FUMES

September 19, 2012

Ryan's day.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

(Posted 9/16, 7:00 p.m.) Detroit. On the outside looking in for a long, long time, Ryan Hunter-Reay captured the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship in the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., last Saturday night.

After his chief rival and championship points leader Will Power, driving the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet, "caught a seam" in Turn 2 of the 2-mile oval, spun and made contact with the SAFER Barrier while running 12th, just a few car lengths ahead of Hunter-Reay's No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda car, Hunter-Reay's series championship seemed secure.

That is until Power's Team Penske crew repaired his car enough so he could compete eleven more laps, ensuring a 24th-place finish ahead of the retired car of E.J. Viso (No. 5 CITGO | PDVSA - KV Racing Technology Chevrolet). At that point Hunter-Reay had to finish fifth or better, which he did (actually fourth), but not before a series of incidents left the matter hanging to the very end.

First Alex Tagliani's (No. 98 Barracuda Racing Honda) engine blew with 20 laps left and then Tony Kanaan (No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics KV Racing Technology Chevrolet) made contact with the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier on Lap 241, creating a controversial red flag that left Michael Andretti (Hunter-Reay's team owner) fuming. At the restart on Lap 244, Hunter-Reay was running third and lost two positions, but the 31-year-old Floridian regained one spot when Takuma Sato (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) smacked the wall on the final lap.

In the end, the difference between Hunter-Reay and Power was just three points after 15 races. Hunter-Reay, who had also signed a two-year extension with Andretti Autosport the day before, also clinched the A.J. Foyt Trophy for most points scored on ovals.

Hunter-Reay was absolutely ecstatic after the race, and who could blame him? At one point completely out of IndyCar racing for almost two years, Hunter-Reay traveled a long, hard road to get where he is today. "I have no idea (how I won this championship)," Hunter-Reay said. "It was team effort right there. We were struggling all weekend. I didn't want to let anyone really know about it. We were really in the woods. This hasn't sunk in yet. I just drove 500 miles for my life. I can't believe we're IndyCar champions. I can't even believe this. DHL, Sun Drop, Circle K, Chevrolet, the fans, IndyCar. My dream has come true. This is unbelievable." Asked about the late race red flag, which infuriated his team owner, "I just wanted to get set in a rhythm because I knew when we got in a rhythm it was a little bit better. With the red flag, that really got the nerves going. Sitting in pit lane, I knew the tires would take in a heat cycle and that it would slide around a lot. Everybody raced tough, but they raced clean. My god. I didn't think we had it for the first half of the race and we kept getting it better and better and better. Michael did a great job on the radio and the guys did a great job in the pits. This hasn't sunk in yet." When asked about Power slamming the wall right near him on the track, "I don't know how close it was. He was right next to me and I saw him lose it, so I bet it was pretty close. He was joking around that he would take me out if I was next to him and he almost did."

Michael Andretti offered his own thoughts afterward: "This is an incredible day. It wasn't going so good right at the start there - we were struggling a little bit - and then we saw Will have his unfortunate accident and we knew it was open from there. We needed to get the job done and it was a lot of hard work. Ryan did a helluva job, and the whole team did, getting the car better and better throughout the race. We had enough there at the end to get it done. I'm just so proud of everybody here with the DHL/Sun Drop team… there's a lot more to come. This team is still getting better and better and I think we're going to be even stronger next year."

For Hunter-Reay, it was a lesson of perseverance that resonated for racer's everywhere. He wanted it bad, really, really bad. So bad in fact that he refused to let setbacks dissuade him from his goal. In short Hunter-Reay never stopped believin' - in himself or his talent - and to see him finally ascend to the top rung in Indycar racing, well, it was pretty damn special. And it reminded all of us who have been in and around this sport for a long time that there are still great stories out there, and big dreams to be fulfilled. And that the intense desire to achieve greatness never gets old.

Congratulations to Ryan and everyone at Andretti Autosport on a much-deserved IndyCar Championship.

(Michael L. Levitt- INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Champion.

(Michael L. Levitt- INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Will Power graciously congratulated Ryan Hunter-Reay in Victory lane after the race.

(Jamey Price - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ryan Hunter-Reay and Michael Andretti celebrate with Andretti Autosport team members.

(Jamey Price - INDYCAR/LAT Photo USA 2012)
Ryan Hunter-Reay holds the Astor Cup after winning the 2012 IndyCar Championship. Hunter-Reay is the first American to win the series' championship since Sam Hornish Jr. did it in 2006. See more coverage from Fontana in The Line.

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Photo by Dave Friedman Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives and Wieck Media)
Indianapolis, Indiana, 1963. Dan Gurney sits in his "Lotus powered by Ford" ready to go out for practice in preparation for the 1963 Indianapolis 500. Jim Clark can be seen standing to the right in the light blue shirt and dark pants. This was the culmination of a long journey for Gurney, who brought Lotus leader Colin Chapman and the Ford Motor Company together to mount a mid-engined onslaught on the Indianapolis 500. Parnelli Jones qualified on the pole in his No. 98 front-engined Indy roadster dubbed "Calhoun" with an average speed of 151.150 mph, a new track record. Clark, Gurney's teammate, would start fifth in his No. 92 Lotus-Ford (in British Racing Green livery) with an average speed of 149.750 mph. Gurney qualified twelfth with an average speed of 149.019 mph in his No. 91 Lotus-Ford (painted in the traditional white with blue international racing livery assigned to the U.S. by the FIA). This was the famous "500" when Jones drove the last laps of the race ahead of Clark with a visibly leaking oil tank, which Chapman vehemently protested. Chapman accused the Speedway officials of showing favoritism to the American driver and the more traditional racing car, but it was to no avail however, as Jones won and Clark finished second. Gurney ended up finishing seventh. You can watch an interesting pre-race video here.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.

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