The 34-year-old has driven for the family Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team since 2013 and made 275 starts to date since 2007 for teams including Newman-Haas Racing, Sarah Fisher Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing.
Rahal says his Honda-powered #15 car has sponsorship for the entirety of next season, which means there is “zero pressure this offseason” and is “in a good place to go forward”.
However, he explained that he's still working through his contract and has set a self-imposed deadline.
“Next week's my goal,” said Rahal, whose father and team co-owner Bobby won three IndyCar titles and the 1986 Indianapolis 500. “Honestly, it's on me right now.
“I told everybody - it's the truth - I started negotiating with dad. He got really uncomfortable and backed off, said, 'I can't do this.' So, I'll get with Mike (Lanigan, co-team owner) next week.”
One of the more intriguing parts of this process for Rahal is not going through a management company to negotiate his contract. Instead, he is handling it on his own.
“I found it was best to go off on my own,” Rahal said. “I felt like I was doing a lot of the work anyway, so I might as well do it.
“At the point I'm at in my career, it just made the most sense. But having said that, it's a different environment when you sit across the table on a serious conversation and really hash things out.
Source: Autosport