Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) Racing Team recently began its third season of operation at its new corporate headquarters in Zionsville, Indiana. The state-of-the-art facility was designed to bring the entire RLL team together under one roof, a goal which was ultimately achieved.
The construction project was completed in a timely fashion, with the agreement to build coming in 2019, the announcement in 2020, construction beginning in 2021, and the headquarters open by 2022. Two years later, the new base of operations is thriving, creating jobs, and bringing the employees of RLL Racing together in one facility.
The New Global Headquarters
When RLL was looking to consolidate its operations into one location a few years ago, it chose to do so in the motorsports capital of the world – Indiana. Back in 2019, the team’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES headquarters was located in Brownsburg, Indiana while the International Motor Series Sports Association’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship headquarters was in Dayton, Ohio.
RLL Racing leadership – made up of former INDYCAR driver Bobby Rahal, former late night TV host David Letterman, and entrepreneur Mike Lanigan – chose Zionsville, Indiana as the place to bring the operation together. More specifically, they chose the northeast corner of Creek Way and 106th Street – just about a half-hour drive from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We are very excited about this project, and excited about being in a park-like setting in Zionsville,” Rahal said in a press release at the time of the announcement. “We feel that this building will make a statement about who we are at RLL and what our intentions are about the future. Having our entire organization based in the Indianapolis area, in Zionsville, is going to be a big plus for our organization.”
A State-of-the-Art Facility
The new 128,466 square foot facility, which sits on a 13-acre piece of land, cost more than $20 million to construct. The massive space has allowed RLL to bring everyone together from leadership to engineering to marketing. A good percentage of the structure is made up of office and event space, but there’s also fitness and training areas, an indoor pit lane practice space, truck bays, and designated areas for automotive research and development as well as light manufacturing.
A race command room equipped with the latest in technology allows key stakeholders from all over the world to remotely view and offer real-time race day assistance. The room is outfitted with several Jupiter Pana monitors that can either act as one large screen or be broken up into many smaller views of locations such as the race car and the pit area, among others.
Other notable features in the building include a 142-foot truss in the lobby, bleacher seating along one of the two sets of monumental stairs, and more than 10,000 pounds of glass covering more than 18,000 square feet of the facility, allowing for uninterrupted views.
Renier Construction served as the general contractor, Archall Architects as the Architect of Record, and Moody Nolan handled the interior design.
About RLL Racing Team
RLL Racing has been a part of the open wheel racing world for more than three decades. They’ve competed in INDYCAR SERIES since 1992, winning the series championship in their inaugural season. They’ve won nearly three dozen races, including two Indy 500 titles, since then.
The team also competed in American Le Mans Series from 2009 to 2013, winning the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category in 2010 and sweeping all three GT titles in 2011. Since 2014, Team RLL has competed in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program, winning more than two dozen races.
At Construction Protection Systems, we’re proud to have played a small part in development of the RLL Racing Team Corporate Headquarters. Stay tuned for more updates from the makers of 1-2-3 Door Shield—the original, reusable door protection system.