against Al Unser Jr, Al Unser, Dale Earnhardt and Terry Labonte. Round 1 was against at its tradition home of Daytona where Bobby came in 10th 1 lap down. He finished 8th in round 2 at Riverside and again in round 3 at Michigan. The season finale was again at Watkins Glen where Bobby finished 10th a lap off the pace. It was not the most sucessful of IROC seasons for Bobby as he finished 11th (out of 12) with 24 points and $31,000 in prize money.

• 1990: Bobby didn't return to IROC in 1989 but was invited back in 1990 along with Dale Earnhardt, Al Unser Jr, Emerson Fittipaldi and Rusty Wallace. It was only a three race series this year starting in May at Talladega. At Talladega Bobby finished 11th and in round 2 at Cleveland he finishe d9th. The season finale was at Michigan where Bobby finished 7th. With 18 points he tied with Geoff Brabham in the final points table, but was classified 10th above Geoff because of his higher finishing position in the final race.In what wouldbe Bobbys final season of IROC competition he 18 poi nts and took home $32,000 in prize money.

After Racing

In the middle of 2000 he was named interim chief executive of the CART organisation and was then whisked away to Europe by the Ford Motor Company to be chief executive of Jaguar Racing, a role he took over in 2001. In the mid-season however he was ousted by the new management of Jaguar Cars and replaced by Niki Lauda. Rahal went back to the United States were he continues to run a variety of racing teams and car dealerships while taking part in historic races when he gets the chance.

Team Ownership

Rahal-Hogan Racing

In 1993 Bobby set up his own teram with Carl Hogan. Together they pruchased existing team Truesports and had Bobby as their main driver. They won the championship in their first season. However the team struggled following this and failed projects such as their own Rahal-Hogan chassis and tthe introduction of Honda to the series tore the team apart. Following a four year partnership Carl and Bobby went their different ways as Carl set up Hogan Racing and Bobby had Team Rahal.

Team Rahal

Bobby set up team Rahal to start the 1996 season with himself and Bryan Herta as drivers. The team got their first win with Bryan at the wheel in 1998 fought hard for the 2001 championship with Kenny Brack. The team lasted 8 seasons in Champ Car, with Bobby still driving for three of those. They were set to compete in Champ Car for 2004 but when the new owners bought the assests of the bankrupt series they were unwilling to give monitry handouts to teams. With lack of funding for a full season Bobby took the team to the IRL. At the same time chatshow host David Letterman bought into the team and they were rebranded.

Rahal Letterman Racing

When David Letterman bought into the team in 2004 the team became Rahal-Letterman Racing. They switched to the IRL where they have been racing ever since. They also have branchjed out into sports car racing where they compete in the ALMS series.

Results

Formula Atlantic

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Points	C'ship
1975	Lola	Ford		Capricorn Racing	DNF	6	2	DNF	21	DNF	N/A	34	9
1976 IMSA	March	tbc		Shierson Racing	tbc	5	tbc	3	tbc	tbc	N/A	20	7
1976 CASC	March	tbc		Shierson Racing	tbc	tbc	4	5	tbc	1	N/A	57	6
1977 CASC	March	Ford		Morgan Racing	7	1	4	10	10	13		92	2
	Ralt			Pierre's Motors Racing							2
1978	Ralt	Ford		Pierre's Motors Racing	DNF	DNF	DNF	1	3	3	DNF	68	5

Formula 1

Season	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	C'ship
1978	Walter Wolf Racing-Cosworth	ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA 12	CAN Ret	0	--

Champ Car

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Points	C'ship
1982	March	Cosworth		Truesports	DNF		DNF	DNF	1	3	2	3	DNF	3	1	5	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	242	2
1983	March	Cosworth		Truesports	DNF	DNF	6	DNF	5	DNF	5	1	3	2			DNQ	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	94	5
		Chevy													9	7	DNQ
1984	March	Cosworth		Truesports	DNF	7	7	14	DNF	11	DNF	DNF	2	3	2	2	5	1	1	7	N/A	N/A	N/A	137	3
1985	March	Cosworth		Truesports	DNF	DNF	9	DNF	DNF	DNF	6	4	4	1	DNF	1	1	6	2	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	134	3
1986	March	Cosworth		Truesports	DNF	DNF	1	6	DNF	3	DNF	1	DNF	DNF	1	1	1	5	1	3	8	N/A	N/A	179	1
1987	Lola	Cosworth		Truesports	DNF	2	DNF	2	1	1	2	3	3	5	DNF	2	2	1	7	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	188	1
1988	Lola	Judd		Truesports	16	2	5	6	12	2	5	5	2	1	DNF	2	12	4	DNF	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	136	3
1989	Lola	Cosworth		Kraco Enterprises	DNF	4	DNF	13	DNF	2	3	1	DNF	9	6	DNF	DNF	7	6	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	88	9
1990	Lola	Chevy A		Galles-Kraco Racing	2	12	2	4	2	11	2	DNF	DNF	2	3	8	6	7	3	5	N/A	N/A	N/A	153	4
1991	Lola	Chevy A		Galles-Kraco Racing	2	2	2	DNF	4	2	3	3	1	3	11	DNF	2	3	4	2	DNF	N/A	N/A	200	2
1992	Lola	Chevy A		Rahal-Hogan Racing	3	1	2	6	1	14	2	1	2	DNF	4	3	DNF	DNF	1	3	N/A	N/A	N/A	196	1
1993	Rahal-Hogan	Chevy C		Rahal-Hogan Racing	6	DNF	2	DNQ													N/A	N/A	N/A	133	4
	Lola								4	5	4	DNF	4	9	7	3	2	6	6	7
1994	Lola	Honda		Rahal-Hogan Racing	DNF	14	DNF	DNQ	7	6	12	DNF	2	DNF	DNF	9	7	9	14	DNF	N/A	N/A	N/A	59	10
	Penske	Ilmor						3
1995	Lola	Ilmor-Mercedes		Rahal-Hogan Racing	3	2	DNF	DNF	6	3	DNF	DNF	3	5	2	4	8	DNF	10	5	7	N/A	N/A	128	3
1996	Reynard	Mercedes-Benz		Team Rahal	5	6	DNF	14	6	DNF	7	DNF	6	15	3	DNF	5	2	2	7	N/A	N/A	N/A	102	7
1997	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth		Team Rahal	16	10	10	6	10	DNF	11	9	DNF	5	9	DNF	3	6	DNF	DNF	5	N/A	N/A	70	12
1998	Reynard	Ford-Cosworth		Team Rahal	19	DNF	17	6	8	8	5	11	6	8	4	7	3	8	DNF	16	DNF	DNF	11	82	10

IROC

Year		1	2	3	4	Points	C'ship
1985	IROC IX	DNF	1		5	40	3
1986	IROC X	DNF	2	10	4	37	7
1987	IROC XI	8	1	9	3	51	3
1988	IROC XII	10	8	8	10	24	11
1990	IROC XIV	11	9	7	N/A	10	18