Rahal is a name that is synonymous with racing.  Bobby Rahal is one of the most famous American drivers of all-time finishing with 24 Champ Car wins including an unforgettable 1986 year taking six checkered flags including his only wins at the Indy 500 and the Toronto Indy.  These days, the racing torch has been passed to his son Graham, who currently competes in the IZOD IndyCar Series.  

Graham is no stranger to the track being around it since childhood and later competing in the now-defunct Champ Car and current IndyCar series for the past five seasons.  If you’re looking for an up-and-coming American superstar – look no further than the young, charismatic, and energetic Graham Rahal.  At only 23 years of age, Graham is living his racing dream for arguably the best racing team over the past decade in Chip Ganassi Racing.

This season has brought about many changes to IndyCar including the new DW12 car coupled with an engine battle between Honda, Chevy, and (technically we can still say) Lotus.  None of these changes have phased Graham, who’s confident that his #38 Service Central sponsored car and team are ready to challenge the front-runners during each race, well at least the street/road courses.

I had a chance to sit down and talk with the young star before the 26th running of the Honda Indy Toronto on his earliest memories of racing as a child, the dynamics of Chip Ganassi Racing and his relationship with his three teammates, the challenging track of Toronto, and of course, his collection of personal cars.

DM - When you hear the Rahal name, you think racing- what was your earliest memory of racing?

GR - I’m asked that question often and it’s a hard one to answer.  I’ve always been around a race track as a kid – for me a race track is being at home.

I spent a lot of time at the Mid-Ohio and Cleveland race tracks as those two were close to where I live.  But my first driving experience was at five years old where I did a couple of laps at Circleville Raceway just outside of Columbus, Ohio.

DM - Let me go a little further in your life, when did you know you would be a race car driver?

GR - When I was 3-4 years, there’s a video of me at a bowling alley saying I want to be a race car driver.  That’s always what I wanted to be and I’m fortunate that I am.  I don’t think I’m that good at anything else.

DM - Do you feel added pressure to win, because you are Bobby Rahal’s son?

GR -There’s added pressure, there’s no doubt about it! You fight it and I always will.  No matter what success I achieve, you’re always going to be son of…

DM - You’ve had a good history at Newman/Haas Racing, bounced around a bit in 2010, are you happy to be a part of Chip Ganassi Racing for the past two seasons?

GR - I’m fortunate to be here.  Certainly I’ve been with some great teams in my young career.  In 2009 with Newman/Haas, I truly felt we were on the cusp of greatness.  We could have won a lot of races if I was driving like I am today.  We would have at least been in the hunt for the championship.  It really felt like we were looking to be one of the most promising teams and unfortunately things fell apart for 2010.  

Fast forward to now, I’m with another great team and Chip’s support means a lot. We’ve had fights and battles like all teams, but I hope I’m here for many years to come.

DM - For stretches last year, you were really competitive and challenging in most races, how close is the #38 car in reaching its first podium? 

GR - This year has been even better than last year.  At the start of the year, we were competing in the top five every race.  At St. Pete’s we had bad strategy and moved back to 12th; at Barber we got the result finishing 4th; at Long Beach we had a competitive car and we got into it with Marco [Andretti]; finally in Brazil, we were running up at 3rd in front when there was contact in front of me and I had to go straight through the run-off and lost 12 spots.  Bad luck has contributed to poor results and we’ve had so many of these instances that have built-up against us that people don’t realize.  Yet we are still 10th in points and on a streak of three top-tens in a row.  

The speed has been better this year – it just doesn’t show.

In terms of confidence level at the end of last year I felt pretty good.  In Baltimore, we were neck-to-neck with Will [Power] and we were the class of the field by a mile, but again bad pit strategy landed us around 10th. 

This year, I like the car a lot.  It seems to suit my style and in pre-season testing we were really fast and we have struggled slightly to re-gain that form.  I feel happy that we are back on the street courses starting here in Toronto as it suits are style for whatever reason over the ovals.

DM - Considering you don’t feel your car is suited to ovals you were definitely in contention in Texas – what happened?

GR - If you would have asked me two re-starts from the end if we would have been challenging for the win, I would have said no.  We were positioned in sixth on that last re-start  and I just thought we are either going to crash and burn or win this thing.  I drove it hard and I was hanging on – there were five other instances during that race that I thought we lost, there were many big saves.  Unfortunately, I made a mistake at the end and I’m still in amazement that I hit that wall.  I truly didn’t think I was that close.  

If I didn’t hit the wall – Justin [Wilson] wouldn’t have been able to pass me.  

DM - In IndyCar or any circuit, it’s hard to win.  You won your first IndyCar race back in 2009 at St. Pete’s and you came so close to winning your second at Texas, how frustrating does that feel?

GR - I hope that’s not the closest I’ll ever come to winning again.  But I’ve put Texas behind me and I haven’t thought about it for a while.  We finished second; it was a great result for the team and for the standings.

I feel that there were other places this year, where if breaks went our way, such as Detroit, we would have won as well.  I feel that I’m driving well and I remain positive and hopeful that if I keep this up we will have another win coming soon.  We just have to find a way as a team to be better, especially on the oval tracks.

DM - Let’s talk about the Chip Ganassi team – you have four cars, but there have been some issues in the past that it’s separated into two separate groups?  How’s your relationship with Dario [Franchitti] and Scott [Dixon] as well as Charlie [Kimball]?

GR - Last year in Toronto in particular there was some built-up anger over a certain situation.  Ultimately, it was taken out on me, which was not deserved and I believe they would agree with that statement today. 

Right now, we don’t have any issues and we’re working well as a team and it’s getting better.  However, it’s tough to have four cars and find a way for communication to work smoothly out of two different shops.  It’s a difficult group to balance considering the amount of engineers, mechanics, and personalities.

In terms of strategy, Charlie and I do our own thing. We get an idea of where Dario and Scott are going to be on race day and vice versa.

DM - So is it a team within a team or one big unit?

GR - On a race weekend or when we’re back at home working on the cars, we operate as two different teams.  Charlie and I debrief and we share data and set-ups.  On the flip-side there engineers are not working on my car, so the whole group doesn’t need to come together on that.  It’s not the same as Andretti Autosport, where all three cars are built in the same shop – we have two separate shops.

DM - I look at a team like Newman/Haas last year with a rookie in James Hinchcliffe and a veteran in Oriol Servia.  James learned a lot from Oriol which helped him mightily throughout the year.  You and Charlie are both fairly young – does that help or hinder the development of the team?

GR - At Ganassi, we get to see Dario and Scott’s data and of course and if I have any questions I ask them.  Does that make it easy? No. 

I was a teammate of Oriol’s for just the last three races in 2009 and I learned more from him in three races than from all I learned leading up to that point.

Dario and Scott have won several Indy 500s and are two of the best drivers in IndyCar and around the world.  They have two different styles and my style is more similar to Scott, but I’ve learned a lot from the both of them.  I’ve learned a lot on how to put a lap together or make a race last for the whole distance, and how to avoid mistakes throughout each race.

We are young, but Charlie and I have come along the way.  He has a good understanding of the sport through Indy Lights and racing in Europe.  We work awfully hard to find an edge to compete against the Target boys next door. 

DM - Switching gears to Toronto, why is this race known for being the most challenging tracks?

GR - To me the surface changes and the bumps are the most challenging aspects of Toronto.  They re-paved lakeshore, but then on Turn 3 it goes back to concrete which causes fits for the car.  To go fast at Toronto you feel on edge – it’s a track that takes a lot of effort and you have to be strong to do well.  

I love coming here though – some great memories and some bad ones.  Being on pole during my time in Champ Car Atlantic back in 2006 was a great memory and I was running in third last year until I was taken out of the race with just a few laps left.

DM -Talk about the city of Toronto and their fans.

GR - The fans make this race what it is. The fans have a passion and love for open-wheel racing and they’re knowledgeable about it.  We go to many places throughout North America and many fans are excited, but they might not know about the cars and drivers as they do in Toronto or especially Indianapolis.

I much rather go to the crappiest race track in the world and have 100,000 fans cheering than go to the greatest race track and have nobody there.  The fans make the event! Ultimately, they're the ones that keep me employed, as fans produce sponsors.

DM - Last question, I’ve heard that you have a great car collection.  What’s in your garage and are you close to having the best collection amongst the other drivers?

GR - [Big laugh] I definitely don’t have the best collection – that belongs to Dario or [Tony] Kanaan. It’s really the three of us that are the car nuts of the group who happily buy new cars.  

I’ve got a 2005 Porsche Carrera GT that I love the most.  It’s the greatest road car ever and that’s why I had to buy it. I have it more as an investment than anything else.  I actually just sold both of my McLaren MP4-12C’s, as I just bought a bigger home and I’m trying to be more responsible.  So you are asking this question at the wrong time.

Currently, I have 5-6 unique cars, but I’m always buying and selling.  My collection includes a 1964 MINI S that I re-stored myself and a 1969 Fiat 500 that needs a lot of attention, but I still love it.  

Cars are my passion, so if I’m not on the race track or working at the shop – I’m probably doing something with cars. 

The Rahall’s have always been collectors of cars and own a lot of dealerships.  We also have a car barn where we store a lot of our cars including my dad’s collection of Porsches and Ferraris, my brother’s muscle cars, and I seem to be more into modern vehicles.

Associated Press - Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone said Thursday that the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead next week as scheduled — unless national authorities decide to cancel the race.

Pressure has been growing for the April 22 race to be canceled for the second straight year because of ongoing clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters. The crackdown has left at least 50 people dead.

Ecclestone, however, said ahead of the Chinese GP that there had been no change of plans.

"The race is on the calendar. Unless it gets withdrawn by the national sporting authority in the country, we will be there," he said.

Ecclestone plans to meet with the F1 teams on Friday for discussions, but stressed that wouldn't change the situation.

"I don't see any difference between here (China) and Bahrain," Ecclestone said. "It's the same. It's another race on the calendar."

Bahrain's Sunni leaders and race organizers remain committed to going ahead as a way of showing the divided Persian Gulf island nation is moving past the strife of the past year.

Bahrain's circuit chairman said earlier this week that extremist groups are using "scare-mongering tactics" to make the unrest seem worse than it is to force the cancellation of the race.

Last year, Bahrain organizers canceled the race after an attempt to reschedule it by motor sport's world governing body (FIA) was criticized by rights groups, F1 teams and fans.

Amid the ongoing turmoil in the country, human rights groups have criticized the race being reinstated this year. Protesters have galvanized supporters by incorporating anti-F1 chants in their marches, putting anti-F1 posters on walls and criticizing Ecclestone and F1 drivers in online posts.

Amnesty International is also planning to release a report next week on the eve of the race detailing the numbers of protesters in Bahraini jails and the human rights violations that it says are still being committed by security forces.

Many drivers avoided talking about the situation on Thursday. When six of them were asked at a news conference whether they had any moral problems with competing in Bahrain, all six sat completely still and didn't say a word.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel also deflected questions about the race.

"No Bahrain questions. Ask the people in the paddock," he said. "Maybe I don't watch enough TV."

Mark Webber of Red Bull, however, noted the difficulty of the position the drivers have been put in.

"Ultimately, we are all human. We have morals, we have ways we see things," he said. "We like to think that people and situations are fair and everything is, as I suppose, correct as we would like it to be.

"As a grand prix driver, I'm contracted to the team, they're contracted to the FIA. They hold a 20-round world championship. We go to those venues and race. And that's where it is."

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, who is coming off a victory at the Malaysian GP last month, said any decision is out of the drivers' hands.

"I think we need to trust the FIA in which the people that have all the information," he said. "As personal point of view, the sport is made to help some kinds of these situations. If doing the race, the sport can help the people there, that can be a good thing — we will be good to go. If it is the opposite, if the sport can be a problem, so it is no good to go. We will accept any decision."

Webber was asked if he thought the country would be safe for drivers, officials and workers.

"We need to trust the people making the decision that they know how these people are going to operate," he said. "That's what it comes down to at the end of the day. You and I don't know. And that's what we're going to find out."

HOUSTON, TX (AP) — IndyCar added a race in Houston for the first weekend of October 2013, a step toward expanding the circuit's reach in the United States.

The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston will be run on a temporary street course on the parking lots near Reliant Stadium, the home of the NFL's Houston Texans. Champ Car hosted a race there in 2006 and 2007, on a 1.7-mile course set up in the massive parking lots adjacent to the stadium. The race was cancelled when Champ Car merged with the IndyCar circuit in 2008.

Roger Penske and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves joined officials from Harris County and Shell to make the announcement. Penske said Houston is a major market that is ideal for IndyCar's plans for expansion in the U.S.

"We need to have date equity, we need to be in places in cities that will support it," Penske said. "Racers give a lot back, and the opportunity to support many of the venues within the city will also be important."

The announcement was made at Redstone Golf Club, site of this week's Houston Open, also sponsored by Shell. The oil company and Penske entered into a cross-business alliance before the 2011 racing season.

CART, the predecessor of Champ Car, hosted a race on a street course in downtown Houston between 1998-2001. Increased construction in the city forced the cancellation of the race, but Champ Car announced it would return in 2006, at the Reliant site south of downtown.

"For me, it feels like we're going to a place where we're welcome," said Castroneves, who won last week's season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. "I don't know why we left Houston. But the timing is right now to start all over again, and it's an important market. You're talking about the American and Latin-American community, and you're just expanding to areas that worked in the past."

Drivers in the Champ Car races complained about the rough, bumpy surface at Reliant Park, but Castroneves said organizers have plenty of time to work out the kinks.

"We have a long way to go, maybe the city can help, and we can find lines that can be suitable for the cars," Castroneves said. "Even with that, they were still able to bring it back here. I'm sure we're going to have a great time."

IndyCar chief executive officer Randy Bernard said the circuit is not only looking for more American venues, but specific markets that will make a "big difference" to sponsors, team owners and television partners.

This year's schedule has 16 events, and Bernard said the circuit wants to add up to three more races by next year, all in American cities.

"There is so much energy here in this market, we feel like we can really capitalize and make this one of the premier events on the circuit," Bernard said. "We're an American-based racing body, and I think we have a lot of momentum building. Our job is to create big events, and we feel like this can be one of our big events."

The city of Houston created a local organizing committee two years ago, and the efforts culminated in Wednesday's announcement. Mike Lanigan, the former lead promoter of Champ Car races in Houston and Cleveland, is the chairman and CEO of the new Houston race.

Bobby Rahal, a co-owner of a racing team with Lanigan, said the addition of the Houston race is exciting news for the circuit.

"I joined Mike several years ago to speak with the business community about the potential of having a Grand Prix," Rahal said, "and it was clear that there is a tremendous amount of local support for the event, which is critical for long-term success. It will be a marquee event for the series."

Shell and Pennzoil entered a multi-year agreement to sponsor the race, though race officials would not confirm how long the deal runs.

It's been a long wait, but the 2012 IndyCar season is finally upon us. The 16-race schedule will kick off with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 25th. Unlike the last few seasons, there's been a plethora of changes – from the cars to the engines to the drivers and to the venues – that have opened the door to many unknowns heading into the first race.

The series has introduced its first redesigned car in nine years in the new spec Chassis from Dallara, named the DW12 in memory of the late Dan Wheldon, who spent a portion of last year testing it before his death in the final race in Las Vegas. Safety was the focus, and it appears that they have delivered in that department: driver seats are surrounded by three inches of foam to reduce the impact of a crash, and wider side pods have been placed on all cars in order to prevent wheel-to-wheel contact (this in addition to a rear wheel-well that will keep the cars from going airborne. Not only is the DW12 considered the safest car, but it is also lighter and faster, with a reduction in weight due mainly to the change from steel to carbon brakes.

Two new engine manufacturers will also join the fray this year. Chevrolet and Lotus will compete with Honda, breaking the latter's monopoly on engine supply. It's hard to tell who will have the upper hand, even though Chevrolet has had more success during its testing at Sebring. Which manufacturer has the upper hand on any given day will most likely be determined by whether the race is on an oval or a road course. Lotus, the last manufacturer to sign on, has lagged behind in developing its engine. In a changing IndyCar landscape with an increasingly level playing field, it's possible that the four teams and five drivers with Lotus could find themselves on the outside looking in, leading to a significant gap between them and the rest of the field (not unlike another high-profile racing series: Formula One).

Every new season brings driver changes, and this year has been no different: eight drivers have switched teams, and four new full-time drivers have been welcomed. The most anticipated debut will be Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello, who signed on with KV Racing. He will bring a lot of much-needed fan and media attention to fill the void after the departure of media-darling Danica Patrick, who left to join NASCAR full time.

Both full-time Canadians, Alex Tagliani and rookie-of-the-year James Hinchcliffe, have found new teams in Team Barracuda and Andretti Autosport, respectively. Late in the year Tagliani found himself the odd man out at Sam Schmidt Motorsports and had to make a change while Hinchcliffe landed a dream ride at Andretti Autosport with the most recognized sponsor in the series, GoDaddy.

The battle for the title is wide open, but it seems likely that we'll once again see four-time IndyCar Series-champion and Chip Ganassi driver Dario Franchitti together with two-time bridesmaid Will Power of Team Penske neck and neck near the top of the driver's standings at year's end. In the past, Power has had less success on oval tracks, so with only five tracks out of sixteen on the schedule being ovals, it's quite possible that he will finally dethrone Franchitti and earn his first well-deserved championship.

Other contenders will be the usual suspects, including Franchitti's teammate, Scott Dixon, KV Racing's Tony Kanaan and Barrichello, Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing's Graham Rahal. However, there are plenty of young wild cards in the pack, lead by Hinchcliffe, his teammate, Marco Andretti, and the runner-up for rookie of the year, J.R. Hildebrand, representing Panther Racing.

IndyCar needed time to heal after the loss of Wheldon, but it has recovered and made plenty of changes, with safety as the paramount objective. Each driver has been hesitant to make predictions given all the unknowns leading into the 2012 campaign, but one thing is certain: this promises to be one of the most action-packed seasons in recent memory.

Below is a list of drivers competing in the 2012 IndyCar season, along with a list of their teams and engine manufacturers:

2 Ryan Briscoe Sydney, Australia Team Penske Chevrolet

3 Helio Castroneves Sao Paulo, Brazil Team Penske Chevrolet

4 JR Hildebrand Sausalito, Calif. Panther Racing Chevrolet

5 E.J. Viso Caracas, Venezuela KV Racing Technology Chevrolet

6 Katherine Legge Guildford, England Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus

7 Sebastien Bourdais Le Mans, France Lotus-Dragon Racing Lotus

8 Rubens Barrichello Sao Paulo, Brazil KV Racing Technology Chevrolet

9 Scott Dixon Auckland, NZ Target Chip Ganassi Honda

10 Dario Franchitti Edinburgh, Scotland Target Chip Ganassi Honda

11 Tony Kanaan Salvador, Brazil KV Racing Technology Chevrolet

12 Will Power Toowoomba, Aus. Team Penske Chevrolet

14 Mike Conway Bromley, England A.J. Foyt Enterprises Honda

15 Takuma Sato Tokyo, Japan Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda

18 Justin Wilson Sheffield, England Dale Coyne Racing Honda

19 James Jakes Leeds, England Dale Coyne Racing Honda

20 Ed Carpenter Indianapolis, Ind. Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

22 Oriol Servia Pals, Spain Lotus – DRR Lotus

26 Marco Andretti Nazareth, Pa. Andretti Autosport Chevrolet

27 James Hinchcliffe Toronto, Ont Andretti Autosport Chevrolet

28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Andretti Autosport Chevrolet

38 Graham Rahal New Albany, Ohio Service Central Ganassi Honda

67 Josef Newgarden Hendersonville, Tenn. Sarah Fisher Hartman Honda

77 Simon Pagenaud Poitiers, France Schmidt-Hamilton Honda

78 Simona de Silvestro Thun, Switzerland Lotus-HVM Racing Lotus

83 Charlie Kimball Camarillo, Calif Novo Nordisk Ganassi Honda

98 Alex Tagliani Lachenaie, Que. Bryan Herta Autosport Lotus