Hunter-Reay Hopes Roller Coaster of Indy Emotions Reaches Pinnacle Again
April 12, 2018 | By Paul Kelly, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Ryan Hunter-Reay is among a select group of drivers who will enter the Month of May this year with at least 10 Indianapolis 500 starts under their belt.
That group can rely on hard-earned wisdom about the most challenging, emotional month of the year for any race driver. They’ve been there, done that.
But there are few other drivers – if any – aiming for a spot in this year’s race who have stopped on so many floors of the emotional elevator during “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” than Hunter-Reay.
“I’ve been through the whole gamut, the entire spectrum of emotions at that place, whether it be struggling to make it into the field, not making it, to winning the race, to qualifying on the front row,” Hunter-Reay said.
Hunter-Reay has scaled the pinnacle at the Speedway, beating Helio Castroneves in a wild, seven-lap shootout after a late red flag to win the 2014 Indianapolis 500. He also has started on the front row twice, third in 2012 and in 2016. He won Sunoco Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors in 2008.
But Hunter-Reay also squeezed into the field with three minutes remaining in qualifying in 2009, starting 32nd. He suffered a thumb injury requiring surgery when his car was hit by another on pit road in 2010. And he failed to qualify in 2011 after his Andretti Autosport teammate, Marco Andretti, bumped him from the field with one minute left on Bump Day qualifying. Hunter-Reay raced in an A.J. Foyt Enterprises entry qualified by Bruno Junqueira that year.
Those ups and downs have delivered even more wisdom than for most veterans as Hunter-Reay attempts to make his 11th career Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil start on Sunday, May 27 in the No. 28 DHL Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport. Nothing is guaranteed and everything is earned in the “500,” and Hunter-Reay knows that as well as anyone.
“I know that when I have a good car, when I have a good opportunity, you must seize it,” Hunter-Reay said. “Those times are so sensitive, so that’s why in 2016 and 2017, after leading so many laps and having such a great opportunity to win the race, it comes with heartache and heartbreak that we didn’t.”
2012 Verizon IndyCar Series champion Hunter-Reay, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was in a good position to add his face to the Borg-Warner Trophy a second and third time the last two years.
He was the top lap leader in the historic 100th Running in 2016, pacing the field 15 times for 52 laps, all in the first 112 laps of the race. But he went a lap down after a collision on pit road with teammate Townsend Bell and Castroneves on Lap 117 and never recovered, finishing 24th.
Last year Hunter-Reay led seven times for 28 laps – a lap total second only to Max Chilton’s 50. But his car suffered mechanical failure on Lap 137 just after losing the lead to teammate Fernando Alonso, and Hunter-Reay ended up a disappointing 27th.
“There are so many variables that go into it,” Hunter-Reay said of success at Indy. “You have so much respect for it. I do. I know what it’s like to be struggling there, and I know what it’s like to be on top. I’ve felt everything in between.”
There’s little doubt Hunter-Reay enters the Month of May as one of the favorites to win in the INDYCAR Grand Prix on Saturday, May 12 and in the 102nd Indianapolis 500. He has finished in the top 10 in three of his four INDYCAR Grand Prix starts, including second in 2014 and third last year. He has led 162 laps over his last five starts in the “500,” including his third-place finish in 2013 and victory in 2014.
At age 37, he can take the mental satisfaction of knowing his face will be on the Borg-Warner Trophy as an Indianapolis 500 winner for eternity. But that’s not enough.
“I’m still an Indy 500 champion,” Hunter-Reay said. “But it was four years ago, and I have to do it again. We were so close in ‘16 and so close in ‘17.
“Indianapolis is what our year at Andretti Autosport revolves around. The goal at the beginning of the season is to win the championship and win the Indy 500.”