INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis is a wild story. It’s a book filled of dramatic chapters of stories you couldn’t script. Another one is happening right in front of our eyes. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing went from a pole here on the road course in May to seeing a car completely miss the show, the Indy 500, 8 days later.

Jack Harvey, the final bump day qualifier, bumped out Graham Rahal is wild fashion. 82 days later, that same Rahal bumped the other teammate, Christian Lundgaard, from the pole for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix (2 p.m. ET, USA, INDYCAR Radio Network).

It’s a story that if the bumping doesn’t happen on May 21, RLL could be going down the treading water path still.

“As sad as it was what happened in May, in some ways it was a blessing,” Graham Rahal said after scoring his first pole in the series since 2017. “It had to happen for the team to wake up, for us to focus on doing the right things and make a big difference for May. I think as bad as May was, we accomplished that goal.

“The individuals that are no longer with us are tremendous people, and I have a lot of respect for them. I personally do not point the finger at them. I don’t. Unfortunately in the position that we were in, something’s got to change. That’s what happened.”

Bobby Rahal is a racer. Always has been. He’s won three CART titles. He won the 1986 Indy 500. His 24 career wins rank in a tie with Ralph DePalma for 18th all-time. He 18 poles are tied with Rex Mays for 17th. He knows how to win.

He also know how to be successful even without winning. His 37 runner-up finishes are fourth most ever. His 88 podiums are ninth all-time. His 119 top 10 finishes are 10th most.

So, for him to sit back and watch his team regress after spending millions on a new building in Zionsville was never going to happen. It was time to make some changes.

That pressure and a lack of results was getting to Bobby. So, when he watched his son get bumped from the Indy 500 field by another one of his cars, something had to be done. 3 of the 4 cars started 30th or worse.

“We weren’t fast enough and that’s what race is all about is being fast enough. What are you going to do? I feel bad for him. You know, I feel worse for the cars we gave our drivers and we’ve got to get our act in order,” Bobby told me after Indy 500 qualifying.

A broken weight jacker was the reason Graham missed out.

Then, the next time out in Detroit, they massively missed it. They finished 14-15-26.

“I struggled after Detroit just to understand what was going on because you put it on pole in the beginning of May,” said Christian Lundgaard. “We have the 500. We were absolute last. We got into Detroit, and we just can’t find our feet.”

It was at this point to where Bobby Rahal was reeling himself. Not just professionally as a boss, but personally too. This downward spiral was taking a toll on his mind and body. He was on the verge of another breakdown.

“You know, we came out of Indy really very, very disappointed and really kind of — it would have been hard — you would have been hard-pressed to believe we actually won the race two years earlier, and now we’re on the back row, and one guy didn’t make it in the race. At least in our car,” Rahal admitted.

“That kind of shook us to our core I think, but I have to say I think, frankly, the race that maybe had a bigger negative affect was Detroit because we were just — we were not good at all.

“After Indy, the month of May took — I’m 70 years old, and the month of May took a real toll on me.

“I wasn’t sleeping well at night. We’re here to win. We’re not here to fricking play around or to be part of it. We’re here to win.

“I’m telling you, it was bad. So much so that I thought my physical health had been — you know, a year ago in June I had open heart surgery. This May, I mean, it knocked me back a few steps because I’m not here just to show up. I’m here to win.

“All the effort this young man and Graham and Jack and our team, everybody is working their butt off, and it haunted me. It pained me.

“That’s why I just said right after Indy, I said, we’re going to create and instill and initiate the Indy recovery plan, which we’re in the process of doing, which is all about looking into why we performed so poorly and fixing those issues so that next May we’re fighting for the pole, and that’s our goal.

“I’ve got great people to help me do that: Steve Eriksen, Stefano Sordo, Ricardo Nault.

“Anyway, May was hell for me. That’s why we made the decisions that we made, and they weren’t easy. I think we’re getting the results of those, but I don’t take any confidence that we’re there yet.

“That’s when we decided to make the changes that we made internally.”

It’s paid off.

Those changes have sparked a nice revival.

“I think we’re finally starting to make changes with the car, as I just said, that they’re responding the right way, the way you’d expect them to, and it’s nice. It’s nice to feel that,” Rahal said after starting on the front row in Mid-Ohio.

Since the changes, Rahal’s average starting spot is 11.14. It was 20.33 prior. Lundgaard has another pole and even a win too. They’re ascending up. What pleases him most is that the results and speed from May is just as good in August.

“We were very strong here in May. Three cars in the top eight in May,” he said. “Three cars in the top eight this weekend. The biggest victory for us so far this weekend is things have translated.

“Last year we were strong here in May but we were not good in August at the Brickyard. This year it’s been able to translate. That’s a nice step in the right direction. So we’re excited by that. Hopefully, as I keep saying, we can go out and have a heck of a good day tomorrow.

“I think Indy is very different. You look at Indy next year, for the team I guarantee you see a vastly, vastly different Rahal Letterman Lanigan at ’24 Indy 500 than what you saw this year.”