Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan
While anticipation is building for the rest of the season, there is a lot of anticipation also building surrounding Indianapolis in May, and the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. One of the drivers looking to score his second victory in the Grand Spectacle of Racing is Ryan Hunter-Reay, whom won the race in 2014.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “We’ve been working hard with Honda trying to make some gains. We’re staying with the same aero package as we had here last year. Obviously last year we didn’t, as a whole, as a group, perform to where we wanted to. Hopefully we can improve on that. We’ll see. We’re waiting on a few things here and there.”
Last year Chevy had the upper hand on Honda throughout the season, however with new areokits this year, Hunter Reay is excited to test the first superspeedway to see where they are and what they have going into the season.
Though beyond Indianapolis, the anticipation builds for the season in other ways. This season some new races have been added to the schedule – Boston, Phoenix, and Road America just to name a few.
Hunter Reay along with Simon Pagenaud are the only two drivers who have seen and driven the course of the Boston street circuit. Hunter Reay shared his thoughts on the Boston track, stating it is an awesome market to be in for the sport and that the track is amazing. He thinks that the race has huge potential and if everything comes together like city streets, where the tunnels are going to be, etc., then it has a huge potential to be one of the cornerstone races for the Indy Car season. He also emphasized that the Road America and Phoenix were also huge and that they could not have added better tracks to the Indy Car schedule.
Hunter Reay has traveled through Phoenix but not for Indy Car purposes and saw the area where the track is and thinks that it two will be a wonderful event.
“Any time we have a short oval, I’m a big short oval guy,” he said. “I love Indy Car racing on short ovals. It’s like peas and carrots, just goes together. Anytime we can do that, I’m all for it. Phoenix is a great market to be in, just like Boston. I think it was one we’ve been talking about for a long time. All the drivers have been talking for it a long time.
“I haven’t been on that track, gosh, since I was 17, so it’s been a while.”
During the off season, Hunter Reay was happy to be home with his wife Beccy and their sons Ryden and Rocsen. He stated he was happy to get to be there because Rocsen is getting ready to walk.
“I missed Ryden’s first steps, so hopefully I don’t miss this one,” he said.
