Ryan Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay
Hunter-Reay in May 2010.
Nationality	American
Born	December 17, 1980 (1980-12-17) Dallas, Texas
2012 IndyCar Series
Debut season	2007
Current team	Andretti Autosport
Car no.	28
Former teams	A. J. Foyt Enterprises Vision Racing Rahal Letterman Racing Rocketsports Racing HVM Racing American Spirit
Starts	101
Wins	3
Poles	1
Best finish	7th in 2010
Previous series
2003–2005 2002 2000–2001	CART/Champ Car World Series Toyota Atlantic Championship Barber Dodge Pro Series
Awards
1999 2002 2007 2008	Skip Barber Big Scholarship WorldCom Rising Star Award IndyCar Rookie of the Year Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year

Ryan Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980 in Dallas, Texas) is a professional American race car driver best known as the only driver to have won races in each of North America's top open wheel formulas, CART the ChampCar World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is also the most successful American driver currently competing in open wheel competition, with more race wins than all of the other current American IndyCar drivers (12) combined.

Hunter-Reay won the IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year award in 2007, despite only competing in six of the seventeen events, and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors in 2008. In January 2010 Hunter-Reay was signed to drive for Andretti Autosport in the No.# 37 IZOD sponsored IndyCar, where he won the prestigious Long Beach Grand Prix and Andretti Autosports first win under the sole ownership of Michael Andretti. In October 2010 Andretti Autosport announced they had signed Hunter-Reay to a two year contract through 2012. For the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Championship Hunter-Reay drove the Andretti Autosport DHL Sponsored No.# 28 entry.

The No.#28 depicted on his race car is a show of support for the estimated 28 million people living with cancer worldwide. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who lost his Mother to colon cancer in 2009, continues to be a leader in the fight against cancer and serves as a special envoy for Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG foundation and serves as an ambassador for 'Racing for Cancer' an organization founded in 2010 to help build awareness in the global fight against cancer. His wife is ex-ChampCar pit reporter, and off-road racer, Beccy Gordon.

Career history

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 $250,000 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Hunter-Reay practices for his first Indianapolis 500 in 2008.

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.

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. On July 6, Hunter-Reay scored his maiden IndyCar Series win in the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International. He led 9 of the race's 60 laps having passed Darren Manning on a late restart. He would go on to beat Manning by 2.4009 seconds. Following the triumph at "The Glen," Hunter-Reay would post top tens in five of the final seven rounds (Australia did not count toward the 2008 championship) to finish 8th in the final standings.

2009

Hunter-Reay in 2010.

At the onset of 2009, Hunter-Reay was left rideless after Rahal Letterman announced they would not be running a full season due to a lack of sponsorship, but was able to sign a late deal with Vision Racing a few days prior to the race in St. Petersburg. In his debut race with the team Hunter-Reay finished second to Ryan Briscoe. The second place finish was the best for Vision Racing in the IndyCar Series. His other finishes in 2009 with Vision were notably less successful, failing to finish in the top 10 and having to qualify in the final minutes of Bump Day in order to make the field for the Indianapolis 500. After the race at Texas Motor Speedway, Vision and A. J. Foyt Enterprises announced that Hunter-Reay would move to Foyt's team to replaced the injured Vitor Meira for the remainder of the season.

2010

Hunter-Reay began his 2010 racing season in the Grand-Am series, where he teamed with three other drivers to pilot the #95 car in the Daytona Prototype class for Level 5 Motorsports at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The entry completed the grueling 24-hour race four laps off the lead in third place. Hunter-Reay drove the final stint, bringing the car home to a podium finish.

On January 4, it was announced that Hunter-Reay would drive the #37 Izod sponsored car for Andretti Autosport. The deal was initially for a partial season, lasting only through the Indianapolis 500. In the first race of the season, the São Paulo Indy 300, Hunter-Reay led for 20 laps and finished 2nd to Will Power, relinquishing the lead on lap 58 of 61. Three races later, Hunter-Reay won the Grand Prix of Long Beach in dominating fashion. This on-track success led to additional sponsorship, culminating in the announcement prior to the race at Watkins Glenn that Hunter-Reay would pilot the #37 car for the full season. Hunter-Reay finished the season with three podiums, six top 5 finishes, and twelve top 10 finishes (including a stretch of eight in a row). He finished a career best 7th in the final points standings.

On October 29, it was announced that Hunter-Reay signed a two-year contract with Andretti Autosport to drive with the team through the 2012 season.

2011

Hunter-Reay returned to the Izod Indycar Series driving the #28 DHL sponsored car for Andretti Autosport. The year began with high expectations, but the season’s first-half results were disappointing. Despite having some good cars, mistakes and bad luck caused Ryan to finish no better than 14th through the first six races. Ryan twice qualified his car on the front row (Long Beach and São Paulo), and he was contending for a possible win at Long Beach when his race ended on lap 72 of 85 due to a gearbox malfunction. The disappointment culminated at Indianapolis when he failed to qualify for the 500-mile race, having been bumped by the last car as time expired. Despite not qualifying, he ran the race anyway, replacing Bruno Junqueira in the #14 car for A. J. Foyt Enterprises, and finished 23rd. After finally getting his first top-10 in the second race at Texas, Hunter-Reay finished last at Milwaukee after crashing on the first lap of the race.

Hunter-Reay’s season finally turned around when he began a string of seven straight top-10 finishes with an 8th place at Iowa. He had podium finishes at Toronto and Mid-Ohio, and gained a controversial win at New Hampshire. The New Hampshire race result was protested, but a review committee upheld Hunter-Reay’s victory. After a bad-luck incident late in the race at Motegi resulted in a 24th place finish, Ryan finished the season with a 5th place at Kentucky. Despite the poor start to the season, Hunter-Reay battled back to finish 7th overall in the points standings with a very strong second-half. In 17 races, he had one win, four top 5 finishes, nine top 10 finishes, and 3 DNF.

Career results

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Atlantic Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2002	Hylton Motorsports	MTY Ret	LBH 18	MIL Ret	LS 1	POR 4	CHI 1	TOR 4	CLE 1	TRR 7	ROA Ret	MTL 22	DEN Ret	6th	102

CART/Champ Car

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2003	American Spirit Team Johansson	STP 16	MTY 12	LBH 7	BRH 16	LAU 11	MIL 16	LS 12	POR 17	CLE 9	TOR 11	VAN 6	ROA 10	MDO 3	MTL 17	DEN 15	MIA 12	MXC 11	SRF 1	FON NH	14th	64
2004	Herdez Competition	LBH 7	MTY 8	MIL 1*	POR 12	CLE 11	TOR 8	VAN 8	ROA 4	DEN 16	MTL 18	LS 5	LVS 13	SRF 5	MXC 19						9th	199^
2005	Rocketsports Racing	LBH 13	MTY 7	MIL 17	POR 15	CLE 18	TOR 6	EDM 16	SJO 14	DEN 6	MTL 12	LVS 10	SRF	MXC							15th	110

^{^} New points system implemented in 2004.

IndyCar Series

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 Racing	HMS	STP	MOT	KAN	INDY	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO 7	MIS 6	KTY 15	SNM 18	DET 18	CHI 7			19th	119
2008	Rahal Letterman Racing	HMS 7	STP 17	MOT1 7	LBH1 DNP	KAN 18	INDY 6	MIL 15	TXS 20	IOW 8	RIR 16	WGL 1	NSH 19	MDO 10	EDM 8	KTY 9	SNM 18	DET 6	CHI 9	SRF2 3	8th	360
2009	Vision Racing	STP 2	LBH 11	KAN 15	INDY 32	MIL 12	TXS 16														15th	298
	A.J. Foyt Enterprises							IOW 19	RIR 15	WGL 21	TOR 7	EDM 17	KTY 14	MDO 4	SNM 19	CHI 15	MOT 21	HMS 13
2010	Andretti Autosport	SAO 2	STP 11	ALA 12	LBH 1	KAN 5	INDY 18	TXS 7	IOW 8	WGL 7	TOR 3	EDM 5	MDO 10	SNM 8	CHI 4	KTY 21	MOT 9	HMS 11			7th	445
2011	Andretti Autosport	STP 21	ALA 14	LBH 23	SAO 18	INDY3 DNQ	TXS1 19	TXS2 9	MIL 26	IOW 8	TOR 3	EDM 7	MDO 3	NHM 1	SNM 10	BAL 8	MOT 24	KTY 5	LVS C		7th	347
	A.J. Foyt Enterprises					INDY3 23

* Season in progress.

¹ Run on same day.

² Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

³ Failed to qualify; subsequently replaced Bruno Junqueira in a car owned by A. J. Foyt Enterprises.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Podiums (Non-win)	Top 10s (Non-podium)	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
5	4	72	0	3	5	28	0	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2008	Dallara	Honda	20	6	Rahal Letterman Racing
2009	Dallara	Honda	32	32	Vision Racing
2010	Dallara	Honda	17	18	Andretti Autosport
2011	Dallara	Honda	DNQ		Andretti Autosport
	Dallara	Honda	33	23	A.J. Foyt Enterprises

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2006–07	USA	NED SPR	NED FEA	CZE SPR	CZE FEA	BEI SPR	BEI FEA	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	IDN SPR	IDN FEA	NZL SPR 11	NZL FEA 10	AUS SPR	AUS FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	MEX SPR	MEX FEA	SHA SPR	SHA FEA	GBR SPR	GBR SPR	9th	42

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Rank	Points
2010	Level 5 Motorsports	LMPC	Oreca FLM09	Chevrolet 6.2L V8	M	SEB ovr:NC cls:NC	LNB	MON	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	PET	NC	-
2011	Level 5 Motorsports	LMP2	Lola B11/40	HPD HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6	M	SEB ovr:20 cls:1	LNB	LIM	MOS	MID	AME	BAL	MON	PET	3rd*	30*

* 2011 season in progress.

External links

• Official Website
• IndyCar Driver Page
• IndyCar 11 in '11 video

Sporting positions
Preceded by Marco Andretti	IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year 2007	Succeeded by Hideki Mutoh
Preceded by Phil Giebler	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 2008	Succeeded by Alex Tagliani