IndyCar: Hunter-Reay’s charge ends at Milwaukee (VIDEO)

By Aug 17, 2014, 5:10 PM EDT
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WEST ALLIS, Wis. – Ryan Hunter-Reay’s day at the Milwaukee Mile was symptomatic of his 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season: highest of highs, and lowest of lows.

The day began with a multi-year contract extension at Andretti Autosport for both him and sponsor DHL.

But in Sunday’s ABC Supply Co. Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers, Hunter-Reay put in a charge to the front that ultimately came up snake eyes.

Hunter-Reay came from 19th on the grid to as high as fifth, courtesy of an excellent first stint. But after fading to 11th following his second stop, Hunter-Reay had an apparent right-rear suspension failure on the front straight at Lap 168.

He had a reported similar issue at Pocono earlier this year. At 64 points back of points leader Will Power, who was leading as of Lap 180, this will almost certainly take Hunter-Reay out of the championship battle.

“I could feel it running rough. It wasn’t a clean suspension break,” Hunter-Reay told NBCSN’s Marty Snider. “It was something with the right rear, CV joint popped out, it was undriveable. We had a great start. The yellow kind of got us. Wasn’t the balance I wanted. This is probably our championship hope, gone. It’s gonna be pretty hard from here. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

The day exacerbated a frustrating afternoon for Andretti Autosport; Carlos Munoz retired after contact on Lap 131 to become the first retirement of the race.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”