Ryan Hunter-Reay
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| Ryan Hunter-Reay | |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Date of Birth | December 17, 1980 |
| Place of Birth | Dallas, Texas |
| 2008 IRL IndyCar Series | |
| Debut season | 2007 |
| Current team | Rahal Letterman Racing |
| Car No. | 17 |
| Starts | 13 |
| Wins | |
| Poles | |
| Best finish | 19th in 2007 |
| Previous series | |
| 2003-2005 2002 2000-2001 |
Champ Car World Series Toyota Atlantic Championship Barber Dodge Pro Series |
| Awards | |
| 1999 2002 2007 2008 |
Skip Barber Big Scholarship WorldCom Rising Star Award IRL IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year |
Ryan Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980 in Dallas, Texas) is an American auto racing driver, best known for spending three years (2003–2005) in the Champ Car World Series. He drove for three different teams and won two races, but did not compete in the series in 2006. He now drives in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Racing.
Contents |
[edit] Career History
[edit] Early years
After winning six national karting championships, Hunter-Reay won a Skip Barber Karting Scholarship to race in Skip Barber Formula Dodge Series. He then won the Skip Barber Formula Dodge National Championship in 1999 and then a shoot-out against the top Formula Dodge drivers for the Skip Barber Big Scholarship prize and its $150,000 prize.
Racing in the Barber Dodge Pro Series from 2000 to 2001, Hunter-Reay won the Rookie of the Year award in 2000, and claimed two wins in 2001. He then proceeded up the Champ Car developmental "ladder" to the Toyota Atlantic Series in 2002, where he finished sixth overall in the points standings, won three races, and led the circuit in laps led, poles, and fast times. This secured him the Worldcom "Rising Star" Award and attention from several Champ Car teams.
[edit] Champ Car
In 2003 Hunter-Reay joined the Champ Car World Series, driving for the first-year low-budget American Spirit Team Johansson. Although handicapped with a slower Reynard chassis and three separate engineers, he impressed many with a front row start and third place finish at Mid-Ohio, as well as a win at Surfers Paradise where he qualified as the top Reynard and worked his way up to fifth on a diabolical wet/dry changing track. He opted for a high-risk strategy and pitted on the first lap of a mandatory three lap window to take on slick tires, managing to do what a lot of veterans could not and keep his car on the track and incident free. Through three restarts, he beat first ex-Champion and teammate Jimmy Vasser and then Briton Darren Manning for the win.
In 2004, Hunter-Reay moved to the Herdez Competition team, where he recorded the team's first ever pole and won in dominant fashion at Milwaukee, leading all 250 laps and setting a Champ Car series record for most laps led in a single race. He qualified on the front row at Road America; however, a first-lap back-of-the-track incident where his ex-teammate Vasser forced him off before "RHR" returned the favor at the next corner moved both drivers to dead last. Hunter-Reay fought his way back to a fourth place finish; however, other than at Toronto (where he was running third on the last lap until Patrick Carpentier ran into the back of him and cut down a tire forcing him to pit), the remainder of the season was inconsistent.
In 2005, Hunter-Reay moved again, this time to the uncompetitive second seat at the Rocketsports Racing team. He struggled through most of the season without an engineer and rarely ran near the front of the pack. His rookie teammate Timo Glock was more somewhat more successful, almost winning at Montreal with a lucky pit strategy; however, other than that both drivers' best result was a sixth place finish. While Glock would go on to win Rookie of the Year honors, Rocketsports took on a pay driver for the last two races of the season and released Hunter-Reay from the team.
[edit] A1 Grand Prix
In 2006-2007, Hunter-Reay began working with A1 Team USA in the A1 Grand Prix series. He was due to make his debut in Beijing however problems occurring at the circuit meant that track time was curtailed and he never got to drive. His debut proper took place in the 6th round of the series held in Taupo, New Zealand.
[edit] 2007
In January, Hunter-Reay co-drove with 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, Marc Goossens, and car owner Jim Matthews in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Early on the #91 Lowe's Pontiac Riley ran at the front of the field, but shortly after Hunter-Reay relinquished the driving duties to car owner Matthews, the car was damaged in a crash and although the team managed to work back up into 10th place with only a couple hours left in the race, the car suffered engine failure in the 22nd hour.
On July 19, Rahal Letterman Racing announced that Hunter-Reay would be replacing Jeff Simmons, who had been dismissed after a series of incidents, in the team's #17 ethanol sponsored car in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series for the rest of the season. Hunter-Reay began his IRL career with two top 10 finishes, placing 7th at the Honda 200 and 6th at the Firestone Indy 400.
On September 9, Hunter-Reay placed 7th at the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 - his 3rd Top 10 finish of the season. Despite only starting in six races, his performance was sufficient to win the 2007 Bombadier Rookie of the Year award.
[edit] 2008
Hunter-Reay returned to Rahal Letterman for a full season in the IndyCar Series for 2008. Because Hunter-Reay did not attempt the Indianapolis 500, by rule, he was eligible for the race's rookie title in 2008, which he won by finishing in 6th place, one spot ahead of fellow rookie Hideki Mutoh.
[edit] Career Results
[edit] Champ Car
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)
2003 results to be completed
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Herdez | LBH 7 |
 MTY 8 |
MIL 1 |
POR 12 |
CLE 11 |
 TOR 8 |
VAN 8 |
ROA 4 |
DEN Ret |
MTL Ret |
LS 5 |
LVS 13 |
 SRF 5 |
MXC 19 |
9th | 199 |
| 2005 | Rocketsports | LBH 13 |
MTY 7 |
MIL Ret |
POR 15 |
CLE Ret |
TOR 6 |
EDM Ret |
SJO Ret |
DEN 6 |
MTL 12 |
LVS 10 |
SRF |
MXC |
15th | 110 |
[edit] IndyCar
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Rahal Letterman | HMS |
STP |
 MOT |
KAN |
INDY |
MIL |
TXS |
IOW |
RIR |
WGL |
NSH |
MDO 7 |
MIS 6 |
KTY 15 |
SNM Ret |
DET Ret |
CHI 7 |
19th | 119 | ||
| 2008 | Rahal Letterman | HMS 7 |
STP 17 |
MOT1 7 |
LBH1 DNP |
KAN 18 |
INDY 6 |
MIL 15 |
TXS Ret |
IOW |
RIR |
WGL |
NSH |
MDO |
EDM |
KTY |
SNM |
DET |
CHI |
SRF2 |
14th* | 132* |
- * 2008 season in progress.
- 1 Run on same day.
- 2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
| Years | Teams | Races | Poles | Wins | Podiums (Non-win) |
Top 10s (Non-podium) |
Indianapolis 500 Wins |
Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
[edit] External links
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