Rahal Letterman Racing

Lore & Background

The team was established in late 1991 when driver Bobby Rahal and business partner Carl Hogan purchased the distressed Patrick Racing team from U.E. "Pat" Patrick. Originally named Rahal-Hogan Racing, it was changed to Team Rahal in 1996 when Hogan left to form his own team. David Letterman purchased a minority interest in the team in 1996, and the team went by the name of Rahal Letterman Racing from May 2004 until December 2010. Throughout the team's history in IMSA with factory partner BMW, the sports car division has run under the name BMW Team RLL. In 2024, the team was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for unspecified reasons; the investigation is still ongoing. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is Honda's longest-tenured continuous IndyCar team partner, having used Honda engines continuously since renewing the partnership in 2003.

In Their Own Story

The garage smells like brake fluid and old coffee. It's 6:47 a.m. on a Tuesday in July, and the only light is the amber glow of the work lamps strung along the ceiling. Bobby is at the back of the shop, not in a suit, not on a phone call — he's on his knees under the rear wing, arguing with a twenty-six-year-old engineer about a two-degree change in the endplate angle. The engineer says the CFD says it doesn't matter. Bobby says the CFD doesn't drive the car through Turn 4 at Mid-Ohio in the rain. The engineer goes quiet. That's the whole meeting. Paul Letterman is somewhere upstairs, playing a bass line on a laptop, occasionally drifting into the garage to ask if they've ordered the good sandwiches. Outside, the Dallara sits on its jack stands, half-stripped, waiting. It will be on the grid in four days. It will probably finish 13th. And that will be fine. That has always been fine. That is the whole point.

Reader's Guide

The team's early success came in 1992 when owner-driver Bobby Rahal won the CART championship with four victories. After absorbing Truesports in late 1992, the team moved to Hilliard and attempted an in-house chassis program, but abandoned it after 1993. The team introduced Honda engines to IndyCar in 1994 but cut ties after one disappointing season. In 1995, they switched to Ilmor-Mercedes engines. After Carl Hogan left in 1996, the team became Team Rahal and later Rahal Letterman Racing. The team's first Indianapolis 500 win as an owner came in 2004 with Buddy Rice, and a second in 2020 with Takuma Sato.

Did You Know?

• The team won the CART championship in its very first season, 1992, with owner-driver Bobby Rahal.
• David Letterman, the former television talk show host, purchased a minority interest in the team in 1996.
• The team's sports car division has run under the name BMW Team RLL with factory partner BMW.
• In 2024, the team was investigated by the FBI for unspecified reasons; the investigation is ongoing.