On Sunday afternoon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, the driver of the Honda powered DHL Andretti Autosport car won his second consecutive Grand Prix of Alabama.
Two weeks ago at Long Beach, Hunter-Reay had a shot at victory. However, Hunter-Reay attempted to pass leader Josef Newgarden with 25 laps to go, but they tangled up in the corner, crashing into the wall. The accident collected Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe, as well as Helio Castroneves, Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan, and Jack Hawksworth.
Instead of a memorable finish, Hunter-Reay created a mishmash and took responsibility for the accident, admitting that he have been a bit overanxious.
Starting from the third position on Sunday, Hunter-Reay would have to get through Team Penske’s Will Power who had won two of the last three Grand Prix here.
Power started from the pole. However, on lap 16, Power’s car went off course, giving the lead to Ryan Hunter-Reay. By the time Power had gotten back to full speed, Hunter-Reay was four seconds ahead.
Hunter-Reay had no worries for the remainder of the race, although he did run into some trouble with the slower car of Sebastian Saavedra for a couple of restarts due to tire choice. As the track continued to dry from the earlier thunderstorm, Saavedra decided to stay on rain tires.
As a result, Hunter-Reay had to drive cautiously around Saavedra, but eventually maneuvered his way around him.
The race began more than two hours behind schedule, thanks to a wicked lightning and thunderstorm that drenched the race track. The beginning of the race was certainly treacherous, as several cars spun during the opening frame, including Hunter Reay’s teammate, rookie, Carlos Munoz.
As the run continued, there were several spins. Mikhail Aleshin and Sebastien Bourdais were battling hard for several laps, but Bourdais was fed up with Aleshin’s driving, spinning the Russian driver around, earning himself a penalty in the process. Both drivers never recovered. Aleshin would later crash out of the event and Bourdais finished 15th.
During the first caution, Carlos Munoz spun getting up to speed, damaging his car on the wet grass, and retired from the event. It was also interesting on pit road, as Helio Castroneves drove into the wrong pit stall; he was issued a stop-and-go penalty for the infraction.
Juan Pablo Montoya was incredible to watch early in the race, climbing from eighth to fourth. However, there were still some wet spots on the race track. Montoya, with dry tires, lost traction and spun into the gravel trap, losing a lap. Montoya never recovered from the spin and finished 21st.
Due to the delay, Indy Car officials settled for a timed race (1 hour and 40 minutes) instead of running the full distance (90 laps). At the end of the day, they only managed to run 69. But, it probably would not have made a difference, as Ryan Hunter-Reay had been dominant since Will Power ran off course.
It was Hunter Reay’s 12th career Indy Car victory.
Scott Dixon — the runner-up in the four previous Barber races — was third and Simon Pagenaud fourth. Pole sitter Will Power finished fifth.
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