We've gone from low to low and back to a bit of a high over the past three races, so let me catch you up on how things have been over the back-to-back road races at Watkins Glen and Toronto.

I was pretty happy to be leaving Watkins after a very rough weekend, capped off by a first lap incident that couldn't be avoided.
 

Somehow we were all truckin’ along in 6th gear and apparently Helio had an issue which caused Rafa Matos to jump hard on the brakes without warning, and I was right into the back of him. No warning. Day over before it had even begun.

I left thinking my A.J. Foyt/ABC Supply team has had the worst luck I have ever seen. There's been a pretty big monkey on our back.

My fiance Beccy and I headed to New York City right after the race and we were lucky enough to fly on a friend’s plane. Thanks again for the ride, Dan!

On Monday our schedule was somewhat open, so I lined up some cycling time with a nearby Cervelo dealer and hopped on the new R3 for a couple hours of training in Central Park. I had no idea Central Park had elevation changes -- you have to actually do some climbing on the bike, which was a nice surprise.

Tuesday I was up early and headed over to PVH/IZOD headquarters in Manhattan for some meet and greets, then it was out the door with Allen Sirkin and Mike Kelly of IZOD for some golf in New Jersey. About 10 holes into the round, the skies opened up and it poured! These guys don’t get the opportunity to get out of the office much on a weekday, so we kept at it. We ended played through the rain and it was a lot of fun! After golf, it was back to the city for dinner with friends of ours from the area.

On Wednesday I had a few more meetings, IZOD has some really exciting plans in the works! Then first thing Thursday morning it was off to Toronto Thursday morning.

It was great to be back in Toronto from the second we touched down. This event has been a big part of IndyCar racing and I couldn’t be happier it’s back on the schedule. In 2001 I recorded my first ever street course win there in the Barber Dodge Pro Series and to add to it - the Canadian fans are awesome! They are so passionate and knowledgeable about open wheel racing, it’s really cool to see. I was pretty psyched to get back on a rough and tough street circuit. The layout also provides for some great racing due to the long back straight leading into a 40 mph hairpin, so I was really looking forward to getting the weekend started.

It was a relief to see from the first session that we were competitive. We ran consistently in the top-10 all day on Friday, and we were pleased to have saved a set of tires. We didn’t run stickers at the end of practice and our time still held up relatively well. I also noticed there was a stuffed monkey sitting on the timing stand; we had to get him off our back.

Saturday was much of the same. Our collective goal Saturday was to advance to the second round of knock-out qualifying and we were all pretty happy to get it done. In the second qualifying session (top 12 only) I was pushing really hard, just ringing the cars neck for every last bit. With about 4 minutes to go I braked super late for turn 8 and the car bottomed, which resulted in huge right front wheel lock. The right front was badly flat spotted, it was almost un-drivable, but I stayed out and continued to run laps just to see what we could get of it. It wasn’t enough - the lock up blistered the tire to the chords and we lost front grip. Had I just duplicated my lap time from the first qualifying round I’d have wound up 10th, which was my goal. Ah well, just more work to do Sunday.

I had a pretty good start to the race and was able to get by Matos in turn three, then PT hit my left rear exiting turn four (same place he and Helio got together) and I lost a spot. I was just relieved we didn’t have a puncture. I was nearly a victim of the infamous chrome horn! I wasn’t too pleased either, so I set out to get the spot back,
 I caught up to him and a few laps later made the pass going into turn 3, then one of the many yellows came out and the day grew complicated from there. We pitted running around P8, the leaders didn’t, but we were with some good company. Now the field was split into two different strategies.

At this point as a driver you just hope the race comes down to pure racing and driving ability and not some crazy fuel strategy game. On these deals the team rolls the dice and one way or another you end up a hero or a zero, depending on how the remaining caution periods play out.

From there I was running right with Justin Wilson until he had a gearbox issue of some sort exiting turn 1; I thought that was the last I’d see of him all day. I was racing with Will Power a few times during the day, but each time he was on old tires and a light fuel load as I was carrying a full fuel load and new tires, I knew it would be interesting to see how this thing shook out. We were running in the top five and as high as second place at one point.

We pitted for the third and final time, which in hindsight wasn’t necessary as we could have made it on fuel, but we couldn’t predict the upcoming caution periods. Once we all were lined up for the restart it was pretty apparent our strategy didn’t really shake out for us as we were sitting P12. A few passes and a couple incidents later we were sitting P7 under caution. As I was warming my tires I could hear the clutch was slipping pretty bad. Usually when you hear this it’s only a matter of time before the clutch gives up completely and you lose total drive.
 

The monkey was climbing back on, that dang monkey! We were only about 10 laps from the end and now this?! I mean come on! I spent the entire caution period being so gentle on the throttle, which meant no tire warming. Warming your tires prior to a restart is a BIG deal. Especially on a street circuit where there isn’t a whole lot of rubber down anyway.

We went green and those first few laps were pretty ugly, I was sliding around all over the place, but we hung in there with a slipping clutch and brought it home well inside the top-10 in seventh. The guys did a great job on the pit stops and we were all relieved not only get the best finish for the team all year, but get that damn monkey off our back!

After the race we set up a picture with AJ and I holding the stuffed monkey and at first AJ wanted nothing to do with it, but he gave in for a picture!”

Now I'm in Florida, then possibly head to California next week before going to Edmonton next weekend.

Till then, take it easy.

Ryan

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.

Ryan Hunter-Reay drives for the Vision Racing IndyCar Series team and is now ‘on loan’ to A.J. foyt Racing for the remainder of 2009. One of America's brightest young stars, Hunter-Reay worked his way up the open-wheel ladder and joined the ChampCar series in 2003, winning at Surfers Paradise in his rookie year. He followed that up with another ChampCar win in 2004 before moving on to try his hand in Grand-Am, the Baja 1000, and driving the Team USA entry in the A1GP series.

A move to the IndyCar Series in 2007 with Rahal Letterman Racing sparked a resurgence for Hunter-Reay, and in 2008, the Florida resident captured a memorable win at Watkins Glen. With a strong new opportunity at Vision Racing in 2009, more success is expected from 'RHR'.

Learn more about Ryan at http://www.ryanracing.com, about his sponsor IZOD at http://www.izod.com, and share your thoughts with the team at http://twitter.com/VisionRacing.