“Captain America” reignites his IndyCar career.
On June 8th, Ed Carpenter Racing announced that 2012 NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will replace Conor Daly in the No. 20 Bitnile car, from the Road America round onwards.RHR made his last road and street course start in 2021, at Andretti. He had a test with the No. 20 car at Barber at the end of that season. He would come back to an IndyCar only at this year’s Indy 500, with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.In a press session attended by Pit Debrief, Hunter-Reay talked about some details of the new deal:
“Right now honestly it’s race-by-race. We’ll see where it goes. Ed is a good friend of mine. He called me. I was surprised when it happened. He called me and said, I need your help. Would you be willing to do this? This is the situation that we’re in.
“I had driven for Vision, right, in ’09. Ed was my teammate. I had tested with the team in 2013. I tested with the team in 2021.
“So this is over a decade-long relationship and friendship that kind of got us to where we are at this point, and it’s a unique scenario. You know, subbing out a driver in the middle of the season is a tough one for the team, for the driver.”
In 2007, RHR went through a similar situation to Daly’s. He drove for Rahal Letterman Racing, but he lost the seat due to a loss of sponsorship.“Like I said, I’m a big fan of Conor. I’ve been on either side of this with the Rocketsports situation, then with the Rahal situation in 2007 coming in, so I have an immense amount of respect for either side of it.
“This is a unique scenario where myself, coming in at this point, it gives potentially the team and myself an opportunity to come at it from a fresh perspective, looking at things a little bit differently than how they have been for the last two or three years straight.
“Rinus VeeKay and Conor are great drivers, but sometimes a team, especially in a series as competitive as INDYCAR, you just need to mix things up a little bit, look at things in new ways, and it’s just the way the business rolls.
“I’m not really sure where it’s going yet, and I’m not really looking that far ahead right now. I am totally focused on getting to Road America, doing the best job I can for that group of people at Ed Carpenter Racing who I have a great relationship with, and that’s really where it is.”
Hunter-Reay also dwelled on what his deal is going to be within the organization:
“Well, a team, right, everybody says racing doesn’t get the rap for being a team sport as much as it should because it is — it’s a lot of different personalities in one area that need to come together and put forth a competitively strong effort when you’re going up against all these other teams.
“Each situation is so unique. I can’t say what I can bring into a situation. It depends on what and how they go about — which I’m still going to learn, how they go about it on race weekend. How the team goes about what their test plan is, what the menu is for each different change, each different request from the driver, and what that data analysis looks like between sessions and kind of how we approach a qualifying session and all this.
“I am coming in and I am working with — really even though I know a lot of people there, it’s a new grouping. It’s a new situation. I also have to blend into that. I have to gel with that.
“Then from there, I’ll find my place and what I can bring to the table or what I think may be a potential improvement that we can try and work on.
“Yeah, a lot of TBDs right now, just a whole lot of them. I wish I could expand more on it, but one thing on my side, I think I have a lot of experience with some really great race teams, whether they be in INDYCAR. My career has been a journey. I’ve driven for the greats, I’ve driven for Rahal, Foyt. I’ve driven for Andretti. I’ve driven for Ganassi.
“I have a lot of experience and a lot of different race teams and how they go about their business.
“Well, I mean, we’re not talking about — right now we’re not talking about results. This is not a silver bullet. This is not a situation where they have brought me in to, okay, let’s put another driver in the car and you driver, the new driver, you go out and go faster than the old driver. That’s not what’s happening here.
“This is a scenario where we are going to approach this from a technically disciplined approach, and it’s going to be methodical, it’s going to be a process. It’s not going to be short. We’re going to have to work through it every day.”
About what are the goals for Road America, the new No. 20 driver said:“We’re looking to take away a good understanding of what the team wants and needs and what I want and need out of this partnership, and kind of trying to get a better understanding of some of the nuances and how I operate, how they operate, and then how we can go and talk about it during the break between Road America and Mid-Ohio and implement potential changes moving forward that I may need.
“Like anybody’s driving style, one driver is going to ask for and want different things from their race team and race car than another driver. That’s just how it is.
“I think that would be the big thing.
“This weekend is almost a test session for us. It’s a getting-to-know-you session for us. As long as I go about it that way, and the team does, as well, I think that we’ll put our best foot forward for Mid-Ohio.”
