The FBI raided Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s racing headquarters in Indiana on Wednesday, according to local news reports.
Officials with the bureau confirmed to FOX59 that agents were at the headquarters at 10771 Creek Way in Zionsville on Wednesday as part of an active investigation.
The FBI said in a statement to the station that there was no threat to the public, but no further details about the investigation were disclosed. Newsweek has contacted the FBI for further comment via email.
Zionsville Mayor John Stehr confirmed to the IndyStar that the FBI had requested assistance from the local police department.
“The FBI asked us to assist this morning as they served a warrant at the (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) headquarters building,” Stehr said. “Our officers stayed outside as the FBI agents entered the building.”
A file photo shows Graham Rahal, driver of the #15 Code 3 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, during the NTT IndyCar Series Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on August 12, 2023, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The headquarters of Rahal Letterman Lanigan was raided by the FBI on September 18.
Sean Gardner/Getty Images
The nature of the investigation wasn’t disclosed to Stehr or his officers, he said.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan is a racing team owned by former Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, Indiana native and former late night television host David Letterman and entrepreneur Mike Lanigan.
The team, which fields cars in the IndyCar and IMSA racing leagues, said it is fully cooperating with the investigation, but didn’t elaborate on the nature of the probe.
“We are cooperating fully with investigators,” the team said in a statement to the IndyStar. “Given that this is an ongoing investigation, we are limited in what information we can share right now. But we intend to provide additional information as soon as we can.”
The team has been contacted for further comment via email.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan fields three IndyCar cars driven by Rahal’s son, Graham Rahal, Pietro Fittipaldi and Christian Lundgaard.
The team also has two cars in the International Motor Sports Association. Its 100,000-square-foot headquarters in Zionsville opened in 2022.
Earlier this year, Letterman spoke to the IndyStar about why he first wanted to join Rahal’s team.
“Being born and raised in Indianapolis, the Month of May, a fixture of my life and the life of all our friends, families, neighborhood, it was the thing and stayed with me,” Letterman said. “I’d follow the race and every activity during the month.”
His interest waned as he got older, he said.
“Then I returned to it when I saw every weekend this kid named Bobby Rahal running up front,” he said. “I started following him and was attracted to ‘the guy,’ not so typical of the drivers I was familiar with as a younger person. When he won in ’86, he came on (Late Night with David Letterman), and that was the beginning of our acquaintance, and it developed into a friendship, and I would attend races around the country when I had time off. From that, he was nice enough to let me come in and be a bit of a partnership on the team.”
