RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING CARRIES LATE-RACE MOTEGI SPEED TO KANSAS OVAL

HILLIARD, Ohio - Rahal Letterman Racing and driver Ryan Hunter-Reay (#17 Ethanol Dallara/Honda/Firestone) had the fastest car on track at the end of last week’s IndyCar Series event at Twin Ring Motegi, and the Floridian stood on the gas to climb to seventh place despite a late-race stop for fuel.

The strong result has the team eagerly anticipating this weekend’s trip to Kansas Speedway, where RLR and RHR look forward to bettering the seventh-place runs that they have had on the season’s first two ovals (Motegi and Homestead).

“We have raced very well at both Homestead and Motegi, actually stronger than our results, so I am really looking forward to the superspeedway at Kansas where we can continue to build on some of the things we made progress on at Motegi,” said Hunter-Reay. “This is another new track for me, but as we have shown week in and week out, we have been very competitive everywhere we go.  Despite having never seen the Motegi track, and practice being reduced to a single day, we were as fast as the leaders for much of the race and ran as high as fourth towards the end of the race. “

Kansas Speedway would seem to be the perfect launching point for a Rahal Letterman Racing climb up the standings as the team has had a great deal of success on the blindingly-fast D-shaped oval. The squad stormed the starting grid in 2005 when Danica Patrick led a RLR qualifying sweep that netted the Ohio-based team the first three spots on the grid. Just one year earlier, Buddy Rice dominated the event, leading 83 laps from pole to win the race, outracing teammate Vitor Meira to the line in the second-closest finish in series history.

The race is also a very important one off the track for Hunter-Reay and Rahal Letterman Racing as the region is home to a number of Ethanol producers and corn growers. The IndyCar Series’ exclusive fuel supplier, LifeLine Foods, is located in nearby St. Joseph, Missouri and the race-weekend crowd will feature a great number of fans that are there to see the blue-and-green Ethanol machine run for the win.

“The Kansas race is also a highlight on the schedule for me as it is one of a few 'home' races for Team Ethanol,” told Hunter-Reay. “There will be lots of fans this weekend wearing our colors and I know everyone here at Rahal Letterman Racing appreciates that strong support.  We are really fighting hard to give Ethanol the results they deserve and hopefully this will be a great weekend for us.”

Hunter-Reay is currently tied with Marco Andretti for 12th in the IndyCar Series point standings after three races, but is just nine points out of seventh.

The RoadRunner Turbo 300 takes place Sunday afternoon, April 27 and can be seen live on ESPN2,  beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Qualifying takes place Saturday at 3:10 p.m. Eastern Time and can be followed live on www.indycar.com 

The Kansas Speedway is one of the fastest tracks on the IndyCar Series schedule, with qualifying speeds routinely topping the 210mph barrier. The 1.52-mile track features 15 degrees of banking in the turns and a wide-open frontstretch that measures more than a half-mile in length. The IndyCar Series has competed at Kansas in each year since the facility opened in 2001. The race has never seen a repeat winner in its seven previous events, nor has it seen a repeat pole winner. This weekend’s race will feature three former Kansas winners and all but one previous polesitter. Kansas Speedway is also the site of the very first Firestone Indy Lights event, which was contested there in 2002. The CART Dayton Indy Lights series was part of the inaugural weekend there in 2001 while the then-named Infiniti Pro Series kicked off in Kansas in ‘02 in a race won by A.J. Foyt IV.

Ryan Hunter-Reay will make his 53rd open-wheel start this weekend but will be visiting Kansas Speedway the very first time. He has been strong in 2008 on tracks where he has never raced, finishing seventh at Twin Ring Motegi and Homestead-Miami Speedway this season in his first IndyCar Series appearances at those venues.

Team Facts - RLR was the dominant team at Kansas Speedway in 2004 and 2005, earning the pole position for both races, and scoring a 1-2 finish in 2004 when Buddy Rice nipped Vitor Meira in what is still the second-closest finish in IndyCar Series history. The team swept the first three qualifying spots in 2005 with Danica Patrick scoring the pole. In 11 starts at Kansas, Rahal Letterman Racing has eight top-10 results.

Team Stats - In its 17 seasons of Indy Car racing RLR has made 562 starts, collected 77 podium results (top-three) and 149 top-five finishes and 309 top-10 results while leading 3,583 laps. The team has scored victories in eight of its 16 seasons and has scored poles in 10 years. The team has never gone through a racing season without leading a lap and has scored at least one podium result in 15 of its 16 seasons. Rahal Letterman Racing has won 19 races and 29 pole positions since its inception in 1992 as Rahal Hogan Racing. Of Rahal Letterman Racing’s 19 wins, nine have come on oval tracks of more than a mile, the last of those being Buddy Rice’s 2004 victory at Michigan. Of Rahal Letterman Racing’s 29 pole positions, 17 have come on ovals of more than a mile, the most recent being Scott Sharp’s pole at Texas Motor Speedway.