Following the 1991 CART season, Bobby Rahal left Galles-Kraco Racing and signed with Patrick Racing. In late 1991, Patrick Racing encountered financial and legal trouble after rumours surfaced that it had shipped an Ilmor Chevrolet V-8 engine to Alfa Romeo developers in Italy, who allegedly dismantled it to examine its design. Facing a compromised engine supply and escalating legal problems, Patrick Racing was sold in December 1991 to Rahal and new partner Carl Hogan, who formed Rahal-Hogan Racing. They retained key personnel including Jim McGee and Scott Roembke, kept sponsorship from Miller Genuine Draft, and re-secured the Ilmor Chevrolet engine lease.
In 1992 the team won the CART championship on their first attempt. Rahal drove a Lola T92/00-Chevy to four victories and three poles, clinching the title by 4 points after finishing third at Laguna Seca. It was Rahal's third CART championship as a driver, and the fifth consecutive — and final — title for the Ilmor Chevy "A" engine.
In late 1992, Rahal-Hogan absorbed Truesports, where Rahal had begun his CART career. The team relocated to Hilliard, into the old Truesports facility, and took over its "All-American" chassis program. The resulting R/H-001, debuted in 1993, proved uncompetitive on ovals; Rahal failed to qualify at Indianapolis after being bumped with 15 minutes remaining. The team switched him to a Lola T93/00 mid-season and he rebounded to 4th in points. By season's end the in-house chassis project was abandoned.
In 1994 Rahal-Hogan introduced the Honda HRX Indy V-8t to IndyCar racing following development work throughout 1993. Both Rahal and team-mate Mike Groff struggled to qualify at the 1994 Indianapolis 500 with the Honda-powered Lola T94/00; both ultimately withdrew and re-qualified using loaned PC-22-Ilmors from Penske. Rahal finished 3rd with the borrowed chassis. Dissatisfied with the engine's progress, the team cut ties with Honda at season's end.
For 1995, Raul Boesel replaced Groff and the team switched to Ilmor-Mercedes Benz "D" engines. Rahal finished third at the 1995 Indianapolis 500 in what proved to be his final Indy start.
In 1996, Carl Hogan departed to form his own operation and the team was renamed Team Rahal. Rahal signed a five-year sponsorship extension with Miller and switched to the Reynard 96I chassis. Bryan Herta joined as second driver. David Letterman purchased a minority interest in the team in February 1996. Due to the open-wheel Split, Team Rahal skipped the Indianapolis 500 and instead raced at the U.S. 500 at Michigan. At the 1996 season finale at Laguna Seca, Alex Zanardi passed Herta on the final lap at the "Corkscrew" — an incident that became known in racing circles simply as "The Pass."
For 1997, the team switched to Ford-Cosworth XD engines. Rahal ran out of fuel with one lap to go while leading the Rio 400, his best opportunity for a win since 1992. The team finished 11th and 12th in points. In 1998 — Rahal's retirement season — Bryan Herta won at Laguna Seca, leading 81 of 83 laps; it was Team Rahal's first race win since 1992.
With Rahal retired from driving, over 1999–2001 the team employed Bryan Herta, Max Papis, Kenny Bräck, Jimmy Vasser, and Michel Jourdain Jr. Kenny Bräck joined in 2000 and won four races in 2001, finishing second in points. Papis won three races across his three seasons (1999–2001). In 2000, Rahal served as interim president of CART. In 2002, Vasser won one race and Jourdain had 14 top-tens. In 2003, Jourdain won two races and finished third in points in what was Team Rahal's final CART/Champ Car season.
In 2002, Team Rahal entered one car at the Indianapolis 500 — their first appearance at Indy since 1995 and their IRL debut. For 2003, the team ran full-time in both CART and the IRL. The 2003 season was significant for reuniting the team with Honda as full-works engine manufacturer. Kenny Bräck drove the IRL entry, but suffered a severe crash at the season finale at Texas — his car launched into the catch fence; the injuries effectively ended his driving career.
In 2004, the team formally became Rahal Letterman Racing and committed entirely to the IRL. Buddy Rice was hired to substitute for the injured Bräck. At Indianapolis, Rice won the pole position, led the most laps, and won the race — marking the first Indianapolis 500 victory for Honda. Rice also won at Kansas and Michigan, finishing 3rd in points.
In 2005, Danica Patrick joined Rice and Vítor Meira. At the Indianapolis 500, Patrick qualified 4th, led 19 laps, and finished 4th — the highest finish ever for a female driver at the event at that time. She won three poles and seven top-tens en route to IndyCar Rookie of the Year, finishing 12th in points. Kenny Bräck substituted for the injured Rice at Indianapolis; it was Bräck's final career Indy car start.
In 2006, Paul Dana joined as third driver. During final practice at the season opener at Homestead, Dana's car collided with Ed Carpenter's stationary car; Dana died in hospital that afternoon. All three Rahal Letterman cars withdrew. Patrick departed for Andretti Green Racing in 2007. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who joined mid-2007, won at Watkins Glen in 2008 — the team's only win that season.
In 2009–2010 the team ran only part-time due to lack of sponsorship, entering at Indianapolis in both years with Oriol Servià and Graham Rahal respectively. In December 2010, Mike Lanigan — former co-owner of Newman-Haas-Lanigan Racing — became co-owner, and the team was renamed Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
In 2011, the team ran Jay Howard and Bertrand Baguette at Indianapolis. Baguette led 11 laps late in the race before pitting for fuel with three laps remaining, ultimately finishing 7th.
The team returned to full-time IndyCar competition in 2012, running Takuma Sato as their lead driver. At the 2012 Indianapolis 500, Sato crashed out on the final lap while attempting to pass Dario Franchitti for the lead. Graham Rahal returned to RLL full-time for 2013. After two difficult seasons, Rahal had a breakout 2015 — snapping a six-year winless streak at Auto Club Speedway and winning at his home track Mid-Ohio. He finished fourth in the championship. In 2016, Rahal won at Texas Motor Speedway by 0.008 of a second. In 2017, Rahal took back-to-back wins at Detroit.
In 2018, RLL re-signed Takuma Sato, who had won the 2017 Indianapolis 500 for Andretti Autosport. Sato won at Portland in 2018, and at Barber Motorsports Park and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in 2019. In 2020, Sato won his second Indianapolis 500 — his first with RLL. Graham Rahal finished 3rd.
For 2021, RLL expanded to three cars with Hy-Vee sponsorship on the third entry. Several drivers shared that car, including Santino Ferrucci, Christian Lundgaard, and Oliver Askew. Lundgaard won a shootout-style test and was signed to the #30 car full-time from 2022. In 2024, Pietro Fittipaldi replaced Jack Harvey, and Sato returned as a fourth driver for the Indianapolis 500. In July 2024, Christian Lundgaard announced he would leave for Arrow McLaren in 2025.
On 30 April 2014, four team members — including Graham Rahal and three pit crew members — wore Google Glass during an IndyCar pit stop to capture unique perspectives for Engage Mobile Solutions.
In 2007, Rahal Letterman Racing entered a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the American Le Mans Series for nine races, with Tommy Milner and Ralf Kelleners. The team achieved a second-place finish at Road America and a third at Petit Le Mans, finishing 4th in the GT2 team championship.
From 2009, the team returned to the American Le Mans Series with full factory support from BMW, operating as BMW Team RLL. Running two BMW M3 GT2s — the #90 of Joey Hand and Bill Auberlen and the #92 of Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller — the team finished 3rd in the team championship in 2009. In 2010, despite winning only one race at Road America, the team won the GT team championship. In 2011, following a 1–2 finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the team went on to win the GT Teams and Manufacturers championships, with Joey Hand and Dirk Müller taking the drivers' title. In 2012, the team won a second consecutive 12 Hours of Sebring, though they ultimately finished 2nd in the championship behind the new Porsches.
For 2013, the team moved to the BMW Z4 GTE, claiming several poles, a 1–2 at Long Beach, and a win at Lime Rock Park, finishing 2nd in Teams' and Manufacturers' Championships behind Corvette Racing.
Under the United SportsCar Championship (later the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2016), the team continued with BMW. In 2015, Lucas Luhr and John Edwards won at Laguna Seca, and Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner won twice. Auberlen and Werner finished second in the drivers' championship behind Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet. In 2016, the team switched to the BMW M6 GTLM. In 2017, Auberlen and Alexander Sims won the 6 Hours of the Glen, Petit Le Mans, and the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park event, finishing 2nd in the drivers' championship. The team also won at Laguna Seca. The four victories elevated BMW to 2nd in the GTLM Manufacturers' championship, losing to Chevrolet by just 6 points. From 2018 the team transitioned to the BMW M8 GTE; for 2019 the #25 car, co-driven by Connor De Phillippi, Colton Herta, Philippo Eng, and Augusto Farfus at Daytona, won the 24 Hours of Daytona in the GTLM class. In 2020, the #24 car won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the #25 won the 6 Hours of Atlanta. BMW reduced its budget for 2021 to endurance races only; the team scored six podiums but no wins. The GTLM class was dropped before the 2022 season; RLL joined the new GTD Pro class with the BMW M4 GT3.
The team was announced as entering the IMSA GTP class in 2023 with two LMDh-spec BMW M Hybrid V8s, taking their first GTP class victory at the 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen.
In November 2017, the team was announced as the first confirmed entry in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, running two cars with Katherine Legge and Bryan Sellers.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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