Why Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Is Urging People To ‘Stay in the Race’

In April of 2026, Edwards Lifesciences and Rahal Letterman Lanigan (RLL) Racing partnered to bring to life an initiative that is targeting awareness for heart valve failure and the importance of early detection to avoid life-threatening symptoms. Bobby Rahal, Mike Lanigan and David Letterman, the owners of the RLL Racing IndyCar team, have unfortunately all experienced heart issues, making this cause something more personal and important to them. Lanigan specifically was diagnosed with heart valve failure and was treated with Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) which ultimately saved his life.

To bring this cause to life, RLL Racing and Edwards Lifesciences created a short documentary tying the urgency of heart valve failure to the high stakes world of racing. With intense racing scenes from the Long Beach Grand Prix and the renowned Indianapolis 500, this short film uses the analogy of quick thinking and immediate decisions to emphasize the message behind the film being that of not waiting to get your valves checked.

‍

At the exclusive screening of the “Stay in the Race” at the Graham Rahal Performance Showroom during the Indy 500 weekend, Indy 500 winner and team owner Bobby Rahal stated that,

“This is a celebration of the “Stay in the Race” campaign that RLL along with Edwards Lifesciences has done over the last several months and you know, it's really about heart health and making the right choices to ensure that those of us know the issues that come with age.”

‍

Although this campaign targets individuals aged 65 and older, Bobby Rahal and Mike Lanigan wanted to make it abundantly clear that it is never too early to get your valves checked. This disease can impact anyone and it’s important to not be oblivious even though you may feel outwardly healthy. Mike Lanigan emphasized:

“You can feel good and still have this failure and in today's technology it's very fixable and quite frankly compared to having bypass surgery that Bob myself and David have had it's nothing compared to that.”

‍

To highlight the campaign and bring further awareness to the issue at hand, RLL Racing and Edwards Lifesciences created a “Stay in the Race” pop-up booth in the fan zone at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Indy 500 race weekend. With over 350,000 fans coming to the circuit on race day, a pop-up stand was the perfect way to expand their reach and interact with people in a more efficient capacity. The booth featured reaction tests, a virtual reality racing simulator, and more importantly, a free check to see if your heart valves are healthy.

Rahal continued when asked about the reach of the campaign:

“Heart related issues in particular that you stay ahead of the curve and you know we liken it to maintaining that race car, checking up the engine which is our heart, checking it using our team which is our doctors, to ensure that we're not surprised in a bad way and so far I think the response to it has been pretty good.”

The partnership between Edwards Lifesciences and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is a step in the right direction for creating more awareness around heart valve failure and more importantly, the urgency to get your valves checked to avoid life threatening symptoms later down the road. 

‍

Looking for more on IndyCar?

We highly recommend checking out our other IndyCar coverage to ensure you never miss out on all the activities and events happening throughout the race weekend!

Looking for the best IndyCar ticket and travel deals? We have you covered for every race on the calendar.