Hunter-Reay Claims IndyCar Pole At Long Beach

Ryan Hunter-Reay races around the fountain.  [Joe Jennings Photo]

Long Beach, Calif. – Ryan Hunter-Reay wasn’t to be denied as he went for broke on his final qualification lap, coming home with the pole position for Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the second race of the Verizon IndyCar Series season.

The Florida native raced around the 1.986-mile street course at a speed of 104.462 miles per hour while driving the DHL Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport.

For Hunter-Reay, he earned his sixth career IndyCar pole position.  At Long Beach, he has started second in three of the last four races, which made the pole a special achievement for him.

“Qualifying at Long Beach has been frustrating for me of late,” Hunter-Reay said.  “We have missed the pole by hundredths of a second and not tenths of a second, so to finally get the pole here is very fulfilling.  The guys gave me a great car when I needed it. What was most entertaining about the final session was that it was anybody’s session to win, and it depended on who was going to put up that last fast lap.  Actually, the competition in IndyCar is pretty ridiculous.”

Regarding his last lap push, he added, “I was consistently quick through turns 8, 9, 10 and 11 but I hadn’t done so well in turns 5 and 6 until the final lap, and that was the key to the pole.”

Five of the top-six qualifiers used Honda engines, and the pole winner said it showed how much effort the company had put into refining its engines.  And another notable point is that neither Team Penske nor Chip Ganassi Racing entries were among the top-six qualifiers.

Sunday’s race will feature a standing start, and Hunter-Reay said, “The key to standing starts is all about the first 30 feet out of the box, and whoever times it just right will have a huge advantage.”

He did let it be known he’s not a fan of switching back and forth between rolling and standing starts.  “If the fans like it and it sells more tickets, I am all for it,” he said.  “Comparing IndyCar starts on street courses to F1, they have a football-width field while we have a swimming-pole width to start on.”

Teammate James Hinchcliffe will start alongside the pole winner.  And Hinchcliffe drives the United Fiber & Data Honda.  His speed was 104.280 mph.

Said the Canadian, “When you strap on those Firestone red tires for the first time, you don’t know if you will be in the ballpark.  I made the best of it in the second segment, but didn’t so well in the final round.  I am not in the Firestone Fast 6 too often, so I don’t know all the tricks that others do.  Ryan (Hunter-Reay) only ran three laps to our four.  If you are going to lose the pole to someone, it is good to have it be a teammate.”

Sebastian Bourdais and Josef Newgarden qualified for row two, and Bourdais admitted he was chagrined not to win the pole.  His KVSH Racing entry was the only Chevrolet-powered car in the top-six.

Rookie Jack Hawksworth and Simon Pagenaud gained the third-row starting spots.

Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves and Justin Wilson rounded out the top-10 qualifiers.

For Chip Ganassi Racing, Dixon was the top performer and Castroneves carried the flag for Team Penske.

St. Petersburg winner Will Power timed 14^th fastest and teammate Juan Pablo Montoya ended up 16^th on the speed chart.

2013 winner Takuma Sato dropped to 15^th on the starting grid after receiving a penalty for blocking Hunter-Reay in the first segment.

For Sunday’s 80-lap race, 23 cars will start the grind.

The NBC Sports Network will broadcast the race live at 4 p.m. ET.

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