Driving for 'Super Tex' was a dream come true for Ryan Hunter-Reay. The four-time Indy winner had a major impact on RHR in their first event together. (LAT)
Well a lot has changed, to say the least, since my last update. I’m now “on loan” to ABC Supply Racing (AJ Foyt Racing) from Vision for the remainder of the season. Following the Texas race this move was put into motion and I’ve been pretty busy with the Foyt guys covering all the bases. It’s tough having to jump into a new environment with no testing right into a race weekend, but we were well on our way.
After Texas I again went down to Florida to spend some more quality time with Mom again. She’s such a fighter, right when we think we have things figured out and the chemo therapy is working, bam the cancer adapts and the doctors have to switch methods once again. This time with different side effects, what a nasty process. She’s charging on and I’m right there with her.
I left Ft. Lauderdale Wednesday evening for Detroit where I had some business to attend to, and then off to Iowa early Friday morning. I met some of the team at the track just before noon and we started on the driver-car fit process, which I have become very good at. The seat I am currently using was made in HVM’s shop a couple of weeks before the season opener just prior to testing at Sebring. I then took it to Vision and now onto Foyt. Three seat driver/car fits, three months, three teams, one seat.
I had met AJ briefly in the past and at several tracks over the past couple years we crossed paths and shook hands, but I was really looking forward to sitting down and really getting to know him and work with him. Unfortunately he didn’t make it to the track Friday, so I sat down with him early Saturday morning before practice. He’s like no one else I know. First, the guy is a legend; he’s seen it all, been there, done it and won it.
I was immediately surprised by how involved he is with the engineering/set-up of the car and I really appreciate and respect that. He’s been in racing for 52 years and he still won’t miss a race or even a practice session, he has to be there to be certain everyone on the team is firing on all cylinders and to make sure those 52 years of knowledge and experience don’t go to waste when it comes to applying it to his IndyCar team. The guy knows what he wants from his driver and team.
If you’ve ever seen AJ you’ll know he has scars all over the place! I couldn’t help but ask him what each scar was from; each one has a crazy story to go with it. I can’t believe he still has four limbs! After the stories I’ve heard, I can’t believe he’s alive! In my opinion racing back then you had to be certifiably insane. I feel over-protected and safe when I relate the era of racing I have experienced to his.
I was really looking forward to getting back to Iowa. We practiced and raced solidly inside the top ten last year, so I know what I wanted out of the race car. Our race weekend started off pretty good. We went right to work on the car’s balance and we were finding speed with just about every change we threw at it. Some changes would come from Foyt’s engineer, Adam Schaechter, and others straight from AJ, but most importantly we were moving up the time sheets.
By the time second practice came to an end we were P13. That may not sound great, but to me, less than 2 hours into working with a different team this was great! It was the highest spot in any session I have been all year on an oval, so I was really looking to make something happen in qualifying, We had a goal of P11-14 and I think that was definitely attainable. So here I am with the best shot at qualifying I’ve had on an oval all season, the weather is fine and what happens? Qualifying is canceled. I mean c’mon. Qualifying was canceled due to “weepers” in turn three. It hadn’t rained since Friday afternoon, yet somehow 24 hours later that rainfall cancelled our qualifying after a full day’s track activities?
