ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The off-season seemed especially long - interminable actually - to Ryan Hunter-Reay, whose knuckles metaphorically bled from all the IndyCar Series team front doors he knocked on.

The 28-year-old Floridian, with an IndyCar Series victory on the Fourth of July weekend last year on his resume and an Izod personal-services deal in his bank account, was looking for a ride in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Finally, Vision Racing co-owner Tony George stepped in/up to offer Hunter-Reay a seat in the team's No. 21 car. That was three days before the initial practice session on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course.

Fortunately, Hunter-Reay was physically and mentally ready while the Honda-powered Dallara was prepped for the grueling weekend. Starting 14th (quite possibly higher than anyone expected), Hunter-Reay made the most of an opportunity on a Lap 33 pit stop - just before a full-course caution - and remained in touch with the leaders.

After overtaking Dale Coyne Racing's Justin Wilson for second on Lap 86, Hunter-Reay set his sights on Team Penske's Ryan Briscoe. Two full-course caution periods in the final 14 laps bunched up the field, but Hunter-Reay wasn't able to make a pass stick. Still, second place gave the fifth-year team its best finish and promise heading into the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 19.

"It's amazing how things work out," said Hunter-Reay, who won at Watkins Glen last year in a Rahal Letterman Racing car. "A lot of people came together to make this work, and yeah, it was a nail biter for sure. But in the end, the George family, everybody at IZOD, Mike Kelly at IZOD, Colin Dyne at William Rast, and really, the IndyCar Series, I have to thank them a lot for the marketing, commercial side of it.

"We've been working real hard on the business side of making this thing work out, and we threw it together in seven days. I met the team (March 29), didn't sit in the car until Friday here this weekend. I mean, Friday afternoon we were still cutting away at the seat and everything. It's just unreal. It really speaks volumes to the caliber of talent at Vision Racing and what this team is capable of.

"But this is what racing is about. This is why people love it, and this is why IndyCar is so great, because you can put something together in that amount of time, and if you get the right people together, you can challenge for a race win against teams that are spending $15 million a year, $20 million a year. It's a very neat thing, a very cool series."