Note: This continues a series of 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES team previews on INDYCAR.com from Feb. 26-March 1. The season starts Sunday, March 10 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
Starting Lineup: Graham Rahal (No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda), Christian Lundgaard (No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda), Pietro Fittipaldi (No. 30 OAKBERRY/Pneustore Honda), Takuma Sato (No. 75 AMADA AMERICA Honda for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge).
2023 in Review: The team’s season featured Lundgaard’s win from the pole in the Honda Indy Toronto and a combined four NTT P1 Awards for Lundgaard and Rahal. The team was particularly strong on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, with Lundgaard winning the pole for the GMR Grand Prix in May and Rahal doing the same for the Gallagher Grand Prix in August. Rahal was primed to win the latter race until Scott Dixon delivered a unique strategy to reach the finish line first. Rahal led a race-high 36 laps. Lundgaard’s first career victory came in dominant fashion in Toronto; he led 54 of the 85 laps. He also added three fourth-place finishes to give him four top-five finishes for the season. The team’s low point came in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, where Rahal and his car failed to qualify and the team’s other three entries (for Lundgaard, Jack Harvey and Katherine Legge) were in the back of the field, as well. Harvey bumped Rahal from the race. Harvey and Lundgaard finished 18th and 19th in the race, respectively, to lead the team. Rahal replaced the injured Stefan Wilson in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s car, finishing 22nd. Harvey had a pair of strong efforts in the IMS road races, but he was replaced for the season’s final three races by Conor Daly (one race) and rookie Juri Vips (two).
New for ’24: Fittipaldi returns to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES after a pair of short seasons in the past. He made six starts in 2018 and three in 2021, all with Dale Coyne Racing. Sato returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 season. This will be Sato’s third stint with RLL. They have won four races together, including the 2020 “500.”
Keep an Eye on This: If RLL has made strides on the ovals, Sato should again be a strong candidate to win a third “500.” Only 10 drivers in history have three or more such victories, and only Helio Castroneves has as many “500” wins in this year’s field as Sato.
Little-Known Fact: RLL was tied for second last year with four poles (two by Lundgaard, two by Rahal). Only Andretti Global (five) had more, and only Team Penske had as many in 2023.