May 16, 2012 by Tim Tuttle
Photos courtesy of IMS
Ryan Hunter-Reay at IMS
Ryan Hunter-Reay has never qualified higher than the middle of the 33-car field for the Indianapolis 500 and twice he’s had to endure gut-wrenching experiences. The Andretti Autosport driver doesn’t have to be concerned about making the race this year with only 31 cars practicing (including two Lotus-powered cars that are 10 mph off his pace), but he’d still like to start up front.
Ryan Hunter-Reay during practice sessions at Indy
Hunter-Reay’s 221.763 mph lap was third fastest Wednesday in the fifth practice. His best out of 230 laps is 221.814, run on Tuesday, is sixth fastest in the combined practices.
“We want to start up front,” Hunter-Reay said. “It’s way better when you start up front and run up front. We’re always focused on that in qualifying. We want to get into the fast nine.”
Cars on track at IMS for practice
The fastest nine cars on Pole Day advance into a shoot-out in the final 90 minutes for the pole and the next eight positions on the grid. Hunter-Reay’s top starting position in the 500 is 17th in 2010. He started 20th in 2008 and finished sixth, earning Chase Rookie of the Year.
Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe at practice
Hunter-Reay and his Andretti teammates haven’t worked much on a qualifying setup for their Dallara DW12-Chevrolets. They’re saving that for Friday, when everybody gets 40 to 50 more horsepower from IndyCar’s decision to raise the turbo boost level.
“We’ve concentrated on making our cars better in race trim,” Hunter-Reay said. “The Andretti cars are working well. It’s pretty impressive the way the cars are operating. We’re most of the way there on some pretty good race cars.”
James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay in pit lane
Typically, a fast car in race setup can be trimmed out aerodynamically and maintain the balance for the four-lap qualifying runs. But the best news for Hunter-Reay is he should have a fast car on race day and he hasn’t had that since 2008. Much of that can be attributed to his struggles in qualifying. You can’t work on the race car when you’re trying to get into the race on Bump Day.
Last year, Hunter-Reay was bumped out of the field in the final minutes. Team owner Michael Andrertti had to make a deal with A.J. Foyt to put Hunter-Reay into the unsponsored car qualified by Bruno Junqueira. Andretti needed to get Hunter-Reay and his sponsors in the race and brought the car. At Indy, it’s the car, not the driver, that qualifies for the race.
Ryan Hunter-Reay getting ready to race
“We had a pretty tough in qualifying here last year,” Hunter-Reay said.
Hunter-Reay started 33rd and finished 23rd, three laps down in a car he drove only in the Carburetion Day practice. He bumped his way into the 500 with three minutes remaining in 2009, started 32nd and spun out of the race with 19 laps completed and finished 32nd. Hunter-Reay finished 18th in 2010, running out of gas with two laps to go in front of Mike Conway, whose car climbed over one of Hunter-Reay’s wheels, crashed and suffered season-ending injuries.
Sebastian Saavedra and Ryan Hunter-Reay on the Indy track
Hunter-Reay has the luxury of working on a race setup this year and the speed is there for him to be a contender to win the 500 for the first time. Hunter-Reay has three wins in the Izod IndyCar Series and two in Champ Car. Two of the five have been on ovals.