by Team RHR on September 11, 2012 in News, Race Previews
Ryan Hunter-Reay is currently ranked second in the IZOD IndyCar Series points championship going into this weekend’s finale race. He enters the weekend with a series-leading four victories this season and is the only American to visit victory lane in 2012. His nine career wins come from eight different racetracks: three flat ovals, 1 banked oval, four street courses and one permanent road course. This will be Hunter-Reay’s first time racing in Fontana since 2003. Hunter-Reay is also tied with Tony Kanaan for the lead in the race for the AJ Foyt Trophy, given to the driver who scores the most points in the season’s oval races.
“I think it is so neat that we are finishing the season in California – I grew up just down the street (from the track) and this is a great place for the finale. Auto Club Speedway is a great facility. I haven’t driven around the track since 2003 in a Reynard, and I can tell you the track has picked up some ‘character’ since then. But the race will be the same for all of us and I fully expect that the fans will see a fantastic race under the lights.”
On the championship being decided by this weekend’s race:
“After Sonoma we thought our chance was gone – but I’ll tell you what – this team, the guys at Andretti Autosport, with the support of DHL and Sun Drop never, ever give up. We’ll be there in the end. We are going to put on a great show. We’re using the momentum we have on our side from winning four of the last seven races, and we hope to use that to our advantage. We’ve won the last two oval races as well. It’s going to be a tough one to get the job done over 500 miles but this team has shown to be resilient toward the end of races, so I think we just have to approach it like we have been very other race this year. We’re going out to win it. There’s not a lot of time and energy wasted on counting points – we’re going out to win the thing.”
Did You Know: Hunter-Reay enters the 500-mile weekend only 17 points behind series leader Will Power of Team Penske. There are 29 different scenarios that would crown Hunter-Reay the new IZOD IndyCar Series Champion at race’s end. If those scenarios play out, this would be the first IndyCar title for the 31-year old and the fourth for Andretti Autosport.