Ryan Hunter-Reay’s IndyCar accolades merit national awareness on their own

By May 26, 2014, 4:49 PM EDT
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As Ryan Hunter-Reay began the celebration and all else that comes with winning the Indianapolis 500, in the immediate moments after Sunday’s 98th running concluded, someone else stole the show.

It was his young son, Ryden, all of 16 months old and in a matching yellow DHL firesuit.

The younger Hunter-Reay is about the only person that can upstage the elder one in terms of national Verizon IndyCar Series awareness and notoriety the rest of the calendar year and until next May, when they run this race for the 99th time.

That’s because Ryan – who survived a several-year career purgatory not knowing whether he’d ever make it back to open-wheel, or have a top-flight team opportunity – has entered the elite club of North American open-wheel legends.

He’s got both a series championship and now, an Indianapolis 500 victory.

“That’s a big deal to me personally. That’s probably the biggest point to me,” he said during Monday’s day-after media conference. “From a driver’s perspective, the championship is immensely rewarding. This race is the history of our sport. It’s our biggest. Even to compare it to the Super Bowl is not right, because this is bigger than the Super Bowl. It stands on its own.

And after this one, his awareness level should increase. In theory, anyway.

Hunter-Reay made it to the top of IndyCar’s summit in 2012, putting in a dynamic comeback in the final two races for Andretti Autosport to beat Team Penske’s Will Power to the title.

But on a national stage, “RHR’s” chance at glory was overshadowed by management turmoil at the top of the series, and the beginning drawdown of activation and support from then title-sponsor IZOD. Ironically, it was Hunter-Reay who brought IZOD into the frame in the first place, as it served as his personal sponsor before jumping to its series role in 2010.

“I’m not going to put on a whole big show and jump through hoops if people want me to do a certain thing or be a certain way,” Hunter-Reay said. “I’m going to be me, and I am thrilled to be here. I’m a hard-charging American and I’ve had to fight every step of my career for this ride.

“Yeah, I was overlooked in 2012. The series wanted an American champion and we had one. For whatever reason, things didn’t go the way they did. This one, I hope it does. I’ll be a great and honest champion. I’ll fly the flag for our sport and you’ll always get the real deal with me. I’m definitely not going to fake anything. Hey, maybe it will let me come out a little more and show even more of me.”

Those who followed the series in detail last year saw a guy who, even as champion, still had a chip on his shoulder and was driving better than he had in 2012. Hunter-Reay was more consistent and quicker in qualifying, but bore the brunt of horrible luck in more than a third of the 19 races. He ended an unrepresentative seventh in points.

This year, back with his champion’s number of 28, has seen Hunter-Reay reassert himself firmly at the front of the field across all disciplines. He finished third on the streets of St. Petersburg, won at Barber, came second in the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis and now has won the Indy 500. Save for a controversial passing attempt in Long Beach that ended in tears for RHR, teammate James Hinchcliffe and another American in Josef Newgarden, he’d be five-for-five in podium finishes in as many races.

Sunday was a bit of exorcising of demons at IMS. Hunter-Reay was the 2008 Indy 500 Rookie-of-the-Year but barely made the field in 2009, had a last-lap accident where he served as Mike Conway’s launching pad in 2010, needed to take over a qualified car in 2011 and had a mechanical DNF in 2012.

Last year, of course, he had the bad luck of being the leader headed to the final restart and was essentially a sitting duck – falling to third behind Tony Kanaan and Carlos Munoz.

“This place has been the extreme of emotions for me. The lowest of lows and highest of highs, really. From bottom to the top,” he said. “It kind of really wraps it all up in one summary. This is the Indy 500. It can be evil and it can be so rewarding. It’s on that pedestal.”

And realistically, so too is Hunter-Reay, who has gone from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs.

He’s not apologizing for being who is; he’s not going to separate the Long Beach move from the Indy move because they both showcase his style behind the wheel. And at 33, you roll with what’s working.

He’s made it to the top of the IndyCar summit… again.

And with his stats to play with, you wonder if the national awareness will follow given that he’s now got the key stat in the one race that stands out more than any other on the calendar.

Strong rebounds for Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi amid some disappointments in the Indy 500

By May 28, 2023, 10:00 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou had not turned a wheel wrong the entire Month of May at the Indy 500 until Rinus VeeKay turned a wheel into the Chip Ganassi Racing pole-sitter leaving pit road on Lap 94.

“There is nothing I could have done there,” Palou told NBC Sports. “It’s OK, when it is my fault or the team’s fault because everybody makes mistakes. But when there is nothing, you could have done differently there, it feels bad and feels bad for the team.”

Marcus Ericsson was a master at utilizing the “Tail of the Dragon” move that breaks the draft of the car behind him in the closing laps to win last year’s Indianapolis 500. On Sunday, however, the last of three red flags in the final 16 laps of the race had the popular driver from Sweden breathing fire after Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden beat him at his own game on the final lap to win the Indianapolis 500.

Despite the two disappointments, team owner Chip Ganassi was seen on pit road fist-bumping a member on his four-car team in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after his drivers finished second, fourth, sixth and seventh in the tightly contested race.

Those are pretty good results, but at the Indianapolis 500, there is just one winner and 32 losers.

“There is only one winner, but it was a hell of a show,” three-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Chip Ganassi Racing consultant Dario Franchitti told NBC Sports. “Alex was very fast, and he got absolutely caught out in somebody else’s wreck. There was nothing he could have done, but he and the 10 car, great recovery.

“Great recovery by all four cars because at half distance, we were not looking very good.”

After 92 laps, the first caution flew for Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing hitting the Turn 1 wall.

During pit stops on Lap 94, Palou had left his stall when the second-place car driven by VeeKay ran into him, putting Palou’s Honda into the wall. The car sustained a damaged front wing, but the Chip Ganassi crew was able to get him back in the race on the lead lap but in 28th position.

Palou ultimately would fight his way to a fourth-place finish in a race the popular Spaniard could have won. His displeasure with VeeKay, whom he sarcastically called “a legend” on his team radio after the incident, was evident.

“The benefit of being on pole is you can drive straight and avoid crashes, and he was able to crash us on the side on pit lane, which is pretty tough to do, but he managed it,” Palou told NBC Sports. “Hopefully next year we are not beside him. Hopefully, next year we have a little better luck.”

Palou started on the pole and led 36 laps, just three fewer than race leader Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren Racing.

“We started really well, was managing the fuel as we wanted, our car was pretty good,” Palou said. “Our car wasn’t great, we dropped to P4 or P5, but we still had some good stuff.

“On the pit stop, the 21 (VeeKay) managed to clip us. Nothing we could have done there. It was not my team’s fault or my fault.

“We had to drop to the end. I’m happy we made it back to P4. We needed 50 more laps to make it happen, but it could have been a lot worse after that contact.

“I learned a lot, running up front at the beginning and in mid-pack and then the back. I learned a lot.

“It feels amazing when you win it and not so good when things go wrong. We were a bit lucky with so many restarts at the end to make it back to P4 so I’m happy with that.”

Palou said the front wing had to be changed and the toe-in was a bit off, but he still had a fast car.

In fact, his Honda was the best car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all month. His pole-winning four lap average speed of 234.217 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a record for this fabled race.

Palou looked good throughout the race, before he had to scratch and claw and race his way back to the top-five after he restarted 28th.

In the Indianapolis 500, however, the best car doesn’t always win.

“It’s two years in a row that we were leading the race at the beginning and had to drop to last,” Palou said. “Maybe next year, we will start in the middle of the field and go on to win the race.

“I know he didn’t do it on purpose. It’s better to let that pass someday.”

Palou said the wild racing at the end was because the downforce package used in Sunday’s race means the drivers have to be aggressive. The front two cars can battle for the victory, but cars back in fourth or fifth place can’t help determine the outcome of the race.

That is when the “Tail of the Dragon” comes into the play.

Franchitti helped celebrate Ericsson’s win in 2022 with his “Tail of the Dragon” zigzag move – something he never had to do in any of his three Indianapolis 500 victories because they all finished under caution.

In 2023, however, IndyCar Race Control wants to make every attempt to finish the race under green, without going past the scheduled distance like NASCAR’s overtime rule.

Instead of extra laps, they stop the race with a red flag, to create a potential green-flag finish condition.

“You do what you have to do to win within the rules, and it’s within the rules, so you do it,” Franchitti said. “The race is 200 laps and there is a balance.

“Marcus did a great job on that restart and so did Josef. It was just the timing of who was where and that was it.

“If you knew it was going to go red, you would have hung back on the lap before.

“Brilliant job by the whole Ganassi organization because it wasn’t looking very good at half-distance.

“Full marks to Josef Newgarden and Team Penske.”

Franchitti is highly impressed by how well Ericsson works with CGR engineer Brad Goldberg and how close this combination came to winning the Indianapolis 500 two-years-in-a-row.

It would have been the first back-to-back Indy 500 winner since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and 2002.

“Oh, he’s a badass,” Franchitti said Ericsson. “He proved it last year. He is so calm all day. What more do you need? As a driver, he’s fast and so calm.”

Ericsson is typically in good spirits and jovial.

He was stern and direct on pit road after the race.

“I did everything right, I did an awesome restart, caught Josef off-guard and pulled away,” Ericsson said on pit lane. “It’s hard to pull away a full lap and he got me back.

“I’m mostly disappointed with the way he ended. I don’t think it was fair and safe to do that restart straight out of the pits on cold tires for everyone.

“To me, it was not a good way to end that race.

“Congrats to Josef. He didn’t do anything wrong. He is a worthy champion, but it shouldn’t have ended like that.”

Palou also didn’t understand the last restart, which was a one-start showdown.

“I know that we want to finish under green,” Palou said. “Maybe the last restart I did, I didn’t understand. It didn’t benefit the CGR team.

“I’m not very supportive of the last one, but anyway.”

Dixon called the red flags “a bit sketchy.”

“The red flags have become a theme to the end of the race, but sometimes they can catch you out,” Dixon said. “I know Marcus is frustrated with it.

“All we ask for is consistency. I think they will do better next time.

“It’s a tough race. People will do anything they can to win it and with how these reds fall, you have to be in the right place at the right time. The problem is when they throw a Red or don’t throw a Red dictates how the race will end.

“It’s a bloody hard race to win. Congrats to Josef Newgarden and to Team Penske.”

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500