1. In Case You Missed It: Bobby and Graham Rahal press conference: IndyCar Series team co-owner Bobby Rahal and his son, IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal, participated in a press conference at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday.

Background on Bobby Rahal: Bobby Rahal is the co-owner of Rahal Letterman Racing, which fields the No. 17 Team Ethanol car for Ryan Hunter-Reay in the IndyCar Series. The team has partnered with Chip Ganassi to also field the No. 16 car for Alex Lloyd in the 92nd Running of the Indianapolis 500. The team won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 with driver Buddy Rice.

As a driver, Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500 as well as three CART championships.

Background on Graham Rahal: Graham Rahal is a rookie in the IndyCar Series, driving for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing.

·         Age: 19 (Birthday is Jan 4, 1989)

·         Career Starts: 3

·         Career Victories: 1

·         Career Top-Five Finishes: 1

·         Career Top-10 Finishes: 1

·         Career Poles: 0

·         Career Highlights: Finished fifth in the Champ Car World Series as a rookie in 2007. Competed in Formula BMW, Star Mazda, Champ Car Atlantic and Firestone Indy Lights from 2004-06.

·         2008 Highlights: Became the youngest winner of a major open-wheel race when he won his IndyCar Series debut at St. Petersburg. Also became only the fourth driver to win his first IndyCar Series start.

·         Off the Track: Son of 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal. Graduated from high school in June 2007 with a 3.8 grade-point average.

They said what...? Listed below are select quotes from today’s press conference.

***Q: Bobby, you're obviously a very proud father. Driver to driver, how impressed are you with Graham's driving? Graham, are you a better driver than your dad?

BOBBY RAHAL: Well, geez, do I have to answer that question in front of him (laughter)?

When you think that he wasn't even in a race car five years ago, and here is driving the Indy 500, he's won an IndyCar race already, won a lot of Formula Atlantic races in a very tough field. I mean I would say this whether he was my son or not, I would say, ‘That kid can drive.’

I'm equally as impressed with the way he goes about his life. I am very proud of him because of the way he drives, the way he interacts with people, his persona. I think I'm very proud of that.

So as long as he stays the way he is, that's going to continue. I see no reason why it wouldn't. I think he's going to win a lot of races. I don't think there's any question of that. When you look, he's 19. I think my record, I think he's going to blow away those records pretty easily, which I have no problem with, by the way.

GRAHAM RAHAL: Am I a better driver? I think I'd like to say yes. He's scared to race me these days, and I think it's probably because of his age. He knows he doesn't stand a chance. He doesn't like playing golf with me any more because he knows he can't beat me.

I don't know. The biggest thing is you're looking at two completely different time periods. Although it's still open-wheel racing, I believe it's far different from when he was there, especially after the split. We all knew that period of time, it was far different. Obviously the cars are different. The concept is the same. In the IndyCar Series, especially on the ovals, the cars run a lot closer than they did in the past. It's more of a pack-racing type series. I don't know, he can explain the difference a little better.

I always tried to carry on the same beliefs that he had, that you're never good enough to not drive everything that you can, whether it be sports cars, IndyCars. If I could do LeMans, I've done Sebring a couple times, done the 24 Hours of Daytona a few times. Not only are those things really fun for me, but to be a very accomplished driver, you have to do all of those things.

I think that's something I've carried over from his time. But nowadays, you don't see it as much because of how busy everybody is constantly, especially with this schedule. I mean, we're on, what, eight straight weekends or something like that. There's no time to do anything else.

There’s more: The complete transcript and complete audio recording in MP3 format are available at www.indycar.com/media. Please contact IRL Public Relations for log-in information if necessary.

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2. In Case You Missed It: Mario Dominguez, Al Unser III teleconference: IndyCar Series driver Mario Dominguez and Firestone Indy Lights driver Al Unser III were guests on today’s Indy Racing League teleconference.

Background on Mario Dominguez: Mario Dominguez is a rookie in the IndyCar Series following six years competing in the Champ Car World Series. He drives the No. 96 Visit Mexico City/Pacific Coast Motorsports entry.

Age: 32 (Birthday is Dec. 1, 1975)

Career Starts (Champ Car): 87

Career Victories: 2

Career Podium Finishes: 12

Career Poles: 1

Career Highlights: Earned Champ Car rookie of the year honors in 2002. Won at Surfers Paradise in 2002 and Miami in 2003. Captured the pole at Houston in 2006.

2007 Highlights: Finished 18th in points, recording a best finish of sixth at Houston.

Off the Track: Speaks Spanish, English and some Italian and French.

Background on Al Unser III: Al Unser III is in his fourth season in Firestone Indy Lights, driving for Playa Del Racing.

Age: 25 (Birthday is Oct. 23, 1982)

Career Starts/2008: 20 / 4

Career Victories/2008: 0

Career Top-Five Finishes/2008: 8 / 0

Career Top-10 Finishes/2008: 15 / 2

Career Poles/2008: 1 / 0

Career Highlights: Earned Skip Barber Western Racing Series rookie of the year honors in 2002. Competed in Firestone Indy Lights and Champ Car Atlantic 2004-08.

2008 Highlights: Finished sixth at St. Petersburg 2 and 10th at Kansas Speedway.

Off the Track: Son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. and grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser.

They said what...? Listed below are select quotes from yesterday’s teleconference.

***Q: This is your first time at Indy, and that is my next question on what it's been like the last couple of days. Can you elaborate, what's it been like to get on track and put some laps around this place?

MARIO DOMINGUEZ: It's been incredible. I have a lot of oval experience, and nothing that I've ever dreamed compares to this racetrack. Just compared to being here, there's just so much history here and so much tradition, that you can really feel it. To drive around this racetrack is just an absolute dream come true.

I've been here as a spectator a couple of times, and it's unbelievable. I've been to visit just the grounds a couple of times as well, and now it hasn't really hit me yet that I'm driving here, so it's fantastic.

***Q: What are your memories of the Indianapolis 500, anything that made you want to pursue a racing car career in general?

MARIO DOMINGUEZ: As long as I can remember, I watched the Indianapolis 500. I remember once I was very little and probably five years old and my dad says, ‘Hey, come watch this race.’ He knew I liked racing, but why I liked racing, I don't know. He was not a racer, and he said, ‘Come watch this race.’

And I said, ‘What is it?’

‘It's the Indianapolis 500.’

I said, ‘What is that?’

And he said, ‘It's the biggest race on the planet.’ So ever since then, I got hooked.

And then Josele Garza, another fellow Mexican driver racing here in the mid 80s, and he got Rookie of the Year. So I remember watching him in that race, and he got to lead 13 laps, if I remember correctly. Honestly, ever since I can remember, since I was very young, just, you know, I've been wanting to race in Indianapolis. So hopefully my dream will come true.

***Q. Let's talk a little about Indianapolis. Obviously a very special place for your family. How much would it mean to you to win the Freedom 100?

AL UNSER III: Huge. I was there ‑‑ I just flew back to Henderson (Nev.) last night, and I've been hanging out in Indy watching the rookies going around and so forth. I was there; the Speedway was honoring my family for what they have done there. It means so much to be able to win at that track.

I was listening to Mario and some of the things he was saying about Indy, and he's right; it's a really fun place to race and it's very challenging. It's unlike any other place that I've been to, and to win there with what my family has done would be huge.

***Q. Kind of in the same vein beyond winning the Freedom, how important is it to you to some day maybe get the chance to run in the 500?

AL UNSER III: Big. Watching those rookies going around, going, man, I can do this, it just made me itch to get in the car.

And then yesterday watching Marco (Andretti) set his fast lap, you know, he got a big tow off of Graham (Rahal), and I'm watching both of them run out there going, man, I should be right there with those guys.

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            The 2008 IndyCar Series season continues with the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race will be telecast live in High Definition at noon (EDT) by ABC. The race will air live on the IMS Radio Network. A Spanish-language telecast of the race will be carried by ESPNDeportes. The IMS Radio Network broadcast also is carried on XM Satellite Radio and .indycar.com. The 2008 Firestone Indy Lights season continues May 23 at Indianapolis. The race will be telecast at 4 p.m. (EDT) on May 23 by ESPN2.