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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – A year ago, Ryan Hunter-Reay left Watkins Glen International brimming with confidence after a surprising IndyCar victory.
He returns to defend his title Sunday in the Camping World Grand Prix, sometimes having to glance down at his racing suit just to make sure he knows who he’s driving for.
And it’s not Rahal Letterman Racing, the team he was with in his first and only IndyCar victory.
“We had a great thing going there at Rahal Letterman,” Hunter-Reay said. “Definitely, momentum was building through the season and the end of the season with a third place at Surfers Paradise. We had every sign that things would continue.”
Every sign vanished after the season. RLR lost its primary sponsor when an American ethanol company decided to pull out of the open-wheel series. The team had to search for sponsorship in one of the nation’s deepest recessions ever, and when the money didn’t come through Hunter-Reay was out of a ride.
“To have everything going for you and then have it all fall out from under you, yeah, that’s pretty hard,” the Texas-born Hunter-Reay said. “But there are two sides to every coin. I’m very persistent, and no matter where I end up going I end up, hopefully, making the best of it.”
A ride with Vision Racing surfaced right before the season opener in April.
“I didn’t sign my deal until Friday practice at St. Petersburg,” he said. “We had a great week at St. Pete, finished second. But the team’s been in a bad financial situation to run two cars.”
So bad that Hunter-Reay is driving the No. 14 for A.J. Foyt for the remainder of the season in place of Vitor Meira, who’s recovering from a back injury sustained in the Indianapolis 500.
“I’ve been wearing three different race suits, so it’s definitely been all over the place,” Hunter-Reay said. “I’m still working with everybody at Vision trying to get the chemistry going together there and now I’m starting from scratch again. It’s definitely going to take some time. That said. That doesn’t mean it will stand in the way of good race results.”
Hunter-Reay’s best finish in his short IndyCar career came at the 3.4-mile track in upstate New York’s Finger Lakes wine country.
He passed Darren Manning, now his teammate, with less than 10 laps remaining after Scott Dixon made an uncharacteristic mistake while running second on a restart late in the race that cost him in his bid for a fourth straight victory at the historic road course.
“I’ve been looking forward to Watkins Glen since I left Watkins Glen last year,” said Hunter-Reay.
