RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING'S HUNTER-REAY CLEANLY THROUGH INDY ROP

INDIANAPOLIS-  The Rookie Orientation Program (ROP) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is designed to let drivers slowly work their way up to the speeds needed to compete in the Indianapolis 500, but Rahal Letterman Racing showed no interest in working slowly as the ROP got underway on a brilliant Sunday afternoon in Indy.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (#17 Ethanol Dallara/Honda/Firestone) stormed through his four-stage process in just 34 laps today, the fewest laps needed by any rookie to punch his ticket for the remainder of the month. Reigning Firestone Indy Light champ and new RLR/CGR driver Alex Lloyd (#16 Rahal Letterman Chip Ganassi Dallara/Honda/Firestone) easily pounded through his four-step process, hanging up the fourth-fastest time of the day in the process. Lloyd’s fastest speed of 219.964 mph (40.9158 seconds) was the quickest of any of the 13 rookies in the field until it was surpassed with 10 minutes left in the day’s practice, while Hunter-Reay’s best lap stopped the clocks at 219.797 mph (40.9488 seconds).

Hunter-Reay is a rookie in name only as the Floridian had to complete Indy ROP only because he had never competed on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his open-wheel career. He showed no trepidation at all however, hitting the track early and getting through the speed benchmarks without incident.

“I’ve been waiting my entire life for this,” Hunter-Reay grinned as he recalled his first laps at the Brickyard. “The straight are just long enough to where you can start thinking about what you can do to the car to make it better, but you can’t think too much because the turns come up quick. And you have some business to do once you get there.”

Lloyd has had much more track time here at IMS, having won on the both the Indy oval and road courses during his Indy Lights career. But none of those truly prepared him for the blinding speed afforded by 700 hp Indy Cars on one of the world’s fastest tracks.

“It was great fun out there,” Lloyd said. “Obviously the speed is the biggest difference but once you get a few laps in and get used to it, everything seems to slow down for you and things felt very comfortable. That’s the nice thing about ROP is that it kind of forces you to take your time and find your way up to speed safely. Now we just have to settle in, learn the subtle nuances of the track and try and gain more speed.”

Among the myriad of things that drivers have to learn during the month of practice and qualifying at Indy is the benefits of patience and taking things slow, something that Hunter-Reay says is a change unto itself.

“It’s weird because I am used to getting to the track on the first day and trying to wring every drop of speed out of the car, and that’s not what it is about here,” he said. “You really need to take your time, develop the car over the month and you’ll have something you can race with. That’s what we are here for.”

Having complete their ROP stages, Hunter-Reay and Lloyd will have a free practice day tomorrow with just the rookies on the track, leading up to Tuesday’s first day of practice with the full field checking in. The pole for the 92nd Indianapolis 500 will be determined during Saturday’s qualifying, along with the first eleven spots on the grid. Positions 12-22 will be locked in on Sunday, with the rest of the field to be determined next weekend.

RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING TRACK TALK - INDIANAPOLIS 500

HILLIARD, Ohio - Rahal Letterman Racing will expand to a two-car IndyCar Series program for the first time this year with the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500, and won’t waste any time in getting those cars on track as preparation gets underway Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The fact that this will be the first IndyCar appearance at the fabled 2.5-mile oval for both Ryan Hunter-Reay (#17 Ethanol Dallara/Honda/Firestone) and Alex Lloyd (#16 Rahal Letterman with Chip Ganassi Dallara/Honda/Firestone) will net them extra track time when things get underway on Sunday afternoon.   Both drivers will have two days to complete the IMS Rookie Orientation, which calls for a driver to complete a four-step process in which drivers increase their speed at each step.

“I am really looking forward to tackling the Indianapolis Motorspeedway in an IndyCar,” Lloyd said. “I have been fortunate enough to win on the famed oval, so for me Indy is the ultimate. ROP is a great opportunity for me to get up to speed and learn about the car and get comfortable before the real action starts on opening day. My expectations are high and I have been waiting for this day for a long time.”

Once the rookie threshold is crossed, drivers can join the full field at IMS when practice opens on Tuesday as the fight begins for a spot in the 33-car field in the May 25 event. Despite having five seasons of major-league open-wheel experience on his resume, Hunter-Reay is still a rookie at the cavernous IMS race course, having joined the IndyCar Series after last year’s event had taken place.

“I've been waiting for this day for what seems like an eternity,” Hunter-Reay said. “I'm finally going to get my first laps around the most famous race track in America in the Ethanol car.  This is what I dreamt of as a kid, one day driving Indy Cars at 230 mph at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  This is just the first steps down a long road of preparing for race day nearly a month away.  The best part for me....I really want to take it all in and enjoy every second I'm on track.  There would be no feeling in the world like winning here and that's all I can think about, I want to win here.  First, I need to gain experience here at IMS and get a feel for what I want in the car around these two and half miles, then we will develop our race day setup over the next couple weeks.”

The Rahal Letterman Racing squad will be on track all week as both Hunter-Reay and Lloyd will have six hours of track time each day to ready themselves for Saturday’s Pole Day, which determines the first 11 starters in the 500. Eleven more spots will be hung on the board on Sunday with another full day of qualifications. Pole Day kicks off at noon on Saturday as does Sunday’s second day of qualifying runs.

The full field will be set on May 18 with Bump Day qualifications finalizing the battle for the last spots in the event. The Indianapolis 500 begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on May 25 and can be seen live on ABC. Fans can follow every on-track session via the official website of the series - www.indycar.com
 
Rahal Letterman Racing Indianapolis 500 Notes:
 
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most storied racing venues in all of motorsports. The 2.5-mile oval has hosted the Indianapolis 500 since 1911, building the annual Memorial Day event into the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. The track has also hosted Formula 1 and NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, and will welcome the MotoGP series later in the year.

Ryan Hunter-Reay will make his 54th open-wheel start this weekend but will be competing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 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 and team co-owner Bobby Rahal have had a long and fruitful relationship with the Indianapolis 500 over the past 25 years. One of the only drivers to also win the Indy 500 as a car owner, Bobby won the 1986 Memorial Day Classic, getting the victory for his long-time car owner Jim Trueman. Rahal had four podium finishes behind the wheel at Indy, including two as an owner/driver, although earned another Borg-Warner Trophy when his RLR team won the 2004 Indy 500 with Buddy Rice. RLR cars have led laps in four of the last five Indy 500s

Team Stats - In its 17 seasons of Indy Car racing RLR has made 563 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.