RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING SET FOR INDYCAR SEASON OPENER AT HOMESTEAD

HILLIARD, Ohio - This weekend has been circled in Day-Glo orange on the Rahal Letterman Racing calendar ever since the last engine shut down at Chicago in October, as this weekend’s Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 signals the start of a promising 2008 IndyCar Series season for the Ohio-based team.

Ryan Hunter-Reay (#17 Ethanol Dallara/Honda/Firestone) will lead the team into the season opener, and the young American carries a special excitement into Saturday night’s 200-lap lidlifter as the reigning Bombardier Rookie of the Year gets to open the 2008 campaign in his own backyard.

“This is a very special season opener for me.  Homestead is actually my home track, however I have never raced on the oval.  Racing in front of the hometown fans under the lights in the Ethanol IndyCar will be surreal to say the least,” Hunter-Reay enthused. “I am ready to get this 2008 race season underway, we have been preparing and planning for months now and it's time to go racing. We're all ready to get to work.”  

The blue-and-green Ethanol machine will be part of a new era in IndyCar Series competition as this weekend signals the long-awaited unification of American open-wheel racing. For the first time since 1995, the top teams and drivers in the sport are now fully engaged in one series, flying under the IndyCar flag. The largest non-Indianapolis 500 field in four years is expected to greet fans at Homestead as 26 cars are entered for the first race of the season.

For Hunter-Reay, the year provides even more change - by not providing change. For the first time in his career the 27-year-old Floridian will start the year with the same team that he ended the prior campaign with, and both he and the team are looking to build upon a strong finish to 2007.

“I really enjoy working with the guys on the team and we're all looking forward to showing what we can do over a race season's time,” said Hunter-Reay. “Adding to that, to be a part of a new era in IndyCar Racing as one powerful series is fantastic.  I have been waiting for this day for over 12 years.”

For Bobby Rahal, this is the start of his 17th year as a team owner in open-wheel racing, and is the team’s first as a single-car entry since Rahal himself carried the team’s banner to four wins and a championship in 1992. But what some see as a burden, Rahal sees as a challenge to the team.

"Everyone at RLR has been giving everything they have to build on the promise that we saw at the end of last year,” Rahal said. “Ryan came in and gave our team a boost in confidence last season and we will hit the track in Homestead focused on continuing our march toward the sharp end of the grid. We are looking forward to a strong field with the best teams and drivers, and expect to be running right with them throughout the entire season.”

The IndyCar Series opener takes place Saturday night, March 29 and can be seen live on ESPN2,  beginning at 8 p.m. The race will be preceded by a 30-minute IndyCar preview show on ESPN2, which features Ryan Hunter-Reay driving a tractor and explaining the process behind how Ethanol is made during a visit to LifeLine Foods, which is the exclusive fuel supplier to the IndyCar Series.
 
Rahal Letterman Racing Homestead Notes:
 
Homestead- Miami Speedway has hosted open-wheel racing every year since 1996, with the Indy Racing League taking up residence there beginning in 2001. The track has hosted the season-opening race for the Indy cars in every season since the ’96 opening - with the exception of 2001 when the IRL kicked things off in Phoenix before coming to Homestead. The 1.5-mile oval has been reconfigured on a number of occasions and now features 18-20 degree variable banking through the turns, creating multiple racing lanes.
 
Ryan Hunter-Reay will make his 50th open-wheel start with this weekend’s Homestead event, beginning his fifth season of racing at the top level of American open-wheel competition. This will mark his first race at Homestead-Miami Speedway since moving up to the Indy cars in 2003. The reigning Bombardier Rookie of the Year, Hunter-Reay has made six starts on oval tracks of 1.5 miles or longer and has earned top-10 finishes in three of them. His best finish on the big ovals came last year when he scored a sixth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway. His best qualifying result of eighth came in 2004 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and was equaled last season at Kentucky Speedway.
 
Team Facts - RLR has competed in nine of the 12 IndyCar Series events to take place at the Homestead-Miami Speedway since the 1.5-mile track first hosted open-wheel racing in 1996. The team has done well on the concrete oval, winning in 2000 with Max Papis in a race that saw the Italian come from 13th on the grid to lead the last 10 laps of the race. RLR has four top-five finishes and eight top-10 results on the Homestead oval including a top-five finish by Bobby Rahal in the first open-wheel race run on the track originally built by Ralph Sanchez. The team sat out the 2006 IndyCar Series event to honor the passing of former driver Paul Dana, who was fatally injured in a crash during warmup prior to the event.
 
Team Stats - In its 16 previous seasons of Indy Car racing RLR has made 559 starts, collected 77 podium results (top-three) and 149 top-five finishes and 307 top-10 results while leading 3,579 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.