103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT IndyCar Series
CARB DAY NOTES/QUOTES – May 24, 2019

SATO THIRD FASTEST, KING FOURTH AND RAHAL 17TH IN CARB DAY PRACTICE: ALL HAPPY WITH RACE CAR SETUP
 
1)         Tony Kanaan               225.517 mph               
3)         Takuma Sato               226.468 mph               
4)         Jordan King                 225.337 mph               
17)       Graham Rahal             223.541 mph               
 
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone:  "The United Rentals Honda was good there at the end and I'm a cautiously optimistic person so if I tell you it's good, it's good.  I was able to pass a lot of guys, I was up there with the Penske boys at the end.  If it stays like that and we get ourselves into a good position, then I think we have a good chance at this thing.  There are some things we have to overcome but it felt good; it felt really good, so we'll see.  (On brush with the wall:) The car was okay and then all of a sudden it just took off with understeer and brushed the wall.  I had it one other time and I was actually leading a pack at that point and the front just gave up.  With the wind like this, it get a little bit gusty.  I was behind two or three cars and if you get a crosswind and hit the wake, it’s going to go.  I had one close call but the rest of the time the United Rentals car was really good.  (Said jokingly:) Maybe we bent something and that helped; I don't know.  We'll have to go back and look. My car was strong at the end. If we stay like that, we’ll be I a good spot.  The temperatures (on race day) should be similar.  I think we got the downforce package right. We tried some things we haven’t tried yet, some wicker packages that we've seen other guys running that we hadn’t yet.  Man, I don't know what happened but she turned on all of a sudden.  I was able to pass.  To be honest, the rest of the week I said no on being able to pass and I thought that with today being a hotter day, the likelihood was that it would be even worse, but I was genuinely able to pass.”
 

• FAST FACTS: He will start 17th for his 12th Indy 500. His best qualifying position in the Indy 500 is fourth in 2009 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and best finish is third with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in 2011 after he led six laps. He ran in the top-five in seven of his 10 previous races here. Detailed Indy 500 information available upon request. Has SIX IndyCar Series wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and THREE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015... He is currently seventh in series standings with 113 points, only 33 out of third place.

 
TAKUMA SATO, No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Dallara/Honda/Firestone:  "I think we have a strong package, not the strongest package we've had, but I think we made good progress.  We will have a look at data and compare the three cars to see if there's anything we can squeeze out of the speed and stability for Sunday.  I think the Indy 500 is tough year by year, month by month, hour by hour, it's a different scenario.  One thing you know is that you’ve been there, and you know how to get the job done and what to look for.  I think the guys did a great job.  I'm leading the engineering data toward what I want to and I think we're getting really close to that."
 

• FAST FACTS: The 2017 Champion of the Indy 500 will start 14th for his 10th Indy 500 in 2019 and third with RLL. In 2012 with RLL, he was alongside eventual winner Franchitti in Turn 1 on the final lap but his race ended due to contact after he was squeezed down on the apron and lost control of his race car. Prior to his 2017 win with Andretti from his best start of fourth place, his highest finish was 13th in 2013 and 2015 – both with A.J. Foyt Racing... Has FOUR IndyCar Series wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval, 2018 - Portland road, 2019 - Barber road ) and EIGHT poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval; 2019 Barber road).  He is fifth in series standings with 132 points.

 
JORDAN KING, No. 42 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone:  "Obviously we're high up on the time screen.  That's a decent tow lap and it's difficult to say with the track conditions, but I think we've got a good balance in the car but just lacking a little in traffic.  I think we'll go back and work on a bit more of our traffic pace, but overall I'm reasonably happy.  I think if we can just sort a couple things out we'll be good.  I'll let you know if I'm comfortable about 50 laps into the race."
 

• FAST FACTS: He will start 26th for his first oval race and first Indianapolis 500... Competed in 11 road and street course races with Ed Carpenter Racing with a best start of fourth at St. Pete in his debut and a best finish of 11th at Toronto.  He participated in a 2018 pre-season test at the Phoenix International Raceway oval before the season-opener at St. Petersburg but that was his only oval experience. 

 
NEXT UP: The 2019 Indianapolis 5o will air live on NBC beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 26.