IndyCar Driver Graham Rahal, Wife Courtney Force Desperately Searching For Kidnapped Dogs

IndyCar driver Graham Rahal and his wife, Courtney Force, are desperately searching for their two missing dogs ... and Graham tells TMZ they believe someone may have taken off with their beloved pups.

Graham tells TMZ ... the family's gate malfunctioned Tuesday night, allowing their two 8-year-old male malamutes, Arrow and Beau, to escape from their California home.

But here's where things get suspicious ... Graham says a tracker on one of the dogs showed they were picked up by someone in a vehicle roughly 200 yards from the house.

The tracker then showed movement from Yorba Linda to Tustin and Brea, where it was eventually found discarded in some bushes along the side of the road.

Graham says they believe someone intentionally took the dogs because the vehicle appeared to make several stops before the tracker was tossed ... and only the tracking device was found, not the collar.

He tells us the Orange County Sheriff's Department came to their home Tuesday night, and the family filed a police report. Graham is now visiting the locations where the tracker stopped, hoping to track down surveillance footage that could help explain what happened.

Making matters worse ... one of the dogs wasn't wearing a tracker due to health issues. Both pups are microchipped, though, so Graham says the family should be notified if either turns up at a shelter.

Courtney took to Instagram early Wednesday to spread the word, sharing photos of Arrow and Beau as the family pleaded for their safe return.

Courtney and Graham, who married in 2015, share three daughters ... and their missing dogs are a big part of the family.