IndyCar star Graham Rahal fanboys over 'America's sweetheart' Caitlin Clark: "She's transformed the WNBA"

IndyCar veteran Graham Rahal has shared his appreciation for WNBA phenomenon Caitlin Clark. The 23-year-old changed the face of the American women's basketball league in her rookie season in 2024, shattering multiple records and taking the Indiana Fever to its first WNBA playoffs in eight seasons.

Clark will play her first game of the 2025 season on Saturday (May 17) against the Chicago Sky, the team that houses her 2024 Rookie of the Year rival, Angel Reese. Indiana Fever will host the Sky at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with tip-off at 3 pm ET.

It will overlap with the first qualifying session for the 109th Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, nearly 5 miles away from the WNBA game. FOX will broadcast the session, which begins at 11 am ET and goes on until 5:50 pm.

Graham Rahal, who will record his 18th Indy 500 attempt this year, spoke about Caitlin Clark's effect on the WNBA and his two daughters. He said (via Wish-TV):

"She’s transformed the WNBA. I think she’s transformed women’s sports. But obviously this year, you’ve got Lexie (Hull), you’ve got Sophie (Cunningham)…. They have transformed, and for young girls, like my daughters, two and four, to see somebody like Caitlin Clark come out and really transform the sport and the way people perceive it, I mean, (she’s) America’s sweetheart, certainly here in the Midwest. They connect to the core of a great Midwestern town like Indianapolis. So it’s really cool to see."

Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.4 assists in her rookie WNBA season in 2024, which came on the heels of a record-breaking college career with the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Fever looked like a team resurrected after her arrival. However, they couldn't get past Round 1 of the playoffs, with the Connecticut Sun pulling off a 2-0 sweep in the best-of-three.

Her world crossed over with IndyCar in 2023, when she was selected as Grand Marshal for the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 at Iowa.

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Unusual issues in Indy 500 practice worry Graham Rahal before qualifying

Graham Rahal drives his No. 15 RLL Honda at the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Graham Rahal entered the Indy 500 qualifying week on a high. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver qualified in P2 for the Sonsio GP last weekend and led half of the race before finishing in P6 owing to his car's struggles on used tires.

However, in the six practice sessions (of which practice 2 was canceled) in the lead-up to qualifying, Rahal struggled at the 2.5-mile IMS oval. His best result was P17 (out of 34) in practice 3. Talking about his expectations for qualifying, the 36-year-old said (via ASAP Sports):

"I'm not so worried about speed. I think for me it's all about balance. I've struggled with the rear of the car kind of from the get-go. I've been quite neutral compared to my teammates even with the same setups, and that's what's frustrating a little bit is just understanding why."

Graham Rahal explained how even after running the same car setup as his RLL teammate Devlin DeFranesco, he couldn't get the same outcome. In the near-7-hour qualifying session, Rahal will be driver number 10 out of 34 to record his four-lap average for a shot at advancing to the next round on Sunday.