Ryan Hunter-Reay will return to the IndyCar Series as Conor Daly’s replacement at Ed Carpenter Racing, the team announced Thursday.
Daly was fired a day earlier in what team owner Carpenter called one of the toughest decisions of his tenure at the helm of the organization. He cited performance issues for the division with Daly, who ranked 20th in the standings with a season-best finish of eighth in the Indianapolis 500.
Hunter-Reay was out of IndyCar last season, but returned this year for the Indy 500 and finished 11th. He’ll make his debut in the No. 20 Chevrolet next weekend at Road America.
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Ryan Hunter-Reay #1 reacts to the crowd before the SRX Qualifying race at Sharon Speedway on July 23, 2022 in Hartford, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/SRX/Getty Images)
«I was surprised when I got the call from Ed. He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to fulfill its potential despite his efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes in recent years and asked for my help.» Hunter-Reay said. «Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I have worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner at (sponsor) Bitnile.com.»
Bitnile, by the way, was a sponsor Daly brought to the team ahead of the 2022 season that funded his full-time journey.
Meanwhile, Hunter-Reay had tried ECR in late 2021 when Carpenter wasn’t sure if Daly would find the funding to continue with the team. Hunter-Reay had lost his longtime career at Andretti Autosport and was looking for opportunities to stay in the series.
The former Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar champion is 42 years old and will take over the car for the rest of the season.
ED CARPENTER RACING TERMS RELATIONSHIP WITH CONOR DALY ‘EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATE’
Conor Daly, driver of the #20 BitNile Chevrolet, poses before the NTT IndyCar GMR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 13, 2023 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
«This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation to get into a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I think is the most competitive series in the world,» Hunter-Reay said. «Certainly part of my motivation to say ‘yes’ to Ed is the huge challenge ahead of me. The last time I took a right turn driving an IndyCar Series car was in October 2021 with this team at Barber.»
«However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe that by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy,» Hunter-Reay continued, «we will progress. I will do everything I can to help the team to achieve their long-term goals.
Hunter-Reay will team up with Rinus VeeKay and Carpenter, who only races on ovals. He has 18 IndyCar victories in his career, including the 2014 Indy 500 with Andretti.
«We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan, who has a wealth of experience and success, as well as a reputation as a team leader,» Carpenter said. «We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on pole after that test.
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Ryan Hunter-Reay #1 listens to the national anthem before the start of the SRX Qualifying race at Sharon Speedway on July 23, 2022 in Hartford, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/SRX/Getty Images)
«I am confident that his experience and technical skills will be an asset to ECR as we move toward our goals as a team.»
Todd Ault, CEO of BitNile.com, supported the driver change even though he had reached an endorsement deal with Daly and not with ECR directly.
«It’s great for Bitnile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 winner and an IndyCar Series champion,» Ault said. «I have followed Ryan’s career for years and am confident that he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.»