When Graham Rahal raised his fist as he crossed the finish line in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry celebrating victory at last Saturday's MAVTV500, it meant more than just the end of his 124-race winless streak. It also meant more than him becoming the eighth different winner in 11 races so far this season.

It meant something else.

For someone with such huge shoes to fill, triumphing for the first time at the age of 19, becoming the youngest ever Indy car race winner, would've been more impressive had similar performances from Rahal become more common.

It was not the case.

As soon as his stint with Newman-Haas ended, Graham Rahal went on a journey, landing part-time gigs with Sarah Fisher’s team, Dreyer & Reinbold and even a brief reunion with his first team – without much success, needless to say – before being announced as the driver of the new, expanded Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 38 entry.

Once again, expectations were high - and once again, they were not met. In fact, despite a three-podium season for Rahal in 2011, his tenure with Ganassi was best known for the 2012 Texas race. Rahal held a comfortable lead up front until making light contact with the wall, only a handful of laps to go, gifting away a sure-win that would put him back in the spotlight, back in a time when Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden had completely overshadowed him as the present and future of the American open wheel racing.

As he left one of the series’ titans to run a full-time operation with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with the blessing of the National Guard, the feeling all around was the union of one of the most talented young drivers to never develop under the watch of his champion father was a make or break deal.

Graham could either become the next Ryan Hunter-Reay – the first American since Sam Hornish, Jr. to win a title – or the new Marco Andretti, as up to that point the way their careers were shaping up drew eerily similar comparisons: a teenage winner responsible to carry on the family’s name who never actually made it big.

Two and a half seasons later, he proved to be neither.

The first pair of years in which he was under Bobby’s orders were disappointing: two podiums, two other top-five results, and in both seasons he set new lows in the standings, finishing 18th in 2013 and 19th in 2014.

If after ’13 and ’14 the cracks were getting more and more visible, 2015 had all the elements to finally be the “break” year. The National Guard had ended its sponsorship program after the conclusion of last season, and even before the controversial new aero kits were in use, Chevrolet had a clear-cut advantage over Honda’s V6 turbo engine, which powers Rahal’s drive.

Graham Rahal and the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team not only overcame adversity, but also made the best of a down year for Honda teams in general to soar higher than ever before.

A runner-up finish on a different strategy is good; this is exactly what Rahal managed in his impressive storm to finishing second at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama behind, ironically, Josef Newgarden, who earned his first career victory. Backing it up the very next round, at the IMS road course, was even more impressive. A third podium at a rain-marred race in Detroit made for Graham’s best year yet, but one thing was still missing.

The missing piece of the puzzle came last Saturday in California. After Fontana’s nail-bitter, the tides had definitely turned, and that old question was finally answered: this is his “make” year.

With five races to go this year, Rahal surged as the first driver to disrupt the dominance imposed by the Chevy engines, best represented by the almighty Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing operations. Eleven races into the season, only Juan Pablo Montoya, Will Power and Scott Dixon have racked up more points than him, as he ranks ahead of the series' legends including Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan, who have a bigger structure, more funding, and seemingly better engines in their Chevrolet-powered cars.

At only 26, Graham Rahal still has a long way to go – and his days as a true championship contender may still be relatively distant in the future, as RLL is not, as of today, a powerhouse and whether his 2015 season will end up being looked at as a fluke in the future is still unknown. However, his solid drives have shown the world of motorsport that he can be what everybody thought he could be - and it is likely that more is on the horizon.

Next up for the Verizon IndyCar Series is the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at the famed Milwaukee Mile. Follow @VAVELIndyCar on Twitter for coverage leading up to and during the race weekend.


Pete Liguori is a writer for the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteUSSports. 

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About the author
Pete Liguori
Sports writer for the Racing and Tennis sections on VAVEL. Also a huge baseball and football fan. Trying to live the Big City dream. Follow me on Twitter, chaps: @PeteUSSports