Q&A with Graham Rahal: Race car driver is moving full speed ahead in business

This month, NTT IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal, son of Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, opens the second building in his sprawling, $20 million GR Brands headquarters at Zionsville’s Creekside Corporate Park.

The complex (among other things) hosts Graham Rahal Performance (selling and servicing elite street cars), Rahal Paint Protection, Rahal Precision Tint and Rahal Ducati Indianapolis (an Italian motorcycle dealership). The newest building hosts yet another motorcycle dealership, Rahal Piaggio Indianapolis; a high-end car storage facility and members-only social club called Wheelhouse; and a restaurant called Bowdie’s Chophouse.

How does someone who’s still on the racing circuit keep so many plates spinning? And why did he put this high-end automotive wonderland in Zionsville? Rahal addresses those and other questions.

Editor’s note: This conversation took place before Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, for which Graham Rahal races, acknowledged that it was “cooperating fully with investigators” from the FBI as part of an undisclosed investigation. The FBI visited the team’s headquarters in Zionsville this week, but it did not go to Graham Rahal’s GR Brands headquarters.

You started Graham Rahal Performance in Brownsburg in 2017. Why the move to Zionsville?

We wanted to grow, and we simply didn’t have enough space. Plus, Zionsville is home for me. It’s a great environment for children and families. And on top of that, it nails our target demographic.

As far as the car storage club, the membership lounge, the Chophouse—those are all serious needs for the Zionsville market. For instance, if you want to eat on Main Street, there’s a lot of great restaurants but nowhere to park. Our place provides a solution. You can have a great steak at a place with 420 parking spots.

Your dad’s team headquarters, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, is just down the road. Did that play a role in your decision to relocate here?

I think we felt strongly that RLL really reinvigorated its location at Creekside Corporate Park. It’s what drew us here. And I think RLL is arguably still the prettiest building in the area and an iconic race facility. What it provides our employees there is tremendous. We wanted to be a part of that. I think it’s that simple.

What kind of work does Graham Rahal Performance typically do? Is it mostly the servicing of elite cars?

We want people to know that it’s a day-to-day servicing facility. If you need an oil change, we can do it. If you need new tires, we do it. You want a custom turbo kit on your car? We do it. We can handle a wide variety of projects.

Right now, we have about 13 to 14 service bays, but we can go up to 18. We’re different from most franchise car dealerships in that we have a lot more space and can do a lot of things in-house. We can customize and manufacture parts. We can make exhaust systems, do suspensions and paint protection film. We can do a lot of things in one location.

So when it comes to service work, you’re brand-agnostic? Anything from a Lamborghini to a Honda?

We’ll take anything. We’ve worked on Civics. We’ve worked on electric cars. We’ve worked on $5 million Ferraris.

Is having this many different services typical of high-end dealerships?

There are other dealers around the country who are trying to do similar things, but most of them don’t have the completeness that we have. We’ve got vehicle storage with Wheelhouse. We’ve got the paint protection company. We’ve got a car sales facility and a car service facility. It’s a one-stop shop.

Most other specialty shops are either sales or service facilities, but not both. So we are very unique in that sense.

Do you see yourself building another location or perhaps franchising in the future?

I think it’s kind of a one-off for now. It’s also pretty expensive to create, so I doubt that you’ll see me doing another. At least not anytime soon.

Do you see yourself as a driver with business interests or a businessman who happens to be a driver?

At this stage in my life, I think I’m a driver with business interests. I’m definitely not too many years away from being just a businessman.

I think that the biggest mistake for an athlete is to not look outside of their sport for future opportunities. It’s never too soon to do that. You’ve got to build upon your star while it’s still shining. You’ve got to try to build these companies and build these businesses while you’re still engaged and active. That way if you have, say, a month where things aren’t going so well, you’ve got some racing income to help keep the lights on.

That’s what I was able to do. Now, however, the businesses can stand on their own feet. We have our challenges, but we’re getting through them.

What does your dad think of your decision to get into the automotive business?

Initially, he thought I was nuts. He kept telling me, “I don’t understand why you’re putting so much effort into this.” He always knew I had my eyes on starting my own business, but I think he thought the whole Graham Rahal Performance thing was a little crazy.

How did you get the idea for the company?

I started to buy and sell cars when I was 16 years old. So I’ve been doing this sort of thing on the side, in addition to my racing career, for 20 years now. I used to do it all personally, and I’m sure the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles was like, “What the hell’s going on? Why is this guy processing 100 titles in his name every year?” But when I started Graham Rahal Performance in 2017, it became clear that just selling parts wasn’t going to be enough, and we also needed to get into the dealership side of it.

I would say, without arrogance, that we’re probably one of the top five best specialty auto retailers in the country right now. We are a source that Ferrari and Porsche dealerships rely on frequently.

How did you gravitate toward sales and servicing of high-end cars and motorcycles?

This is what I’ve loved since I was a kid. People know me as a racecar driver, but I’m more of a gearhead than anyone else in the sport.

The reason I have a Ducati dealership is because, when I was a little kid, my dad had one. The first time I saw it, I felt like I was seeing the prettiest woman I’d ever seen in my life.

It just so happened that the things I felt strongly about formed a lucrative market niche. I don’t think most people realize how great of an investment automobiles can be. I believe that the prices in the specialty automobile market are only going to increase, particularly with the push from the federal government for electrification. Because electrification doesn’t have the fan following that internal combustion vehicles do.

How do you keep your head in the game during a business meeting when you know you’re driving that weekend?

You’ve got to be able to compartmentalize and delegate. One of the most important things for a good business owner is hiring the right people.

My dad’s business partner in our automobile dealerships is Ron Ferris, CEO of the Bobby Rahal Automotive Group, who started with my dad in 1987 or ’88. I’ll bet there hasn’t been a single day since then that my dad ever seriously worried about our dealerships, because Ron was the right guy.

As for me, it’s also been about getting the right people in place. So that when I go racing, I can focus on it and do the things I need to do.

Are you thinking of adding anything else to your business lineup in Zionsville?

I’ve always been interested in retail shopping space, and I think Zionsville is going to need more and more of that. And manufacturing appeals to me, particularly in the automotive-parts space. A lot of people do this, but it’s not made in the United States. They don’t have the ability to make it to the quality level that we can in Indianapolis.

This area has a very special skill set that I think comes out of racing. You’ve got wonderful fabricators in Indianapolis and great welders, great engineers and design folks. To try and utilize and leverage that would be great.

Where would you like to be in 10 years? Where do you see yourself?

I have no doubt I’ll be involved in racing and the race team, and I want to see my businesses keep growing. But the most important thing is to be a good dad and be present for my kids.

I think one thing that happens in racing is that we live our lives on the road, and our families take a back seat. I’d love to be in a place where the businesses are better able to operate on their own so that I can be there during the formative years of my kids’ lives before they go off to college.•

—Sam Stall