IndyCar Driver Review: E.J. Viso - MotorSportsTalk

With the IndyCar season in the books and a limited amount of news to come since the season finale at Fontana, my MotorSportsTalk colleague Chris Estrada and are taking a look back at the 2013 season just past. Chris and I each ranked our top 10 drivers and some of the biggest stories; now we take a look back at the field driver-by-driver.

In 15th place, Andretti’s fourth driver, E.J. Viso…

2013 SEASON PREVIEW

E.J. Viso

Team: Andretti Autosport
2012: 20th Place, Best Finish 5th, Best Start 5th
2013: 15th Place, Best Finish 4th, Best Start 1st (Inherited Detroit Race 1), 2 Top-5, 7 Top-10, 15 Laps Led, 11.1 Avg. Start, 12.9 Avg. Finish

DiZinno says: Viso had a truly top flight ride for the first time in his six-year IndyCar career, with Andretti Autosport and teammates Hunter-Reay, Hinchcliffe and Andretti. I’m not going to say he didn’t capitalize on it; in fact, his qualifying run in the first half of the season was in fact one of the best in the field. But he never seemed able to maximize it on race day; whether it was strategy calls gone awry, poor caution timing or poor luck, Viso never had a truly standout race or result. Milwaukee, for the second straight year, was his best effort. The mysterious circumstances surrounding his illness that kept him out at Fontana will have a reverberating after-effect. I like E.J., but I’m not sure we’ll see him in an IndyCar again.

Estrada says: Armed with a proper array of resources at Andretti Autosport, Viso still found himself stuck mostly with anonymous, mid-pack results outside of nice efforts at Milwaukee (fourth) and Toronto Race 2 (fifth). Most noticeable was his run of six consecutive Top-5 starts, but outside of Milwaukee, those good qualifying efforts were left unconverted; a fourth-place start at Indy was squandered because of a long final stop, starts of first and fifth on Belle Isle both ended in 17th-place finishes, and a penalty for hitting pit equipment knocked him back at Texas before he finished 10th from another P5 start. Things just never worked out, and now, we’re left to wonder if he’ll be back on the grid next season.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”