Birmingham, Ala. – Ryan Hunter-Reay made up for his last effort in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
The champion of the 2012 season keyed a seven-car crash in the April 13 race in Long Beach, Calif., and he rebounded with a win at Barber Motorsports Park.
“I’ve been anxious since Long Beach,” Hunter-Reay said after leading Sunday’s 1-2 finish for Andretti Autosport at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Marco Andretti finished second on Sunday.
But the memory of what should have been a one-two finish at Long Beach remained for Hunter-Reay.
Two weeks ago, Hunter-Reay was leading teammate James Hinchcliffe when he knocked upstart Josef Newgarden of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing off the track.
“It feels good after the Long Beach one,” team owner Michael Andretti said.
Hunter-Reay took a lot of grief for that move, but he was the one issuing trouble on others Sunday as he won his first race of the season and the 12th of his career.
The driver from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., started third but quickly jumped to second. He took the lead essentially for good when Team Penske’s Will Power drove through Turn 5 and into the wet grass on Lap 16.
“Just locked up,” Power said. “Once you lock a wheel in the wet you just go straight.”
The race started more than two hours late due to a severe thunderstorm. The circuit was still wet as the cars rolled off.
The spray was so significant that the first full-speed lap created a blanket of moisture.
Funny thing was, the formation of the cars at the green flag was one of the best of the year, with the first six rows in groups of two cars. Only Andretti stuck his car’s nose out for a clean look at Turn 1.
The 23-car field made it more than a half of a lap before spinning occurred. Simon Pagenaud nearly lost control and dropped to the grass. Hunter-Reay’s car bobbled. Rookie Carlos Munoz and Takuma Sato spun to bring out the caution.
“That was ridiculous,” Hunter-Reay said of the slippery conditions. “It was like an ice-skating rink with sneakers.”
The stoppage was short, and the track started drying as the hot laps continued. Power jumped to a large lead over Hunter-Reay, who had passed James Hinchcliffe. By Lap 12, Juan Pablo Montoya was all the way up to fourth (from his eighth starting spot).
Power had the lead until Lap 16 when he rolled through Turn 5 and into the grass. Narrowly avoiding a tire barrier, he was able to regroup and rejoin the action, albeit in second place (to Hunter-Reay).
“He’s human; he’s beatable,” Andretti said.
Rookie Mikhail Aleshin spun in Turn 5 with help from behind from Sebastien Bourdais, which drew a penalty on Bourdais. That brought out the second full-course caution and forced a decision: When to switch to the dry-condition tires. Everyone did.
During the caution, Munoz spun getting up to speed, and Helio Castroneves drove into the wrong pit box. Castroneves could be excused for the mistake: The other crew wore similarly blue uniforms. Castroneves drew a penalty.
Montoya found the wet track too much for his dry tires. He lost control in the backstretch chicane, his car ending up in the gravel trap.
The second half of the race was more conventional as the track dried in breezy conditions. The only crash came when Aleshin hit the tire barrier at the end of the backstretch.
Scott Dixon finished third Sunday with Pagenaud fourth and Power fifth.
NOTES: The race started after a 2-hour, 26-minute delay because of the storms and it was run under a 1-hour, 40-minute time limit. … The next two races on the schedule will be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The first will be May 10 on the reconfigured road course. Only a few of drivers have raced there before, but all of that was before five infield corners were reconfigured. The second race, the Indianapolis 500, will take place May 25. … Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t expect former NASCAR champion Kurt Busch to have much trouble with Tuesday’s refresher test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “The ovals are a lot more simple, especially with the experience he’s got on ovals,” he said. “He’s been to the Brickyard before.” … Former NFL great, Joe Namath, was on hand in Birmingham to take in the race. … Charlie Kimball had this weekend’s first big crash in the Sunday morning warm-up. He lost control of his Ganassi Racing machine in Turn 13 and slid into a tire barrier. The impact was with the back of the car, which had to be completely replaced. The good news was, the crew had time due to the lengthy rain delay.
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