As the aforementioned races are ran on street and road course respectively, Fisher admitted that signing Rahal will be a true asset for her team, Sarah Fisher Racing. First of all, she has little experience on this type of circuits in the series, and secondly she considers Rahal as one of the most promising young drivers in the championship.
A sudden lack of sponsorship caused Rahal to part ways with his former team Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing during the past winter, following a fruitful 3-year partnership with the outfit.
“We are all very enthusiastic about having Graham in the seat for the two road course races that start off our season. He has incredible talent. When it was brought to my attention that he was available, I reached out to (main sponsor) Dollar General, who were in full support of our decision to give Graham the opportunity,” said Fisher.
This will be SFR's longest Indy programme during a single season since the team's formation in 2008, as the organization has so far contested in the series on a much limited basis. The team is yet to score a Top 10 finish in the series, and will this year field another young driver for selected events, in the person of Jay Howard.
As for Rahal, the Columbus-born American is the youngest driver to ever score a win in the IndyCar Series, at St Petersburg in 2008. Last year, he powered to 7th place in the overall classification – improving from 17th a season before – scoring 2 pole positions along the way.
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