The odds have been stacked against Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing this season. As one of few remaining single-car entries in the Verizon IndyCar Series, RLLR has overachieved since the championship got under way in March. With two wins to their credit, Graham Rahal has hauled the No. 15 Honda up to second in the standings and has a reasonable shot at capturing his first title.

To get there, he’ll have to overcome at least two powerhouse Chevy teams with four-car rosters. Championship leader Juan Montoya has a slim nine-point edge over Rahal with two races left to run, and Montoya’s Team Penske teammates are also in the hunt for titles with Helio Castroneves (fourth place) and Will Power (fifth place) close behind the RLLR car.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (third place) is 25 points behind Rahal, and unlike Montoya, has three teammates with no realistic chance of contending for the championship. It leaves Rahal with no one to help displace his rivals at Pocono and Sonoma, and according to team co-owner Bobby Rahal, his son will have to finish the season as an army of one.

“It would be the perfect time to put another car out there to try and help Graham, but we don’t have the capability of doing that from a personnel standpoint or a financial standpoint,” Rahal (RIGHT) told RACER. “We’ll just have to run up front and hope that’s enough.”

Taking on the fleet of Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing entries will be a challenge as both teams have options to use their cars to aid Montoya or Dixon as desired.

“You can certainly envision team tactics playing a role in a championship,” Rahal continued. “I think it would be pretty obvious to everybody. All we can do is keep doing what we’ve been doing. Good strategy, good pit stops, etc. You could probably go crazy thinking about all the possibilities. With Penske and Ganassi, that’s what, eight cars against one? And then you have the other teams wanting to win and get up front. We have our work cut out for us, that’s for sure.”

One driver was suspected of causing an unnecessary caution period last weekend to aid his championship-contending teammate at Mid-Ohio, and whether it’s true or false, Rahal anticipates speaking with IndyCar officials to ensure the championship is settled on merit rather than manipulation.

“It’s worth a conversation for sure, if they haven’t already been thinking about it,” he said. “I think it will be pretty obvious if games are being played. You’d like to think it will be played on a higher moral level; maybe that’s me being naive to a fault…”