Eriksen Named RLL Chief Operating Officer

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Monday that Steve Eriksen has joined the team as chief operating officer. Eriksen will report directly to team ownership and oversee operations for the team’s involvement in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and NTT IndyCar Series.

Eriksen spent the past two seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing overseeing its race-winning IMSA DPi program after a 30-year career at Honda where he most recently held the title of vice president and chief operating officer at Honda Performance Development.

“Having known Steve since the beginning of the Honda Indy car program, I’ve had the opportunity to have many sporting and business discussions with him over the years and have always respected his approach,” said Bobby Rahal, team co-owner with David Letterman and Michael Lanigan.

“Steve is highly respected amongst those within the sanctioning organizations as well as the competitors and I’m pleased that we are able to bring him into our organization as the COO. His extensive, high-level experience with both IndyCar and IMSA will be a tremendous benefit to the company.”

Eriksen’s newly established position fills the void previously held by Piers Phillips, who had served as the team’s president.

“When Bobby and Mike approached me about a newly-created COO position within RLL, I felt it was an excellent match for my skill set and came at an exciting time in North American motorsports with the coming electrification of both IndyCar and IMSA LMDh sports cars,” said Eriksen.

“I’m passionate about both of these forms of motorsport and excited to continue to be a part of these series as competition unfolds in the coming years.

“I feel like I have come full circle as I worked with the Rahal team in my first year in motorsport and joining the organization in its exciting new phase is personally very gratifying.”

RLL recently moved into a purpose-build racing headquarters in Zionsville, Ind. which enabled them to bring both of its programs under one roof for the first time since 2011.