Hunter-Reay Racing To Make Up for Lost Time at Indy

By Dennis Krause

2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay came into the month of May as one-off driver for the Arrow McLaren team. He was brought in by team principal Tony Kanaan specifically to race the 500 and to share his vast experience of 14 previous races with full season drivers Pato O’Ward, Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard.

But sometimes the best laid plans can go off the rails and one is forced to play catch-up. Such is the case with Hunter-Reay and the No. 31 PrizePicks Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. When technical issues kept the team off the track in the beginning days of practice last week, Hunter-Reay found himself a day-and-a-half behind.

He’s been playing catch-up ever since.

“I've had such a great time with this team and getting to know everybody and really put a lot of effort into being a regular within the team prior to coming here as a one-off. You know, these things happen. It's racing.

“Day one, electrical issues. You know, these cars are -- they're complex to run. You really have a -- you get a greater appreciation for that every time, if the computer won't talk to the car and vice versa, telemetry, and all this other stuff. They have to see what is going on. Especially Chevy has to see what's going on with the engine at all times in order to run.

“When you have a hiccup on that, we spent a lot of time on Tuesday sitting in the pit box trying to sort that. So good news is we have all that sorted. Unfortunately on Thursday we had a hybrid issue, had to change that out, had to split the car in half. Then Friday gear box issue.

“So not ideal. We've definitely faced our challenges, but they've been very resilient, and the crew has been working so hard.

“So it's great to get into race running, because I've always said, like I told them before the week started, for me the number one goal is always just focusing on the race car.”

Hunter-Reay qualified 22nd on Sunday at a speed of 230.202 and will start from the inside of Row 8. However, in Monday’s rain-abbreviated practice session, Hunter-Reay recorded the fifth fastest lap.

“Well, it was great that we got it in or at least some of it, because the 31 team is a day and a half behind,” Hunter-Reay commented afterwards. “So it was good to get into race running. We found some things that we needed to go into Carb Day.

“Yeah, thankful for the time on track and that Mother Nature kind of held off for us to sort the front grip out on the car.”

While qualifying may not have gone as well as he hoped, Hunter-Reay feels good about his car for Race Day.

“Yeah, the race car is pretty good. You know, it's funny. You come into this thinking, man, we got all the time in the world, let's just be patient, and all this. A couple hiccups here and there, and you find yourself starting to do Q-sims before Fast Friday comes in, and we're a bit behind on the race car.

“But I was happy with it. I was happy with the balance. We're within the operating window that I need to be in when it comes to racing in traffic. So I'm happy about that, and we still will make the most of the (two) hours that we have on Carb Day coming up.”

Can anything be read into his speed on Monday being predictive of his coming through the pack to the front on Sunday?

“I have every intention of doing that, for sure,” Hunter-Reay said. “I don't know. No, the speeds -- so it's funny, because people have been here for so long. Even my family, like, my dad watches, and he's concerned about -- or asking about where you end up at the end of the day in practice.

“Really it all comes down -- if you intentionally go out and look for a big tow, it can happen. If you don't, you have to kind of fall into it out of luck. That's just what happened.

“It was the first time this week, week and a half that I just had an uninterrupted lap pulling up to two cars in front, and yeah, it's there.

“Like I said, unless you go out with intent to find a tow, right, on new tires, light fuel, which I know some teams do and tow up to a big group, you can put a big number up, yeah. But, no, it has zero relevance really to Sunday.”

One factor that will have relevance to Sunday is getting the No. 31 car’s over-the-wall pit crew some experience, as they will be one-off for the race as well.

Arrow McLaren and NASCAR’s LEGACY MOTOR CLUB are collaborating on Hunter-Reay’s car for the 500. Brian Campe, Director, Advanced Engineering at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB has returned to support Arrow McLaren as Strategist. Josh Leslie, Pit Coach at LEGACY, and Jake Holmes, Tire Carrier at LEGACY, have also joined the No. 31 crew, serving as Outside Rear and Airjack, respectively. Doing some “hot stops” was something the team prioritized on Monday.

“We prioritized that just trying to get it in, right, so we could talk about it this week, and they can work on it,” Hunter-Reay noted. “Yeah, we had great stops. We had one issue with the air jack, but we got in those stops.

“That's so important, right, for a one-off. All these other teams that we're up against are in mid-season form. So are the pit crews. As a one-off, you have to prioritize some of the things that maybe some of the other full-timers don’t.”

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One final practice remains for the 33-car starting field, Friday’s 2-hour Carb Day session. It’ll be Hunter-Reay’s last chance to dial-in his car for the 500.

“Friday I just have to continue to run in traffic,” Hunter-Reay said. “Every day is different around here with the wind shifting with the temperatures, everything, so you just have to continue to work through it, because you don't know what race day is, right?

“Once you get to race day, then you have to go back and look at the week and a half that you have data from and try and apply those conditions to the balance that you had on that day and put your best foot forward.”

After losing nearly an hour to rain on Monday, and more rain in the forecast for Friday, does that change Hunter-Reay’s approach?

“No, I think a lot of teams are 90% to 95% of the way there on the race car after running so much and the week prior. For situations that we've been in, we need every bit of track time that we can, because we are, like I said, a day and a half behind.

“So, no, it doesn't really change anything. Yeah, I would have preferred to continue to run for another 45 minutes or 50 minutes, whatever it is, but it is what it is. Same for everybody.”

Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.

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