Ryan Hunter-Reay secured a first podium finish since the Indianapolis Grand Prix in May as he fought superbly to take third place in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300.
The Andretti Autosport driver started down in fifteenth at Iowa Speedway, and admitted it took a while to get the right set-up on the #28 car, but came through to put himself into the battle for the podium, ultimately getting the better of Will Power and Graham Rahal.
Hunter-Reay was happy to see Helio Castroneves take his first victory in three years on Sunday, but felt that with more straight-line speed on his Honda-powered Dallara, he could have had a chance of usurping both the Brazilian and runner-up JR Hildebrand.
“That was a tough drive. We just made the car better and better through the whole race and I wasn’t really happy with the car at all,” said Hunter-Reay. “I have to give big credit to my team and my engineer, Ray Gosselin, for putting the right set-up on the car. We finally got it to where I like it – some remnants of the past.
“A little more straight-line speed and we could’ve given these guys a run for their money. Congratulations to Helio (Castroneves) – it’s great to see him win again. He’s been right there knocking on the door for so long.
“Hats off to the No. 28 DHL team and thank you to all the Iowa fans, we love coming here. Hopefully we can come back here at night some time, because that is my favourite.”
