Rahal becomes a free agent for 2013

Graham Rahal’s run at Chip Ganassi Racing appears set to end after this season.

As first reported by SPEEDTV.com’s Marshall Pruett and later confirmed by Rahal himself in today’s Indianapolis Star, the American driver is now on the 2013 free agent market. Rahal told the Star’s Curt Cavin that funding had not yet been secured and while he had received an offer to stay with CGR, the team couldn’t promise if said funding would be there for him.

When Rahal joined Ganassi’s expanded four-car stable before the 2011 campaign, he took on some big expectations. In his first season with CGR last year, he placed ninth in the championship. However, he hasn’t been able to keep rising up the table in 2012. He currently sits tenth in the standings with just one podium finish to his credit — the second-place finish that should have been a win at Texas back in June.

Assuming that Rahal’s going to retain his sponsorships from Service Central and National Tire & Battery, the process of finding a new ride should be easier to handle for him. But where would be the best place for him?

Pruett throws out some possibilities in his piece that’s linked above, with the most obvious being an alliance with his father, Indy 500 champ Bobby Rahal (who’s currently fielding a single-car program for Takuma Sato).

Father and son have worked together before under the Rahal-Letterman banner at the 2010 Indianapolis 500. RLR was one of four squads that Graham raced for in 2010 before moving to Ganassi.