NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Ryan Hunter-Reay – Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
Starts 25th
THE MODERATOR: Ryan, do you care to introduce your guest?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, this is Ryden over here. He just is graduating from fifth grade and missing his last week of school to be here because he would rather be nowhere else, so that’s what we’re doing.
THE MODERATOR: Your thoughts about missing your last week of school? Grab the microphone. What’s it like to miss the last week of school for this?
RYDEN HUNTER-REAY: I think it’s better than going to school. Way better.
THE MODERATOR: We agree. We’ll open it up for questions for all three, or four, for that matter.
Q. You guys are staying across the street. You get to come and watch your dad race. That’s pretty cool. Your friends get into it? What’s this week like staying so close to the track and having this place as your playground?
RYDEN HUNTER-REAY: It’s really cool because we get to kind of scooter everywhere. Yeah, really fun.
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Like his own little playground here. Tough life.
Q. This is for both Ryan and Jack. I’m curious how your approach and preparation for this race has changed from when you were racing full-time to this year where it’s your only INDYCAR race on the schedule, especially when driving for a team that’s also done a one-off?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, it’s different for sure. It’s a lot to get on top of because you have a whole — you have a massive group of people coming together that need to operate and execute as efficiently as possible in a very short amount of time. There’s a lot more to be on top of, which it kind of comes a little bit more natural when you are running the whole season because you’ve been working with those folks, and you’re kind of in your rhythm.
But with that said, from a driving perspective, Indy is so unique. Indy is Indy, so there’s nothing different on that side of it. It’s more just trying to get that large group of people together and make sure that everything is kind of as you need it.
With all the new scenarios and protocols with the hybrid and trying to get — and it’s our first weekend with that as well. It’s our first, I should say, race with that. Yeah, it’s just a lot to manage on that side, but this group does a great job with that every year. It’s a fun group to work with. It’s not so bad having Jack there either.
JACK HARVEY: That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me.
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: We’ve been working really well together. It’s been fun.
JACK HARVEY: Been getting choked out by your kids and RKO’d, and now a Ryan compliment. This week is pretty much complete, I think, at this point.
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: They nicknamed him Muffin Man.
JACK HARVEY: The bad nicknames, that’s become my thing. Then I came into Ryan’s RV the other day and “Pirates of the Caribbean” was on, and I said, Well, you could call me Captain Jack. And then that’s low-key pivot into Captain Muffin. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just an easy target for bad names.
I think one thing, only doing the 500 this year, you hear all the drivers say, oh, I enjoy the month of May, but I don’t think all the drivers do enjoy the month of May because they’ve been busy up to May. The season is going good for some people. It’s going bad for others. Everyone else, apart from us, really, is going straight to Detroit.
When I say I’ve enjoyed everything this May, I mean that. Every media availability that we’ve had, I haven’t done anything other than totally willingly, every sponsor dinner that we’ve been to, because I’m grateful to be here, knowing this is, as is stands right now, the only time I’m going to wear my helmet this year. Even on some off days where in other years I wouldn’t come to the track, I wouldn’t — I would take that time for myself, where right now I’ve just been here taking it all in.
Having Ryan as a teammate who has been great when we’re on track, and his feedback to the team is huge. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, they know this disco dance. They get prepared for it as a single event every year anyway. I think they probably help us both navigate some of that. Also, from a timing perspective, when it’s time to ramp up, et cetera, I really think I’ve just enjoyed the month.
Q. My question is to all three drivers. May is the Mental Health Awareness Month for INDYCAR. It brings a lot of excitement and a lot of pressure as well to perform. How have you guys been coping with that pressure as you prepare for the race?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, I think qualifying day, really Saturday is probably the longest day of the whole year for anybody involved in this business and especially from behind the wheel. It’s extremely stressful, but I think over time over the years you just learn to kind of deal with that.
It never gets old, though. It’s not like it becomes less stressful. You just deal with it in a different way, and you manage that a bit more. Yeah, it’s always come with a lot of pressure and obviously consequences on the racetrack and all that stuff. It’s part of the job.
Q. Then for Ryan, you’re a former winner here at the 500, so you know what it takes to finish up front here. What’s one thing that the rookies or the younger drivers don’t realize about this race until they’re, like, deep into it?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: It’s a long race really. Like kind of Colton said, you can’t really just focus on I have to get to the front now. It’s several cars at a time. Get some on the track. Get some in the pit lane. Work through it methodically that way.
You know, I think just knowing when to take the lunge and when not to, I think maybe the experienced guys have an upper hand on that, with it being all about keeping the momentum up. It’s tough now, though, with the cars how they are and the current specs, everybody is very desperate for every pass.
There’s a lot of blocking going on.
It’s definitely a bit of a different approach than it’s been maybe, I don’t know, ten years ago, but we all adapt to that and drive accordingly.
THE MODERATOR: Ryden, who is going to win on Sunday?
RYDEN HUNTER-REAY: My dad.
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: There it is.
THE MODERATOR: Right answer. Guys, thanks for coming up.
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