Written by Dan Jones
Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) have announced the signing of 21-year-old Brit, Louis Foster, as their second confirmed driver for 2025, as the defending Indy NXT Champion steps up alongside Graham Rahal, as the first confirmed rookie for the 2025 season, and closing one of the most coveted seats that remained on the 2025 Driver market.
RLL, co-owned by Bobby Rahal, David Letterman and Mike Lanigan, suffered a difficult 2024 season, only having one top five finish throughout the course of the season, the lowest the team have had in an individual full season since they joined the series as Team Rahal in 2002.
However, the team have since snapped up Foster, who dominated the Indy NXT Championship in 2024, taking eight victories, with a further four podiums, with the Englishman wrapping up the title in the penultimate round at the Milwaukee Mile.
Here's what Bobby Rahal had to say about the team's signing of Foster as well as some insight into the third available seat at the team.
Why did RLL pick Foster?
"For us, we really look at Louis as being a long-term play for us," opened Rahal. "I think Louis really -- I was just very impressed about his racing this year. Really doesn't seem to make mistakes. Can run quick pace lap after lap after lap without making those mistakes and seems to be smart behind the wheel. Particularly being smart behind the wheel I think is so critical."
Rahal's comments fairly reflect what was a dominant year for Foster in Indy NXT. In a field sometimes as high as 21 cars, Foster never finished lower than seventh, and only finished off the podium twice. One of them being a sensational recovery drive at Barber Motorsports Park, where the Brit finished fifth after starting at the back of the field.
"And if you look at how INDY NXT drivers have kind of graduated into the INDYCAR Series, there doesn't seem to be too much difficulty in that. Rasmussen did a good job. Of course, Lundqvist did a good job, and there have been others. To me, it's kind of a natural progression. And I think it does show really how good the NXT series is in terms of preparing young people to make that final step to INDYCAR. For us, it didn't really take a lot of thought. We just feel this was a great opportunity here for us at RLL and I think for Louis, as well."
Indy NXT champions have made a big impact in the series in recent years. 2023 Champion, Christian Rasmussen was pivotal in securing the No.20 Ed Carpenter Racing car in the Leader's Circle, as well as impressing at the Indianapolis 500. 2022 Champion, Linus Lundqvist, stood on the podium twice and took a pole position in his rookie year in 2024. 2022 Champion, Kyle Kirkwood, has two IndyCar wins to his name already, and is one of the most exciting prospects in the series for years to come.
"Well, I don't think there's any doubt that we feel that Louis can run up front. I think that's the goal, obviously, and I don't think there's any question of that. As I've said, the way he's raced this year in particular, where I was able to watch quite a bit of it, I think all the elements are there in my estimation."
"I think it's a good combination. I just liked the way Louis carried himself and how he acts, and I think he's just a class guy. I think for sure that's why we look at him as a long-term opportunity for us, because I think he can figure in races and in championships in the years to come."
Foster has always been a driver that has struggled with budget, however, winning the Indy NXT Championship did provide some scholarship money which supported him in his mission to step up, but Rahal made it clear that Foster was more important than just the financial impact: "It wasn't premature for us to sign Louis, and frankly I wanted to get him before somebody else might. The time was right for us, I think Louis has proven his worth and has earned the situation, and we're committed to working with him and helping him in every way so he can be successful."
The team suffered a huge setback when it was announced that Christian Lundgaard would replace Alexander Rossi at Arrow McLaren, especially after Rahal had made it clear he wanted to build his team around the Dane. Rahal makes it clear that Foster was not a second-choice in comparison to Lundgaard, and the significance of a multi-year deal enables the team to start building their team around the Indy NXT Champion.
"As I mentioned earlier, as well, I rate his off-track demeanor as importantly as his on-track. And he's a gentleman, and I think he's a team player, he's humble, and those are attributes that I think are extremely critical to have a great relationship with us as an organization and with our sponsors. And of course that just gets stronger and stronger over time."
"When we began talking and clearly with each discussion and with each win, I might add, on his part, it made more and more sense to get together. And just really pleased we were able to do so."
What about the third seat?
Foster's confirmation alongside Graham Rahal leaves one more seat to be decided at RLL. Pietro Fittipaldi was the driver of the No.30 this year - Foster's announcement did not come with a car number - but was the lowest of the full-time RLL drivers in the field, and had a best finish of 13th throughout the course of the 2024 season.
Rahal noted that: "You've got the seasoned veteran in Graham, who I think still has four or five good years left in him if he wishes, and then of course Louis, and we're still working on our third car." When asked by DIVEBOMB if Rahal was looking for a more experienced or youthful driver in the car, Rahal was more committed to a fresher face: "Well, I think, let's face it, I don't know if there's any what I would call real veterans out there available. You perhaps have Conor Daly. But most of the opportunities are really on the young drivers, whether they've come from INDY NXT or whether they've come from Formula 2 or what have you."
"Having these young guys come in is exciting for us, and there's just a ton of potential to realize from it. We're probably going to end up really still looking for another young driver to sit in that third car."
The team tested Zane Maloney at the Indianapolis Road Course last month, but the Barbadian has since been confirmed for a drive with Abt Lola in Formula E. "There's no question he'll [Maloney] do very well in his future. There's a lot of guys in Formula 2 that have graduated into INDYCAR, and that's clearly an opportunity -- that's clearly a proven entryway into INDYCAR with Christian and Palou and others."
When asked about Rinus VeeKay, who has departed ECR, with Alexander Rossi joining the team, Rahal said the team would 'consider' the option.
The Vips factor
The team have had Juri Vips behind the scenes for the last two seasons, with Rahal's son, Graham, being full of praise for the Estonian when asked by DIVEBOMB earlier in the year: "He's had great success on the international racing scene, and he deserves a chance in INDYCAR racing. And he's a pro in the way that he handles his business, and I just hope -- like I said a second ago, whether it's us or it's somebody else, I hope Juri gets an opportunity to shine because he deserves it."
Vips has had a simulator role, primarily, both for the IndyCar team, as well as work for the team's factory BMW outfit in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. Vips had the opportunity to race in a fourth entry for the team at Portland, where he finished 19th, in addition to outings he had at the end of the 2023 season in Portland and Laguna Seca.
When asked by DIVEBOMB if Vips was an option for the third seat, Rahal was full of praise: "He's done a great job for us done a lot of work that people don't really see. But he's done a lot of simulation work for us, and of course have done a couple races for us. I'm a big fan of Juri Vips. He's obviously somebody we would really like to see in our car. I think he's earned it. We just have to find the sponsorship for it is the reality, as I've mentioned in an article recently."
As noted by Rahal, sponsorship is a huge factor, but he made it very clear: "Juri definitely would be one of the key people that we'd like to see in the third car."
Building a team for the future
RLL have struggled compared to some of their competition in the last few seasons. In the last four seasons, the team have just a singular win, with five podiums across the course of those four seasons. The four seasons prior, the team had six victories and 16 podiums. But Rahal has ambitions to make that step back towards the front, as he noted to DIVEBOMB: "For us, I think we want to -- we would like to be one of the first to really create this young driver cadre in our team, thinking three, four, five years ahead from now. When you look at the great drivers that are out there that have been with great teams -- Will Power has been with Penske for, I don't even know how long now, 12, 13 years -- develop those kinds of relationships. That's what you want to -- I think that's important to us as a team." "Having these young guys come in is exciting for us, and there's just a ton of potential to realize from it."
Rahal is striving to make short-term gain too: "We're continuing to invest in our performance with our R&D group. We've been pretty competitive on the road courses and street courses. Still struggle a bit on the ovals, but I think we've got some good feel for where we need to be. We've brought back in Todd Malloy, who is a two-time Indy 500 winner as an engineer, and he's kind of our lead race engineer now. So I am really excited about that because I've known Todd for many years, and he's a really sharp guy.
For us, it's all about improving our oval track performance."
The team's qualifying performance on ovals, particularly at the Indianapolis 500, has been a concern. Graham Rahal was the last driver to make the field this year in 33rd, with 2023 seeing three of their cars compete in bump day, Rahal being the one being bumped, before he replaced the injured Stefan Wilson in the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing entry.
"We're continuing to do what we can to improve ourselves. I think Louis is part of that, frankly. As I say, there's a lot of experience with Graham, who's got a great feel for setting up cars for the race in particular, and I think if you asked Christian or Pietro, they would echo that. I think the combination of the two and whomever we might attract for the third seat, I think it's -- we naturally have big expectations for '25. And as I said, Louis is part of the -- one piece of that puzzle that's going to help us get to where we want to go."
The team aims for a single driver for the third entry, again aiming for a long-term relationship, with Rahal emphasising the need for competitiveness within the team for many years to come.
Rahal's comments toward a 'young driver cadre' and building for the future, which was re-iterated several times, lean more and more towards young drivers. The team are believed to be in conversations with Pietro Fittipaldi, however the likes of Vips remain a key part of the equation into deciding a third seat.
It's a crucial step into an RLL re-build. Foster's step up to IndyCar has been more than deserved, and is a key part into the new 'young driver cadre' that RLL wish to build.
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