Graham Rahal will drive the No. 24 CareKeepers Chevrolet in the 2023 Indianapolis 500, replacing the injured Stefan Wilson, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Cusick Motorsports announced May 23.
The news comes after Wilson was sidelined due to an injury sustained during May 22 practice for the race with Katherine Legge in which Wilson’s No. 24 was run into the back of by Legge in turn 1, sending both cars into the outside wall.
Wilson had been scheduled to start 25th.
Rahal, normally the driver of the No. 15 car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was bumped out of the Indianapolis 500 in qualifying last Sunday (May 21) by teammate Jack Harvey.
“We are very sad that Stefan was injured Monday and now is unable to compete this Sunday in the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports/CareKeepers Chevrolet,” Dennis Reinbold, DRR owner, said in a release. “Stefan put so much effort into this race that it is just heartbreaking for this to have happened.
“However, we are announcing that Graham Rahal will now drive the No. 24 car this Sunday. We have known Graham for over a decade as he drove our car in 2010 at Iowa Speedway. He suffered through a tough weekend here, but we believe Graham can perform very well this Sunday.
“And I want to thank Bobby Rahal and his entire Rahal Letterman Lanigan team for granting us the opportunity to have Graham join us this week. We also want to thank everyone in the IndyCar Series garage area for offering their assistance after Stefan’s unfortunate incident on Monday. So many people came to us and asked if we needed anything yesterday. It shows the camaraderie within the NTT IndyCar Series. We are anxious to get Graham on the track now in the No. 24 machine.”
The field of 33 drivers will take the green for the 2023 installment of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday May 28, on NBC.
About the author
Chase began working with Frontstretch in the spring of 2023 as a news writer, while also helping fill in for other columns as needed. Chase is now the main writer and reporter for Frontstretch.com's CARS Tour coverage, a role which began late in 2023. Aside from racing, some of Chase's other hobbies include time in the outdoors hunting and fishing, and keeping up with all things Philadelphia sports related.
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Happy to see Graham make the race. Was sad to see him bumped last weekend without being able to make one last run at qualifying. Would be great to see him finish in the top 5. He and his father are top notch people.