JOLIET, IL – (September 9, 2007) Rahal Letterman Racing and Ryan Hunter-Reay wrapped up the 2007 IndyCar Series season in strong style on a sunny Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.
Ryan Hunter-Reay (#17 Ethanol Dallara/Honda/Firestone) earned his third top-seven result in his six starts, coming home in the seventh spot to wrap up the Bombardier Learjet Rookie-of-the-Year title, setting a series record for the fewest number of starts by the winner of the IndyCar Series’ top rookie honor.
Hunter-Reay started the race from the sixth row alongside his teammate, Scott Sharp. RHR wasted no time marching forward gaining a pair of spots in the first 18 orbits of the 1.5-mile Chicagoland oval, and then inherited another two more when Marco Andretti crashed and Tomas Scheckter had wheel problems on Lap 35.
The subsequent pit stops helped write a script that saw Hunter-Reay fight a war to stay in the top ten for most of the 200-lap race. Those skirmishes continued through two rounds of green-flag pit stops, but a Vitor Meira crash on Lap 135 scrambled things like a breakfast order of eggs. The timing of Hunter-Reay’s pit stop, the resulting caution and lengthy delay to repair the SAFER Barrier ended up dropping Hunter-Reay a lap down to tenth when the race restarted with 48 laps to go. Undaunted, RHR put his head down and started digging his way up the order.
The RLR team that had seen a number of bad breaks over the last two races finally caught a break nine laps later when Patrick spun on Pit Lane, bringing out a final caution flag. The stoppage promoted Hunter-Reay to seventh, where he would finish two laps later. The result sealed the Rookie-of-the-Year crown for Hunter-Reay, whose only complaint on the day was that his beloved Miami Dolphins fell in overtime in the NFL season opener.
"Seventh is a solid result for us to end the season on. It was a wild day our there and I think we got the best possible result we could for what we went through today,” Hunter-Reay grinned. “This makes up for some of the tough breaks we've gotten in the last couple of races. We accomplished more in six races than I ever thought would be possible when I joined the team. This is a great team, with a bright future. I see the Rookie-of-the-Year award not so much a great honor for me, but more as a symbol of what we accomplished as a team this season."
Hunter-Reay’s Rookie-of-the-Year award makes RLR the only team in series history to have two drivers win top rookie honors.