Published: May 25, 2008 11:46 pm            

Ryan Hunter-Reay leads Indy rookie pack

INDIANAPOLIS — Just a few seasons ago, Ryan Hunter-Reay left open-wheel racing to pursue other racing venues, including NASCAR. In the 92nd Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, rookie Hunter-Reay finished sixth in a sea of veterans and the largest rookie field in years.

“I learned a lot today about how to race,” Hunter-Reay said, still revved about his performance in the Rahal Letterman Ethanol car.

He had to race. Because of a lackluster qualifying effort, he started from the 20th position. “I drove so hard today. I am so relieved,” he said.

Hunter-Reay turned in a textbook performance of patience and determination. Every 10 laps, he was gaining a position; by lap 40, he jumped to 11th and never dropped below 12th the rest of the day. “I hit my marks, and all day I learned. You’ve got to be ready when the opportunity comes,” he noted.

When he wasn’t gaining positions on the track, Hunter-Reay did it in the pits. Nearly every pit stop, he gained position on the cars giving him trouble on the track, breaking into the top 10 before the halfway point. When he climbed to sixth, it still was not easy.

“This place is so difficult,” he said later. “When the tires go off and there’s cars in front of you with the turbulence, it’s probably been one of the most difficult tracks that I’ve ever been around.”

When it came to the closing laps, Andretti Green rookie Hideki Mutoh went ahead of Hunter-Reay after the final round of pit stops. Going into the final 10 laps Mutoh, according to Hunter-Reay, would not get out of the way. Hunter-Reay felt Mutoh kept blocking his attempts to pass.

“I was not going to let this race finish with that kid in front of me,” he said. “I found his weakness.” Hunter-Reay regained sixth place for good with just six laps left. “I was methodical and set him up. My spotters did a great job giving me the information and we got the job done.”

For the Rahal Letterman team, Hunter-Reay felt they were “punching above their weight” against powerhouse teams Ganassi, Penske and Andretti Green. When a crash during a qualifying attempt and a slow car afterward put the team in an uphill climb for the race, Hunter-Reay came prepared. He had watched years of tapes of Indy 500s “watching other guys mistakes,” he said.

One thing that worked well for him was where the car wanted to be on the track. Because of cautions brought on by drivers hitting the marbles on the high side, his spotters kept telling him to stay low, but that was where the car was working best.

He went into the race knowing that it would not be easy, but understood what it would take to be competitive. “You have to learn what the car can give you, and you have to know your limits,” he said.

Still, it was a long day. “It was tight, tight competition. Those 500 miles felt like 1,000. We didn’t have any luck today. No bad. No good. That’s what I needed,” the rookie concluded.

When asked what his other boss, television host David Letterman, had to say about his performance, Hunter-Reay said, “Well, in my head he said, ‘You were five slots away from being on my show.’” In reality, Hunter-Reay said that Letterman is a real laid-back kind of guy and congratulated him.

This is Hunter-Reay’s first full season with Rahal Letterman. He made six starts with the team last year, replacing driver Jeff Simmons. In those six starts, he finished in the top ten three times. Despite just those few races, he earned the IndyCar series Bombardier Rookie of the Year honors.

His effort Sunday earned him the top finishing rookie of the race honor and will most likely be named Rookie of the Year for the Indy 500, an accolade he feels has much more meaning this year. With 11 rookies in the field, he had to contend with the former Champ Car series drivers. “This means so much this year. It is a great field to be on top of,” he said.

        

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