IndyCar.com reports: It seems so long ago now to Ryan Hunter-Reay - competing part-time in Grand Am and shaking trees in NASCAR land to keep his CV near the top of mental lists after an experience to forget (or remember, based on your business perspective) in Champ Car in 2005.

It certainly was not the way the Florida racer projected his career path after winning during his Champ Car rookie season in 2003 and ninth in the '04 standings. Still, Hunter-Reay was seeking a modicum of stability while walking the wobbly tightrope of professional sports.

Then Bobby Rahal reached out with a lifeline of sorts, and a year later Hunter-Reay begins his second go-round of the schedule of IndyCar Series staples. He climbed in the No. 17 Ethanol car for Rahal Letterman Racing for the first time in practice last July at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, qualified 10th and surprised almost everyone in the capacity crowd - and paddock - by finishing seventh.

Rahal, the team co-owner and championship driver, knew from experience that auto racing is anything but a smooth progression. He spotted an upside in Hunter-Reay's game.

"I had sidesteps and back steps and times when I was the flavor of the month, and times when people didn't return my phone calls," Rahal said. "So I think I identified with where Ryan was at. The guy showed a lot of promise, and it takes a long time to get up, and it takes nothing to get down. So I just had a great belief in Ryan.

"For Ryan, it wasn't a difficult decision for me to ask him to drive for us, and I have to say the ethanol people were fantastic because they were very supportive."

This season's results haven't been as surprising - his first IndyCar Series victory plus four other top-five finishes through 11 rounds - mainly because of how he finished up 2007 (stringing together three top-10 starts in five races and posting a pair of top 10s).

"I think from the first time he got in the car at Mid-Ohio last year Ryan's had a great attitude and has worked well with the crew and engineers," said Scott Roembke, Rahal Letterman Racing's COO and Hunter-Reay's race strategist. "Last year he came in at a tough spot; no one likes to come in mid-season to replace another driver (Jeff Simmons). He's certainly made the most of that, got us through the year and gave us some good results.

"Coming into this year our goal was to improve our performance at the start of the season."

Hunter-Reay kicked off the season with seventh-place finishes at Homestead and Kansas, and then wove through traffic to finish sixth in the 92nd Indianapolis 500 - advancing 14 positions and earning the Chase Rookie of the Year award.

"He ran an awful strong race at Indianapolis, and I think that gave Ryan the confidence that 'OK, I can run with these guys up front,' '' Roembke said. "From there, it just seemed to build. Now that we're kind of hitting on all eight cylinders, I'm looking forward to all the rest of the races and I think we can get to the top five in points."

That's one of the driver's goals - something Hunter-Reay didn't fathom a year ago when he wheeled the Honda-powered Dallara onto the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio circuit for the first time.

"To be on the bottom, (Rahal) for sure gave me an opportunity to come back and really show my stuff," Hunter-Reay said. "I couldn't go out there and wreck any race cars, but I went out and I learned and I applied myself. In every race, I was my biggest critic."

He still is, though the charge to the front and sweet victory at Watkins Glen International - the first for Rahal Letterman Racing since August 2004 with Buddy Rice - was a booster shot to the Indianapolis run.

"Our team has been through a lot since '04," Roembke said. "We had really fast cars in '05 and '06 was just a horrible year. I think after a certain point you start questioning yourselves. It's the same group of guys; they didn't forget how to win. (The victory) lets the guys know the procedures are correct and we're doing the right things and we're running with the right group of guys.

"It's like I tell every driver that has ever driven for us - if you run in the top five consistently you're going to get your fours, you're going to get your podiums, you're going to get your wins. You can't do that from 12th all the time. You can do that once a year from 10th. If you want to be up there competing for podiums and wins, you have to be running in the top five. That's our goal; that's what we've been doing lately and hopefully that will continue."