Rahal team searching for sponsorship

HILLIARD, Ohio - One of the biggest names in racing is down to the wire looking for sponsorship.

In November, WISH-TV was the first to report that Rahal Letterman Racing had lost the Ethanol sponsorship from the number 17 car, driven in 2008 by Indy 500 Rookie Of The Year Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Today, a published report suggested that RLR was leaving the IndyCar Series due to that a lack of sponsorship.

This afternoon team owner Bobby Rahal clarified what was reported, by saying "i won't say liberties (were) taken with that. I did say at this point in time, we don't have a sponsor, so at this point and time, we're not (running the full IndyCar Series). That doesn't mean we're not working hard to find a sponsor. As I expressed to others, I think for sure we'll have a car at Indy, I have no doubt about that. We have interest in that currently. but the economy is obviously you know, all you have to do is read the newspaper or watch tv."

Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, expressed a strong desire to return to the Brickyard this May.

"I am quite sure that there will be an Indy 500 program, at this stage we have interest. We just don't want to go there, we want to go there to be competitive. Neil Fife is still with us, he's our engineer, we've tried to retain as much of the team as possible. and we're working hard."

Rahal says the sluggish economy has companies slashing not only jobs, but advertising budgets, leading to a tight squeeze for his team.
 

Rahal said, "I can't write the checks for it. and David, it's got to be a business, it has got to stand up on it's own two feet. Dave and I have been talking for some time, Dave very much wants to be at Indy. Thankfully we have the BMW (ALMS) program, and that's kept the doors open in the meantime."