This offseason I thought was the best time to look at a few of IndyCar's veterans as the series is going through a generational shift. A group of experienced drivers are approaching their final days in the series, and many are reaching that finish line at once. While IndyCar is going through a shake up the likes of which it has not been seen since the early 1990s, we need to take this time to appreciate these drivers but also look at how IndyCar has changed since these drivers started in the series.
This is our second in a four-part series. After looking at Takuma Sato, we will look at another past Indianapolis 500 winner, but this driver also won a championship. He also is one of Sato's former teammates and one of the most experienced drivers in IndyCar history.
It is Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Where was Hunter-Reay coming from?
The Texas-born driver had a quick rise to IndyCar. He spent two full seasons Barber Dodge Pro Series and each season he was fifth in the championship. He was the top rookie in 2000 and he won twice in 2001.
In 2002, he moved to the Toyota Atlantic Championship with Hylton Motorsports where his teammate was Roger Yasukawa. He started slowly but won the fourth race of the season at Laguna Seca. Two more victories would follow at Chicago Motor Speedway and Cleveland and his three victories were tied with Michael Valiante for most that season. However, four retirements from 12 races dropped Hunter-Reay to sixth in the championship behind Jon Fogarty, Valiante, Alex Gurney, Luis Díaz and Rocky Moran, Jr.
What did IndyCar look like when Hunter-Reay started in the series?
It was split and not at the greatest place. The 2003 season was a pivotal shift in the CART/IRL war. Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing had left CART to join the Indy Racing League, as had Team Green, which Michael Andretti purchased and the team re-branded as Andretti Green Racing.
The teams weren't the only things to leave CART. Honda and Toyota went to the IRL leaving Ford-Cosworth as the only engine manufacture in the series. Chassis were split between Lola and Reynard, but the Lola was heavily preferred with about 14 on the grid each race compared to six Reynards.
CART was floundering. Teams were broke, national coverage was minimal and the schedule was a mess. Road America nearly fell off the schedule until Mario Andretti stepped in and negotiated a compromise. Brands Hatch and EuroSpeedway Lausitz each hosted a round. Laguna Seca was in the middle of June. Canada had three races, Mexico had two and a new circuit opened the season, St. Petersburg. Nineteen races made up the 2003 CART schedule, nine street/temporary circuits, seven natural-terrain road courses and three ovals, however, only two oval races took place. The Fontana finale was cancelled due to wildfires in the area.
Newman/Haas Racing and Forsythe Racing led the way in CART with Penske, Ganassi and Team Green leaving. Team Rahal and Fernández Racing split the dividing line, each with one car in CART and one in the IRL. Dale Coyne Racing had been on the grid for nearly 20 years and yet to win a race. Walker Racing fielded two cars. Patrick Racing was still around.
The 2003 CART season was full of new teams: PK Racing, Conquest Racing, Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing and American Spirit Team Johansson, which saw past champion Jimmy Vasser paired with the rookie Hunter-Reay.
Across the battle lines, with the inclusion of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti Green, the IRL had about 21 regular entries with 16 oval races on 15 different circuits.
How does IndyCar look now?
The split is over, and that is a good thing. Ending in 2008, IndyCar has been one series and the reunited series is one of the large reasons why IndyCar is as healthy as it is today. Just because it is healthy, does not mean there have not been some losses.
Between the two series, there were 34 races held on 33 different circuits in 2003. The 2022 season has 17 races scheduled on 15 different circuits and ten of those circuits were around in 2003. Seven were on the CART schedule and three were on the IRL schedule. There were 18 oval races for American open-wheel racing's highest level in 2003. Five races at four circuits are on the 2022 schedule.
It would be easy to look at the two series and the combined 40-plus regular entries and say IndyCar has lost out there as well, but IndyCar has one of its strongest grids today with 24-28 high quality entries. Both CART and the IRL suffered, and the rear of each series has far from the top.
Hunter-Reay and Vasser were the only regular American drivers in CART that year. Geoff Boss ran majority of the races and Bryan Herta was a fill-in for PK Racing at Laguna Seca. In the IRL, there were ten American regulars, plus Herta who ran majority of the races for an injured Dario Franchitti, and Alex Barron, who ran ten of 16 races and won at Nashville.
Between CART and the IRL, American drivers combined to win eight of 34 races.
There were only seven American regulars in the 2021 IndyCar season, and they only won five races, but five out of 16, 31.25% of the schedule. There were also two Americans in the top five of the championship compared to one between CART and the IRL in 2003 and there were four Americans in the top ten in 2021 compared to three between the two series 18 years earlier.
Only six of the current 11 IndyCar teams were around in 2003, and Dale Coyne Racing is the only CART-dedicated team left. While Team Rahal straddled the divide, Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Autosport and A.J. Foyt Racing were all IRL teams.
Some of the teams lost in the last 18 years were Newman/Haas Racing, which closed after the 2011 season. Forsythe Racing closed its doors with reunification as the team chose not to participate in the united series. Patrick Racing closed for good in 2004. Walker Racing also did not make it over with reunification but turned its attention to sports car racing before closing in 2015. PK Racing became PKV Racing and then just KV Racing. It lasted until 2016 and won six races post-reunification, including the 2013 Indianapolis 500 with Tony Kanaan.
Notable IRL teams that did not make it include Panther Racing, which had won the previous two championships before the 2003 season. Hemelgarn Racing was reduced to a part-time operation starting in 2006 and its final appearance was the 2009 Indianapolis 500 when Buddy Lazier failed to qualify for the race. Fernández Racing turned to sports car racing in 2007 and lasted until 2009. Team Menard withdrew from IndyCar after the 2003 season.
It should be noted Sam Schmidt Motorsports was an Indianapolis-only entry in 2003. It became a full-time team in 2011 and laid the groundwork for the current Arrow McLaren SP organization. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing is still around, and it shows up every May for Indianapolis. D&R stepped back from a full-time operation in the middle of the 2013 season.
What did Hunter-Reay do in-between?
Experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
Hunter-Reay had flashes of good results in his rookie season. He was sixth at Vancouver and then scored his first podium with a third in Mid-Ohio. The Reynard chassis was the weaker of the two options in CART that season. Entering Surfers Paradise, no Reynard team had won a race and Hunter-Reay's third at Mid-Ohio was the chassis manufacture's only podium result.
For the second consecutive year, bad weather significantly affected the Gold Coast race. A hailstorm caused a red flag 20 minutes into the race. Rain continued throughout and there were an abundance of caution periods. Hunter-Reay took the lead under caution on lap 33 after starting 12th. The race was shortened due to all the delays and Hunter-Reay led the final 15 laps on his way to his first career victory, a Reynard 1-2-3 with Darren Manning for Walker Racing and Hunter-Reay teammate Vasser in third.
When CART was resurrected as Champ Car for 2004, Hunter-Reay moved to HVM Racing-operated Herdez Competition, where he teamed with Mario Domínguez. He won the third race of the season at Milwaukee, leading all 250 laps from pole position. It was his only podium finish of the season, but he was ninth in the championship, a five-spot jump from his rookie year.
Things took a turn for the worse in 2005. Hunter-Reay moved to Rocketsports where he was teamed with Timo Glock, who made four Formula One starts the previous year with Jordan, which included a seventh on debut at Montreal. Neither driver was running particularly well. Through nine races, neither had a top five finish. Glock was ninth in the championship while Hunter-Reay was 13th with 27 points between them. Hunter-Reay ran the next two races and then was dropped from the team, which led to a wrongful termination lawsuit and saw Hunter-Reay awarded $3.3 million in 2017.
Hunter-Reay was completely out of American open-wheel racing in 2006. He made four Grand-Am starts that year, three in GT competition and one in a Daytona Prototype with Wayne Taylor Racing for the 1000-kilometer finale at Miller Motorsports Park. In January 2007, he ran the A1GP Team USA entry at Taupo Motorsports Park in New Zealand. Outside of a GT class podium in his first Grand-Am start, there was not much to celebrate in those results. He started 2007 again without a ride.
His second break came late in the 2007 IRL season when Rahal Letterman Racing made a driver change, replacing Jeff Simmons with Hunter-Reay at Mid-Ohio, where Hunter-Reay finished seventh. He scored three top ten finishes in the final six races and won rookie of the year honors away from Milka Duno, the only other rookie to make multiple starts that season. These results earned Hunter-Reay the full-time RLR seat for 2008.
The reunification season started with three top ten finishes from the first five races, including a sixth on his Indianapolis 500 debut, earning him Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors. By the middle of the season, Hunter-Reay picked up Izod sponsorship and he won at Watkins Glen. He finished the season with five top ten finishes from the final six races and ended up eighth in the championship, the best championship finish of his career.
Unfortunately, American Ethanol pulled its sponsorship from RLR and the team had to withdraw from full-time competition. Hunter-Reay was again without a ride. Vision Racing stepped up late to provide him with a seat for the start of the 2009 season. He took a surprise second in the St. Petersburg season opener, but it was a flash in the pan. The team struggled, Hunter-Reay barely made the Indianapolis 500 and Vision Racing was ready shrink to one car after Texas.
Hunter-Reay's saving grace was A.J. Foyt Racing needed a driver after Vitor Meira suffered fractured vertebrae in the Indianapolis 500. Hunter-Reay stepped in for the final 11 races with his bright spot being a fourth at Mid-Ohio. Once Meira was healed, Hunter-Reay was out of a seat again.
Down to his last roll of the dice, Hunter-Reay's Izod sponsorship would get him through the first portion of the 2010 season with Andretti Autosport. The only commitment was to get him through Indianapolis. The season opened with a near victory at São Paulo, finishing second to Will Power after a late pass. Three races later, Hunter-Reay took a convincing victory at Long Beach, leading 64 of 85 laps. A fifth at Kansas followed and with Hunter-Reay fourth in the championship entering Indianapolis, the team was able to secure funding for a full season. He would finish seventh in the championship.
However, Hunter-Reay's high moment could not come without a crushing low. Izod left him for Team Penske ahead of the 2011 season. The good news was Andretti Autosport was able to get DHL onboard for the season. The year did not start well, and Hunter-Reay infamously failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 only for the team to buyout A.J. Foyt Racing's second entry to put Hunter-Reay in the car over Bruno Junqueira. Hunter-Reay had one top ten finish through the first eight races.
But he bounced back. He went on a tear with eight top ten finishes in the final nine races, including a victory at Loudon and another two podium results at Toronto and Mid-Ohio. This got Hunter-Reay up to seventh in the championship despite his retched start.
With the introduction of the DW12-chassis, Hunter-Reay continued riding his wave of momentum from the 2011 season. He scored two podium finishes in the first four races, but a pair of mechanical failures at Indianapolis and Texas slowed him down. He bounced back with a three-race winning streak at Milwaukee, Iowa and Toronto and asserted himself in the championship fight. Another pair of rough results at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma put his back against the wall heading into the final two races, but he won at Baltimore, giving him a shot in the arm for the Fontana finale.
Hunter-Reay did not have great pace around the two-mile oval, and it looked like all Will Power would have to do was finish to win the championship, but Power spun in turn two barely a fifth of the way into the race. Hunter-Reay still needed to make up positions, specifically needing to finish fifth or better to win the championship. While still not great, Hunter-Reay's car improved, and other cars dropped out of the race. In the closing laps, Hunter-Reay found himself as one of the final eight cars on the lead lap. He restarted third with seven laps to go, but dropped to fourth and battled Takuma Sato in the final laps. Sato spun while running underneath Hunter-Reay in turn two on the final lap. The American avoided the carnage and fourth was enough to claim the title by three points over Power.
From there, Hunter-Reay was set for the next decade after spending the first ten years in fluctuation. He became a regular race winner and won the 2014 Indianapolis 500 in a terrific drive from 19th on the grid in an incredible race, arguably one of the greatest in the event's 105 editions. After bouncing between seven teams in his first seven seasons, Hunter-Reay made 197 starts with Andretti Autosport and ended the 2021 season with 282 IndyCar starts, putting him tenth all-time.
What impression did Hunter-Reay leave on IndyCar?
Hunter-Reay's story is one of perseverance and a career that nearly didn't happen.
There have been plenty of drivers who get into IndyCar, get a season or two and then are gone because the funding isn't there no matter how good the results are. Hunter-Reay's career nearly ended on three different occasions. He was out of IndyCar for nearly two years. Six years after that he was a champion and eight years later, he was an Indianapolis 500 winner.
Not many other drivers can say they won both a championship and Indianapolis 500 after such a forced sabbatical. Not many return to full-time competition after all that.
Hunter-Reay became a sentimental favorite because of all he went through even years after his success. People wanted to see Hunter-Reay to continue to succeed. Even in the races he lost due to unfortunate mechanical failures, he would still win sympathy. For all the races he did lose because off-track reasons, losing races on-track was more than the man deserved.
But even with all the races he lost, Hunter-Reay still won 18 IndyCar races in his career. On top of his Indianapolis 500 victory, he won at Pocono, he won three times at Iowa, three times at Milwaukee, twice at Barber with one victory at Surfers Paradise, Watkins Glen and Long Beach.
He is short of the 20-victory milestone, he should probably have at least one more if not two more Indianapolis 500 victories, and he had only one other top five championship finish after his 2012 championship but getting close to those milestones and having one championship and an Indianapolis 500 victory is enough to justify his career.
There is still a chance he will be around in 2022. It could be in a full-time or regular capacity. We have already seen one part-timer win the Indianapolis 500 out of nowhere. We couldn't count out Hunter-Reay of doing the same. Maybe in the right circumstances he gets one final shot to prove himself and get to 20 victories. If not, he had a career that he more than deserved.
Nine times out of ten, Hunter-Reay's IndyCar would have ended after 2005, three seasons and two victories to his name, remembered more for what could have been than what he accomplished. Hunter-Reay has had 19 seasons in IndyCar. He is going to be remembered for decades for the right reasons.
