HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Graham Rahal’s much-anticipated IndyCar Series debut was sidelined for another week after his team decided he would not participate in last Saturday night’s season opener, the Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300.
Rahal crashed the Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing entry during a test at Homestead-Miami Speedway last Tuesday, which was the final day of a two-day test for teams that are joining IndyCar from Champ Car.
There is a shortage of parts available in the IndyCar Series after it absorbed Champ Car last month, and with only one car per driver, the team decided to have the 19-year-old Rahal sit out the oval-track race after key parts would not be available in time for last Friday’s practice.
“It’s disappointing that we’re not going to be racing in the season opener and I feel bad about it,” Rahal said. “It will be tough not to be out there, but at the same time we need to take it slowly and not rush putting the car back together. 
“Even if we had everything available, there aren’t enough hours before the first practice on Friday to get the car put back together. The guys have worked awfully hard to be in the position to run here and it’s not the time to pull all-nighters.”
Rahal’s team is going to shift its emphasis to next weekend’s street race at St. Petersburg, Fla., where the driver with the road-racing background feels he has at least a fighting chance of a decent finish compared to running an oval for the first time on Saturday night.
“I’m just going to experience this weekend from a different perspective and pay attention to what is going on with (temmate) Justin Wilson,” Rahal said. “I’ll probably watch some of the race from the spotters stand to get another perspective. 
“We’ll have to start all over for the race in Kansas which will, now, be my first oval race.”
Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing has teamed up with Rahal Letterman Racing to help in the transition which allows team owner Bobby Rahal to work with his son by offering tips, guidance and technical advice.
“I don’t think he did anything wrong,” Bobby Rahal said of his son’s crash. “Geez, he looked really strong. The car bottomed real heavily and that happens to a lot of people. It’s a shame because he needs time just pounding around, playing with the weight-jacker and things like that, to see what it does. For all of these guys, qualifying and running practice is one thing; running the race is a different experience.
“As a group, they are definitely behind the eight-ball.”
Rahal Letterman Racing has a backup car for its driver, Ryan Hunter-Reay, but the team owner addressed why that car is not available for his son.
“We only have two cars here and I don’t think anybody is going to give up their spare until they know they absolutely don’t need it, and you won’t know that until Friday night,” Bobby Rahal said. “I would think most people’s spare cars are set up for St. Pete.
“We weren’t asked. I know our cars are in the St. Pete setup and that would have taken some effort so it would have been a thrash. We’ve obviously tried to help Newman Haas overall as a team. We’ve lent them all kinds of things, and we’ve given as much assistance as we could.”