By Lenny Sundahl
A familiar face will be returning to the Brickyard as Ryan Hunter-Reay was announced to drive at ths year’s running of the Indianapolis 500 for Dreyer and Reinbold Racing on Wednesday.
The 2014 winner and 2012 Indycar champion retired from full-time Indycar competition after the 2021 season, but ran Sebring and Petit Le Mans for Chip Ganassi’s IMSA team as well as the full Superstar Racing Experience season in 2022. Despite the layoff, Hunter-Reay is more than ready to tackle the Brickyard again.
“I feel laser-focused and energized. The Indy 500 isn’t just a motor race, for me; it’s a way of life.”
photo: Penske Entertainment/James Black
The May stalwarts at Dreyer and Reinbold have run an Indy-only schedule since 2014 with respectable results of three top-10 finishes in those nine seasons, including 10th with Santino Ferrucci last year.
The focus on just the 500 was a unique draw for Hunter-Reay, saying in the press release that “Dennis Reinbold embodies everything the Indy 500 is about. He is, without a doubt, one of the Indy 500’s most passionate entrants.”
While Hunter-Reay’s final seasons in Indycar were short on results, Indianapolis was a bright spot, with three top-10 finishes in his final four races at Indianapolis. He will look to shake the rest off and make his 15th start at the 500-mile classic.
He will partner fan favorite and former teammate Stefan Wilson, who contested last season’s 500 in a last-minute entry from DragonSpeed/Cusick Motorsports and was classified 26th, and will again partner with Don Cusick to attempt to make his fifth start at Indianapolis.
photo: Indycar/Karl Zemlin
The addition of Hunter-Reay bolsters an already fiercely competitive field that will include nine previous winners entered in this year’s race, one short of the record set in 1992.
With the announcement, the field for May is up to its traditional 33 cars, with all 27 full-time cars accounted for, plus the two Dreyer and Reinbold cars as well as extra cars entered for 2013 winner Tony Kanaan, three-time polesitter Ed Carpenter, 2020 polesitter Marco Andretti, and Katherine Legge.
