IZOD IndyCar Series: The Milwaukee 225

Topics:  The Milwaukee 225

Bobby Rahal
June 19, 2011

WEST ALLIS, WISCONSIN

THE MODERATOR: We are joined now by Bobby Rahal, and he is going to tell us about how special it is to win today, with it being Father's Day.
BOBBY RAHAL: Well I'm real pleased for Graham. I was up in the grandstands like the regular folks watching the race, and it was a great race, tough race. This race has always been tough, and as he said, I told him before he ever came here, I said you're going to love Milwaukee, this was my favorite oval, maybe this and Pocono, when I drove IndyCars. Because you really had to drive it and I think it's a little smoother now than it used to be and you really had to drive the car and it was a driver's track, a driver's oval. The car is so important, and it is here, too, but the driver really makes a big difference here.
It was a hell of a race and I'm just really proud of him. I think he's driving with great maturity this year, and I think we saw that at Indy. I think we saw it in Brazil. We saw it even last weekend in Texas even though the second race didn't go well for them, a great result, and that's three podiums in the last four races. So that's what you have to do if you want to finish in the Top-5 of this championship for sure.

Q. Inaudible.
BOBBY RAHAL: What was it, two years ago, 2009, I thought they had a tremendous crowd here. I'm not quite sure why the crowd was not as big this time as then.
I think there's a lot of enthusiasm for this track. There's such great tradition here. It's close to Chicago. You've got Milwaukee. It's not far from Minneapolis. There's no reason why it shouldn't fill the place. I don't know what happened in the promotion of the race prior to it, so that might have something to do with it.
But you know, maybe being away from a year, maybe that's not such a good thing. It's like starting from scratch again. But I don't think there's anybody that drives here that comes here to race that doesn't like coming here. And I think this racetrack has always produced great races. And we saw one today. I don't know of there ever being a bad race, in all of the years I was here, they were always good races.
You know, hopefully they will be back, will be back, because we are hoping to have a full-time program next year. And I think Milwaukee is important to the series for sure.

Q. Can you talk about a favorite memory of yours in your career here at Milwaukee?
BOBBY RAHAL: I finished second here way too many times I'm not sure that was a favorite memory. Somebody said, 'Oh, Graham is carrying on the Rahal tradition of finishing second.'
I sure open he breaks that tradition in a hurry. I never did win an IndyCar race there, but I really love Laguna Seca.
Seriously, you know, '92, we won three of the four mile-tracks when I won my lost championship and we were on pole here, even though my guys did a Dario and they ran me out of gas on the last lap of qualifying. Luckily my first lap was fast enough.
But he got a little unlucky on yellow and I finished second to Michael and really pissed me off because we should have won that race. We should have won all the mile-tracks. I love the mile-tracks in IndyCars, I think are they are the best, without question, because you've really got to drive it.
I have a lot of great memories here, even the seconds were are good memories but I always loved racing here. Of course being associated with Miller Brewing Company for all those years was like a home race for us. I was up in the grandstands watching the race today and people buying me beer. You know, good cheesers. I love the cheeseheads. They are real people and real racers. We had a real good time.

Q. Did you win --
BOBBY RAHAL: I won as a car owner -- I won two races here, with Kenny Brack and then with Jourdain in 2003 on a very cold night race. So I guess I won here so to speak.

Q. You can buy me a beer.
BOBBY RAHAL: I'll buy you a beer.