Indy Racing League Media Conference

Topics:  Indy Racing League

Ryan Hunter-Reay
Will Power
March 20, 2013

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to today's IndyCar conference call. Pleased to be joined by a pair of IZOD IndyCar Series drivers, defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion, Ryan Hunter‑Reay of Andretti Autosports and perennial championship contender, Will Power of Team Penske.
Ryan will drive the No.1 DHL Chevrolet in 2013, appearing No.1 as the defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion. He has two podium finishes in six starts at St. Pete, including a third place finish last year, and will be looking to give Team Penske and Andretti Autosports a second win at St. Pete.
Ryan, we are just a few days away from the start of the season after the test at Barber last week, are you prepared to defend your title?
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Well, we are definitely optimistic. I'm encouraged how well our test went at Barber. That's a track that we have regularly struggled at, but Will obviously led testing there and we have got to close the gap a bit.
But I'm very encouraged how everything has been going as a team and we have a good direction heading into St. Pete. I'm ready for what is now my home race, one of my favorite events of the year. So, yeah, happy to be going back to racing and getting on with the job.
THE MODERATOR: Will will drive the No. 12 Horizon Team Penske Chevrolet, he's finished second in the IZOD IndyCar Series each of the last three seasons. He was the 2010 winner at St. Pete and has earned the pole position at the track the last three seasons. Will has never finished outside the Top‑10 at St. Pete.
Are you the guy to beat this weekend?
WILL POWER: I hope so. Yeah, testing went well at Barber I have to say. I think Andretti was pretty much as quick as we were. I was fortunate to get out with the last four lapsall day when it was cool and I was on new tires, push‑to‑pass and all that and a pretty mega lap in. But you know, I think just looking at the competition, if Honda was not sandbagging too much, I could see that the Andretti guys are definitely competition.
Yeah, it will be a normal year, really tough, and keep, yeah, doing my normal thing.
THE MODERATOR: For both of you, can you talk about the importance of getting off to a good start this season? There's no playoffs in IndyCar Racing or anything like that, so how important is it to get off to a good start?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I think there's 19 races this year, and they all count. You know, you have your good and bad ones, and I think it's important to start the season well, start off on a positive, but it's not the end of a day if you have a bad one. But it's racing, just go there and have fun really.
THE MODERATOR: Ryan, talk a little about starting the season off on the right foot.
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, the first race counts as much as the last one, and you're always looking for every last point when you come to the season finale.
So absolutely it's important, but like Will said, if you don't have a good result, you still have a little bit of time to get yourself out of the hole.
And really, you need to get off to a good start to get the team to the right track and get the momentum going and get the energy, the right energy, going to the team. No better race to do it than the first one. We will look to definitely take that first step this weekend.

Q. Ryan, you've had a second place back in 2009 with Vision, and other than that, St. Pete has been a hit or miss track with you. How are you working this year on building your consistency, continuing that momentum for the season?
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Well, you know, it's been hit or miss. In '08, we had an electrical issue with the shifting mechanism, and '09 we were on the podium. And '10 we just went down the wrong strategy, kind of like Will did last year; got caught out like Will did last year. And then '12 I think was a pretty good year for us.
So we are looking to cover that last step to the top one. We have been second, third, but really we are just concentrating on qualifying well, being at the front when we need to be challenging at the end and hopefully we can make it happen. But one foot in front the other, one step at a time, and I think we'll be challenging on Sunday.

Q. Will, you've never finished outside of the Top‑10 at St. Pete, what is it about the St. Pete track that has been so good to you?
WILL POWER: I don't know, just a street course, and just enjoy it really. There's nothing that I would say suits me more than any other track. Yeah, I go there and I always have fun. Yeah, I can't even tell you why.
THE MODERATOR: Just talk about what you think it's going to take that wrestle that title away from Ryan.
WILL POWER: I don't know, just a couple little details really, nothing too big. It's different every year really. I hope I'm in contention in the end and have a chance at it really.
THE MODERATOR: What kind of race do you expect this weekend at St. Pete? The race is ten laps longer than it was last year; do you think that will play more into letting you guys race and not save fuel?
WILL POWER: Well, I think the weather might play a bit of a part. Yeah, just your normal St. Pete race, it can be green very green and then a few yellows at the end, or a bunch of yellows at the beginning and very green at the end. So, yeah, I think it will be good, it will be good racing for the crowd.
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: I think it's going to depend on the right strategy, as well. St. Pete always seems to be a little bit of a crapshoot on strategy and where you end up at the end, what you end up hitting. And weather can be a big issue with this race, or a big factor, I should say.
So it's going to keep us on our toes; it always does, this race, and it should be an exciting one with that front straight long, big, wide airport runway, big passing zone. Bottom line is, it will be a good show as we have been putting on for the past few seasons, and I think it will come down to the last few laps.

Q. These races and these championships often come down to one moment and the moment last year was when Power tried to pass Ryan in that race at Fontana. Do you remember what you were thinking at that point, Ryan, in terms of, man, I can't believe the season has come down to this?
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, I remember thinking that the entire week when we were struggling with our car, we couldn't get a setup. And then during the race when Will and I were going at it, granted, we were going at it at like 15th or 16th. So I was just thinking, man, we've got to somehow transform this car if I am going to have any shot at making this interesting over the night.
I lost the car on Friday in practice. It spun, hit the wall, and I don't even know why it happened. And same thing with Will. The front of the car grabbed the same and the next thing you know, you blink an eye and you're in the wall. It's just kind of the nature of the beast with the low downforce racing with these cars we've been doing. It's made it a lot of fun.
So, yeah, I remember it vividly and I remember thinking, we've got to make something happen here quick because we were struggling at the time.

Q. Last year you kind of found yourself at a new position there to be not worrying about a ride for the next season, and pulled it‑‑ really pulled it all together at the end of the year. What did you learn from that experience in how you approach things?
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: I definitely learned a lot about it. I learned a lot about consistency and what it takes to put together a few race wins in a row. It was definitely a season of firsts.
So I learned a lot about dealing with the pressure of championship fights and kind of channeling that into positive energy to make it really benefit you when you need it. But it's something that I'll use in the future for sure going forward.
I had a lot of fun in the fight with Will and Scott, and it was something I hope we can do many times again, because that's what auto racing is all about and that's why we are here doing it.

Q. Will, what do you think about the new push‑to‑pass regulations this year which the lockout‑‑ (background noise).
WILL POWER: What? What do I think of the push‑to‑pass?

Q. What do you think about having the delay or the lockout time?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I think it's better. I mean, the delay reallywas just hard. Yeah, I think it will be much easier to use, obviously it's much easier for the guy todefend from you, anyway, as well. Yeah, I think it was just confusing, really, to use. It was really hard to know when tohit the button and then off the throttle ‑‑ (background noise) ‑‑ definitely going to be better.

Q. Ryan, same question to you, what do you think of the new push‑to‑pass regulation with no delay with the lockout?
RYAN HUNTER‑REAY: Yeah, it looked like potentially at some point a good idea on paper, but when you actually applied the process in the race car, it was a mess. It was just not right. The delay involves a certain‑‑ you have to get to a certain throttle position, and if you lift out of it when you're coming out of the corner, if you get wheel spin, just because you're driving aggressively, then it could cancel out the request. We just had a nightmare with it.
So this is going to be good. We are going to have good push‑to‑pass. We are going to have that extra boost when we need it to create great racing. We already have good racing when we are not push‑to‑pass, so it will be exciting.
THE MODERATOR: We thank our guests for their team and wish them the best of luck at St. Petersburg this weekend.