Graham Rahal to drive for his dad, Bobby, in 2013

Having his son drive for him was something that Bobby Rahal, the 1986 winner of the Indianapolis 500, once resisted. His thinking was that his son needed to carve his own path and not live in shadow of having a father whose face is not only on the Borg-Warner Trophy, but who is also a three-time open-wheel champion.

Now, though, with his son Graham Rahal having established himself as a top talent in the Izod IndyCar Series, Bobby is welcoming the 23-year-old to the team that bears his name.

Starting next season, Graham will pilot the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, which will be sponsored by TBC Retail Group and have major associate sponsorship from Valvoline.

For both father and son the partnership has been a longtime coming.

“I have been asked if Graham was going to drive for our team since almost Day 1,” Bobby Rahal said Wednesday in a teleconference. “As I said all along, I felt it was better for him to get his experience with different teams and I think it’s paid off for him; I think he’s a much better driver because of it. It has matured him because he was not dealing with family; he was dealing with professionals and people who had expectations.”

“For me, it was more about timing and making sure everything was right in order for it to happen,” Graham Rahal said. “When we first sat down and discussed this as a possibility it just made the most sense for us to work together to get RLL back to where the team was in their glory days, and there is no doubt that we can get there.”

“This has been years in the making. Dad brought it up by saying ‘You just need to come drive for me.’”

For the younger Rahal, driving for his father’s team offers him something which he hasn’t had a lot of in his career.

Despite winning his series debut in 2008 and, in doing so, becoming the youngest winner in IndyCar history, Rahal has yet to find a team he can truly call home. The team he burst onto the scene with four years ago - Newman Haas Lanigan Racing - shutdown due to lack of funding. And since then, Rahal has driven for a mishmash of different organizations, including the past two seasons for what can best be described as Chip Ganassi’s “B” team.

Not surprisingly considering the instability, Rahal has struggled on the track. He’s still in search of his second series victory, and from 2009-12 he has finished on the podium just six times with a best result of seventh in the final championship order.

“For us to be together, not only does it erase all questions in my mind about knowing where I stand in terms of the pecking order and level of commitment from a team,” Graham Rahal said, “but also the marketing and media side of it between dad and I working together with Dave (Letterman, co-owner) and Mike (Lanigan, co-owner) and our sponsors has huge potential.”

But the struggles of the last few years have matured Rahal, and it’s that maturity which his father hopes to tap into by making him the focus of his team.

“I think we can create an environment that will allow him to fulfill that potential,” Bobby Rahal said. “The last time Graham was the leader of the team was when he was with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in 2009. For only a 20 year old kid, he won a couple of poles, had a number of very good races, was very competitive and finished seventh in the championship.”

“If we give him that level of focus I think he can do even better than that so I am quite excited about the potential although, as I said, the sense of commitment that we now have to make sure we deliver the goods has probably never been higher.”

One area of concern is whether the family dynamic might affect their working relationship. However, Graham says his dad is “almost like my best friend,” while Bobby says the two have talked extensively about maintaining respect for one another.

“Certainly one of the big concerns for me is the whole family dynamic which can be great in one way and in another could be destructive so both of us have to make sure we treat each other with respect as professionals do,” Bobby Rahal said. “I think now is the right time; he’s proven he belongs and has the respect of his peers and that was the most important thing for me. I think now is the time to realize all the tremendous potential he has.”

As for any added anxiety that may come with driving for your father and having to prove to people that he landed this ride because of his talent and not his last name, Graham stressed that he isn’t too worried.

“I don’t think that it’s any different because, to be honest,” he said. “I put the same amount of pressure on myself no matter where I am or what I’m doing. I put a lot of pressure on myself at Ganassi and at Newman/Haas and everywhere else I’ve been and now, maybe for the first time in my career I can really just focus on the driving side of things.”

The hope is that RLL will find enough sponsorship to add a second car before the season starts in March, as the team is currently talking with several drivers and potential sponsors. But even if the second car doesn’t materialize, it doesn’t diminish Wednesday’s announcement.

“For me, this is probably the most excited I have been to join any team because I see the potential behind what my dad and the rest of the team have been able to accomplish,” Graham Rahal said. “I can’t wait for the whole process to begin - the testing and obviously going racing!”

“It’s really an exciting time for me.”