Ryan Hunter-Reay: ABC Supply No. 14 Dallara/Honda/Firestone
* Ryan Hunter-Reay on Kentucky: "It's somewhat similar to the other 1.5
mile ovals but it does have bumps in turns one and two that you have
to get around. I heard that they got worse over the winter and they
had to be ground down but it's the same for everyone. We need to work
on a good 'race' car and hopefully move our way up through the race.
The competition is so tight and the teams are doing such a good job
that it's really tough to get into the top-10 so when we do get in the
top-10, it's a job well done."
* Hunter-Reay on new aerodynamic options to add 300 pounds of downforce
and Honda 'Overtake' function to enhance competition: "I don't know
about the downforce because I think you're going to get cars that are
fast and they're going to run without the downforce on the bottom of
the race track and you're not going be able to get around them anyway
so I don't think that'll be enough. I think the push-to-pass will be
a good thing. I don't know how much of a boost it is. In champ car
it worked well but I think it was a hit of 80 horsepower--that was a
lot of horsepower." Note: officials estimate at Kentucky Speedway,
the Overtake Function will increase maximum revs to 10,500 for a five
percent increase in horsepower. The Overtake Function parameters will be
tailored to the individual tracks and may allow as much as a 20 percent
increase in horsepower at some tracks.
* Vitor Meira and A.J. Foyt IV to be at Kentucky: Meira, who traveled
to his native Brazil while the team was racing Canada, plans to be
in Kentucky this weekend. This will be Meira's second IndyCar race
since his accident in the 500 with his first coming at Watkins Glen
International in early July. Foyt IV and his new bride Casey Irsay-Foyt
returned from their week-long honeymoon in Jackson Hole, WY last Sunday
and plan to drive down from their Indianapolis home to attend this
weekend's race.
* IZOD spokesman Ryan Hunter-Reay will be appearing at the Macy's
department store in the shopping mall in Florence, KY along with
two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser, Jr. to meet fans and sign autographs
from 4:45 -- 7:00pm on Thursday, July 30.
* Past performance at Kentucky: Hunter-Reay finished ninth last year
after starting 14th. In his first appearance at the track in 2008 he
started eighth but had electrical problems which kept him in the pits
for an extended period of time. He rejoined the race and finished 15th,
17 laps down to the leader.
-credit: ajfr
