Ryan Hunter-Reay readies for Arrow McLaren Indy 500 debut as team uses unorthodox pit crew

INDIANAPOLIS – What still drives you? That was the question Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan posed to Ryan Hunter-Reay as the two of them debriefed with Dario Franchitti in the IMS motorhome lot the day after last year’s Indianapolis 500 . Kanaan called it a “casual” conversation between the three drivers who have combined to win five Indy 500s.

It led to Kanaan, Hunter-Reay’s friend and former Andretti Global teammate, realizing Hunter-Reay was the guy to place in the team’s fourth seat for this year’s race. Hunter-Reay was a day removed from having to exit last year’s race, which he led for 48 laps, due to his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet running out of fuel in pit lane. If not for the mechanical error that ended Hunter-Reay’s day 29 laps early, the 2014 Indy 500 champion may have been the one drinking milk last year.

Instead, he walked away with a 21st-place finish. “To come that close to win number two just had a big impact on me,” Hunter-Reay told IndyStar. “I couldn't sleep very well at all for weeks, but the days after, it was tough.

” Driving for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which has become an Indy 500-only team since 2021, Hunter-Reay’s car caught fire on Carb Day, forcing the team to go to its backup car just two days before the race. Hunter-Reay and the rest of his crew got little sleep the weekend of the race, as the car needed to be worked to ensure it was race quality. “It's just phenomenal what happened and how they were able to put a car that had never been run,” Hunter-Reay said.