Looks like Graham DID do it !!!

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Not sure where and when the sponsorship is coming from but according to Miller, (grain of salt?) he is in full time at N/H/L after Barber. Let's hope it's not just a rumor.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-rahal-returns-to-nhl/

:) :) :) :) :)

[Scotty G.]

Actually makes sense.

NHL is one of the very few teams left, that could run an extra car full-time. Its certainly a better team then HVM (who would probably be the other). They kept the "02" open for a reason, I guess.

Graham probably found a sponsor that is paying enough to get into a NHL car full-time, but not enough to match what Target gives Chip. And Chip absolutely CANNOT run a 3rd car full-time, unless he gets the same money (or more) then Target gives him.

Graham probably signs a 1 year contract and then is free to move to a better operation for 2011. He knows the people at NHL and will settle right back in. Hopefully he can get along with Mutoh better then then he did with that primadonna Doornbos.

Graham only misses 1 race and can still contend for the championship (at least in theory).

[DanicaFan]

Now this is some news worth getting excited about. Its not a no-name driver that most people never heard of and is another backmarker. This guy has won and is capable of winning races.

Good luck Graham. :)

[Mark in Oshawa]

Great news...although Sarah Fisher loses a great shoe for a few events....

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Sarah ONLY had him for St. Pete and Barber, nothing else :) He was a free agent after that.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I thought she had him probably for the 500. My Bad....Oh well, it is good to see Graham back...and I hope he comes out and runs really well for the rest of the year.

[px400r]

Now this is some news worth getting excited about. Its not a no-name driver that most people never heard of and is another backmarker. This guy has won and is capable of winning races.


As opposed to an over-hyped and mediocre driver better known for things other than winning?

[Chamoo]

Miller was reporting this more or less as fact. Usually the rumors he reports that turn out false, you can tell they are not guarenteed.

[V12]

Great news - car count not looking all that bad all of a sudden is it?

[Chamoo]

Great news - car count not looking all that bad all of a sudden is it?

Well, in all honesty, it hasn't been in a while. We are at 25 full time cars from Barber onwards if this pans out, and everyone sticks around for the whole season.

We are looking pretty good.

Would love to see Graham put in a top 5 performance at St. Pete to help him get back into the championship hunt.

[MDS]

I don't know about this. NHL let 10 crew go last month, and that was from an already reduced squad, so I don't know. Most, if not all, of those guys haven't found jobs so they can be recalled, and Hedeki showed some speed in Brazil, so who knows...

[V12]

Well, in all honesty, it hasn't been in a while. We are at 25 full time cars from Barber onwards if this pans out, and everyone sticks around for the whole season.

I agree - it's been steadily rising but from my perspective anyway it seems to have snuck up on me somewhat and I'm only just realising it now. It honestly doesn't seem that long ago (even if it has) since there has been worries of even getting 20 cars to the starting line.

[TURN3]

I don't know about this. NHL let 10 crew go last month, and that was from an already reduced squad, so I don't know. Most, if not all, of those guys haven't found jobs so they can be recalled, and Hedeki showed some speed in Brazil, so who knows...

Bingo, this is what I was going to post about. I was all for Graham being at NHL before the plugged was pulled, even over the chance to drive a 3rd Ganassi. My logic was purely that having NHL at strength gives one more team combo to challenge. At this point though, who knows what NHL has left in terms of equipment, resources, engineering, and crew. They certainly didn't do any development in the offseason. Mutoh isn't typically very fast and he wasn't too far off in Brazil so who knows. I'm skeptical this is going to work out well on the performance side but I'm certainly hoping NHL can at the very least show the form they had last year.

Fingers crossed but it is good to see Graham drum up the sponsorship. Sounds like Benard was a huge benefit to Graham so hopefully this gets to be more of a habit.

[jwhite9185]

It says on Autosport.com that it will be from Long Beach not Barber.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Miller said Barber JWhite...so I guess we shall see who is right, but Robin usually gets this sort of thing accurate...but then again, Rahal has a ride with Sarah Fisher nailed down if he wanted it for this week and Barber, so maybe THAT is what is happening...

[BrentJackson]

It says on Autosport.com that it will be from Long Beach not Barber.

Yeah, because he's driving for Sarah at Barber. :)

[ykiki]

Didn't Miller say after Barber. Long Beach makes sense since it's the race right after Barber.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Yup..after Barber...My bad...

[booger]

Does anybody have a clue who his new sponsor will be? Somebody out there must have an idea.

[ykiki]

Hopefully we'll hear more details come out during the upcoming race weekend. Heck, I'm just looking forward to seeing what Rahal can do in one of Sarah's cars. Last time he stepped into an "unfamiliar" situation at St. Pete, he did pretty well. ;)

[e2mtt]

I'm putting him in my sig for luck... now it he would just man up and drive the car like he stole it, rather then whining so much. :-)

[bblocker68]

Great to see Graham back at NHLR. I was surprised to hear it after Miller kept touting that he'd be at Ganassi for the 500 and beyond.

I hope this means that NHLR has their s*** straight. We keep hearing too many rumors about Lanigan and Bernie Haas not getting along. Seems like Carl has been creeping out of the picture since PLN passed away (and that's a shame).

[Mark in Oshawa]

Great to see Graham back at NHLR. I was surprised to hear it after Miller kept touting that he'd be at Ganassi for the 500 and beyond.

I hope this means that NHLR has their s*** straight. We keep hearing too many rumors about Lanigan and Bernie Haas not getting along. Seems like Carl has been creeping out of the picture since PLN passed away (and that's a shame).

Carl has had health issues himself and I think that was why the ship has seen to be rudderless. I think tho the number of good people there have realized they need Graham a heck of a lot more than they realized, and there is enough of a realism there to find a way to get things done.

He was simply their best option for a driver out there and they need a credible star for the future.