Photo Credit: Gary Buchanan
On March 22, 2016, Ryan Hunter-Reay headed to Washington DC to tour the Capital building with the Borg-Warner Trophy, an iconic trophy which has bas relief sculptures of every Indianapolis 500 winner including himself as he is the 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He also is the 2012 IndyCar Championship. The reason behind the event was to build national momentum for the historic 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor oil this May.
While in DC, Hunter Reay got the chance to meet with the speaker of the house Paul Ryan of Wisconsin along with many other members of congress.
“It was a huge honor,” Hunter Reay said. “It was something new to me. I was surprised by the amount of interest in the Indy 500 and the Borg-Warner. I appreciate the House of Representatives for having us and celebrating one of America’s greatest traditions, the Indy 500.”
One of the many other congressmen he got to meet with was Andre Carson who is from Indianapolis, as well as congresswoman Susah Brooks who also hails from Indiana. He also met with other representatives from districts where other IndyCar races are held .
“It was a cool thing taking it all in and it’s one of those experiences that you relish,” Hunter Reay said. “This is a very proud moment for me, as an American (Indianapolis500) winner in our nations capital with the powers of discussing the Indy 500 and the road to victory.”
Also accompying Hunter Reay and the Borg-Warner was president of Indianapolis Motorspeedway Doug Boles. The three of them toured many places which included the Speakers Balcony, where they took a picture of Hunter Reay and the trophy with another American Icon, the Washington Monument in the background.
Hunter Reay then went home to spend Easter with his wife and kids and to prepare for the upcoming race at Phoenix International Raceway. The race will be held on Saturday night at 8:30 pm Eastern Standard Time.
He always seems to do well on ovals and he is looking forward to this race. He looks to carry the momentum of his podium finish at St. Pete and continue on with a good run in Phoenix.
“It’s no secret that I love short oval racing,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to this race since the rumors started growing stronger that PIR would be back on the INDYCAR schedule for 2016. As a team we’ve been very strong on the short ovals, so we’re looking to maintain that form. No one really knows what to expect when it comes to race traffic, so we’ll all be on a bit of a learning curve throughout the race weekend. Hopefully we can continue the positive momentum following our podium finish at the season opener in St. Pete.”
