Written by:
Kevin Krefting
01/16/2007
Irvine, Calif.
The New Zealand A1GP race will be Hunter-Reay's first open-wheel outing since 2005. (LAT Photo)
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Racing's full of fascinatingly brutal stories like this: at the end of the 2004 season, A.J. Allmendinger and Ryan Hunter-Reay had become the Champ Car World Series' new poster boys. Two clean-cut, good-looking All-Americans, AJ and RHR were successful products of the Champ Car ladder system, both having cut their teeth in Atlantics before showing speed straight out of the box aboard turbocharged Lola-Cosworths.
Fast-forward 14-odd months from then, and what do you get? Allmendinger sending text-messages to piss off Paul Tracy, wondering out loud which plane will he buy with his new multi-million contract to drive for Red Bull and Toyota in NASCAR's Nextel Cup (a series recognized by maybe nine in every 10 Americans) while Hunter-Reay is hopping on a (commercial) jet this week to go around the world to New Zealand, in order to make his debut with Team USA in A1 Grand Prix (a series unknown to 99.9% of Americans.)
One year A.J.'s senior in Champ Car, Hunter-Reay followed a promising '03 debut year, when he took one win in the chaotic Surfers Paradise round, with a solid '04 that saw him again visiting victory lane with a dominant performance in Milwaukee.
However, as it so often happens in racing especially in present-day American open-wheel racing Hunter-Reay found himself without a ride for '05, when Mexican food giant Herdez quit the sport, and team owner Keith Wiggins was forced to look for ride-buyers. Recognized as one of the most promising talents in a series desperately in need of red, white and blue drivers, RHR was given a lifeline by Champ Car's owners in the shape of a ride with Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports team.
What happened then is well-known. Hunter-Reay failed to deliver, but then again, so have all other drivers who have driven for Rocketsports since then and a quick look at Antonio Pizzonia's record with the team in three '06 starts further reinforces this fact, even more so when one considers that the Brazilian was one of the constant frontrunners during the GP2 Series' winter testing sessions last month, this despite driving for mid-pack squad FMS International. To the American's dismay, though, the exception to that rule has been his '05 teammate Timo Glock, the last properly funded (thanks to deutsche marks from DHL) Champ Car entry fielded by Rocketsports.
From Champ Car poster boys to NASCAR advocates: RHR and AJ's career paths may again cross in the near future. (LAT Photo)
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Since his CCWS fall-from-grace, Hunter-Reay has again joined Allmendinger in recognizing American racing's new realities (those being, NASCAR = money, and vice-versa) and appears determined to follow A.J.'s footsteps into stock cars in a likely much more tortuous path, all odds being considered. Helping his cause is the obvious link to NASCAR driver and team owner Robby Gordon, brother of RHR's longtime girlfriend Becky.
But before announcing his NASCAR plans, Hunter-Reay has a country's colors to defend at New Zealand's Taupo circuit.
Q: What are you expecting ahead of your A1GP debut?
"I've been doing lots of different racing lately, from Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes to Baja off-roaders, to NASCAR Busch Series testing and whatnot, but I haven't really sat in an open-wheel car since 2005. So I have realistic expectations for my A1GP debut basically I just want to go out there, do a good job for Team USA and have fun.
"To be honest, I have very little information on the Taupo track, for instance. I've pretty much only seen diagrams of it. But the fact I've been jumping among different cars since last year gives me confidence in my capability to adapt and do a good job."
