A DIFFERENT SPRING TRAINING

Spring training took on a new meaning for Ryan Hunter-Reay March 10. Coming off IndyCar Series Open Tests at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Sebring International Raceway, Hunter-Reay headed to the ballpark to throw out the first pitch prior to a Grapefruit League contest between the Minnesota Twins and Florida Marlins.

"It's very cool to promote a race in your backyard, in your own market," the driver of the No. 17 Rahal Letterman Racing Team Ethanol entry said. "This is where I grew up and we're coming to all the local TV and radio stations that I watch and listen to. And being here at the Marlins game – the home baseball team – it's pretty cool."

The first ball opportunity was the highlight of a two-day media tour through South Florida. Hunter-Reay did a series of radio, television and newspaper interviews in West Palm Beach, Miramar, Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale to promote the first two races of the 2008 season – the GAINSCO Auto Insurance Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 29 and the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on April 6.