Jay Frye does not mess around. The former IndyCar president landed at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing mid 2025 with a notebook full of notes on a team that had slid from Indy 500 winners to struggling qualifiers. Years of shaky decisions left RLL bleeding talent like Christian Lundgaard to Arrow McLaren, and even Bobby Rahal admits the operation needed a sledgehammer in some spots, a scalpel in others. Frye walked in preaching his MSH/GSD philosophy, Make Sht Happen, Get Sht Done, the same no nonsense creed that defined his decade running the series.
RLL owners Rahal, David Letterman and Mike Lanigan handed him the keys because they knew the drill. Frye grew up in locker rooms as a college football player, wired as a team guy who spots malaise and roots it out. He watched the 2025 season unfold, scribbling fixes for a third car that never gelled and a culture adrift despite big budgets and talent. Out went the dead weight; in came hires like Brian Barnhart as senior VP of operations and a test for Mick Schumacher that felt like family from the jump. By November, Schumacher signed on for 2026 alongside Graham Rahal and Pietro Fittipaldi, giving Frye a lineup with upside.
Bobby Rahal cannot praise him enough. Jay gets sh*t done, he told RACER, proactive from day one with energy the team desperately needed. Frye preaches RLLs best days lie ahead, shifting negativity to a win now mindset despite the 2025 P19 finish for Rahal. The 2026 trio should climb the order, but Frye knows Ganassi, Penske and McLaren sit miles up, demanding time to close the gap. Still, with the IR28 chassis looming in 2028, he has built a foundation that matches the shiny Zionsville shop.
Frye built his rep in NASCAR too, running Red Bull and creating MB2 from scratch before flipping the series playbook at IndyCar with NTT sponsorship and hybrid rollout. RLL parted with COO Steve Eriksen to clear his path, betting his competitor fire over politics. Rahal sees the exclamation mark: this is a squad chasing races and rings, no matter how long it takes. Frye turned a mess into momentum; now the track has to deliver.
