Graham Rahal Suffers Heavy
Wall Impact at Road America
A last-lap battle for third place with Will Power ended in a hard hit on the barrier, costing Rahal a likely fourth podium of his 2026 season.
Graham Rahal hit the wall hard on the final lap of Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda spinning into the barrier after contact with Andretti Global’s Will Power while the two raced for third place.
The timing could hardly have been worse. Rahal had clawed his way into position for what would have been his fourth podium of the 2026 IndyCar season, only to see it disappear two corners from the checkered flag.
What Happened in the Final Corner
The contact arrived during a frantic one-lap shootout. Marcus Armstrong had looked set for his first career win before an engine issue ended his bid and brought out a late caution, setting up a green-flag dash to the line. Moments before the restart even got going, Nolan Siegel had already spun out of a top-ten run in Turn 5.
Behind the lead fight between eventual winner Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas, Power tried a move around the outside of Rahal in the braking zone as the pair scrapped for the final podium spot. Rahal was defending the position when the two cars touched, sending his Honda into a spin and straight into the wall. Race control threw the full-course caution that ended the race moments later.
“I raced him clean all day.”
— Graham Rahal, via FrontstretchRahal didn’t hide his frustration afterward, arguing that defending the position was fair with the laps running out, even as he made clear he felt Power’s approach into the corner left him nowhere to go. Power saw it differently, insisting he had nothing left to give up in the braking zone himself.
The Penalty Call
Officials reviewed the incident after the race and decided no further action was needed against Power. Rahal was handed a blocking penalty, but it carried no real consequence since his race had already ended in the barrier. It’s a similar logic to the rules around out-braking moves in road racing more broadly: defending a position is fair game, but only within limits stewards judge case by case.
“I absolutely did not want to have any contact,” Power said, explaining his side of the move, according to Speedcafe. He said he felt boxed in once Rahal moved across, with little room left on his outside line.
Is Graham Rahal Okay?
Rahal climbed out of his damaged car under his own power and was checked and released by the IndyCar medical unit shortly afterward, standard procedure following any heavy impact. He spoke to reporters in person at the track soon after, with nothing in his comments suggesting any injury carried into the week ahead.
How the Race Finished
Up front, the incident reshuffled the final podium. Power had initially been scored fifth in the immediate aftermath of the contact, but officials later reinstated him to third, the position he held when the caution flag flew. It marked his second podium with Andretti Global this season.
The win itself belonged to Christian Lundgaard, who turned one of the wilder comeback drives of the year into his second victory of 2026. The Arrow McLaren driver fell to the back of the field after running into the rear of Scott Dixon on lap one, picking up front-wing damage that forced an early pit stop. He fought back through the order and passed Armstrong for the lead inside the final four laps once Armstrong’s engine let go, then held off Malukas by 0.624 seconds in the late restart to take his third career win. Elsewhere, Josef Newgarden was dropped from ninth to 22nd after a post-race penalty for causing an earlier collision with Siegel, a reminder of how much the final classification shifted once stewards finished their review.
A Costly Day for the Points Leader, Too
Championship leader Alex Palou had his own rough afternoon. He claimed a fifth consecutive pole position this season but was handed a pit-lane speeding penalty on lap 29 that ended his hopes of a win. He still leads Malukas by 60 points in the standings heading into the next round, a gap that would have been even larger without the penalty.
What’s Next for Rahal
Rahal is in his 20th season in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 15 Honda for the team his father, Bobby Rahal — a 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner — co-owns with David Letterman and Mike Lanigan. He’d already collected three podiums in 2026 before Sunday, his best run of podium finishes in a season since 2020, with Road America on track to make it four before the contact with Power.
The series takes a short break before heading to the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 5, broadcast on Fox at 12:30 p.m. ET. With both drivers back on track so soon after, Sunday’s clash is unlikely to be the last word between them.
