IMSA: IndyCar double-duty for Hunter-Reay at Long Beach

Ryan Hunter-Reay is preparing for an exceptionally busy visit to Long Beach next week, where he'll compete in both marquee races on the legendary street circuit.

The 2012 Verizon IndyCar Series champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner will have his full-time job as the tip of Honda's spear in the No. 28 Andretti Autosport entry to look after, and between the open-wheel sessions, he'll change firesuits and driving styles to join Marc Goossens in the No. 90 VisitFlorida Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype.

Hunter-Reay's passion for sports car racing is well-known, and with his longstanding presence in the former ALMS and Grand-Am championships, plus his continuing efforts in IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, unique opportunities like a Long Beach doubleheader have arisen.

"The last time I did it a double was with A.J. Foyt at Homestead when I was also driving for Level 5, but that was different because the IndyCar race was on the oval and the ALMS race was on the road course," Hunter-Reay told RACER.

"What I'm doing at Long Beach with Andretti Autosport and VisitFlorida Racing is on the same track jumping back and forth between sessions. It's going to be pretty intense."

The Long Beach schedule will have Hunter-Reay rushing between paddocks on Friday, when he'll take part in the first IMSA practice session from 7:40-9:40 a.m., then switch gears for the first IndyCar practice from 10-10:45 a.m. A second IndyCar practice from 2-2:45 p.m. is followed by IMSA qualifying from 5-6:30 p.m. where RHR's co-driver Marc Goossens is expected to wheel the No. 90 Corvette DP.

Saturday is slightly more relaxed, although once he's done qualifying the No. 28 DHL Honda at 3:15 p.m., Hunter-Reay will need to change suits once again and get ready for the IMSA race that kicks off at 4:05 p.m. Compared to the rest of his IndyCar rivals, Hunter-Reay will be a blur of constant motion through the end of Saturday, and once the 100-minute WeatherTech Championship race concludes, he'll get to come back Sunday morning for an IndyCar warmup session and then take part in the headlining show on Shoreline Drive.

The versatile 35-year-old says he wouldn't change a thing.

"Absolutely not," he said. "You rarely get IndyCar drivers doing two races in two series on the same weekend, but this fits me perfectly, and I have two competitive cars to race, which makes it even better.

"I have to thank Michael Andretti who's allowing me to do this, and I appreciate [VFR team owner] Troy Flis who hired me to drive in the endurance races this year, but with [VFR teammate] Ryan Dalziel away with a conflict, it was cool to get the invite to do one of the short IMSA races."

After driving for VFR at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, then racing his Andretti Autosport Indy car at St. Petersburg, returning to VFR the following weekend for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and racing his Honda Indy car days ago in Phoenix, Hunter-Reay expects a smooth transition between his open-wheeler and the prototype at Long Beach.

"It would be one thing if I hadn't driven one of those cars for quite some time, but I've been in both a lot in the last month," he said. "I know the two driving styles of the cars, I've been driving IndyCars and DPs for a long time, so that's the easy part. Where it's hard, regardless of my experience, is finding the last few tenths because they are completely different driving styles. It's two different grip levels, turn-in points are different, braking points are different. I'll have to compartmentalize the two styles so they don't get confused.

"And I'll have to work the schedule so it optimizes my focus in each car. When I'm in the DP [on] Friday morning, that's all I need to think about. When I move to my IndyCar, that's all I need to think about. If I'm trying to worry about both at the same time, that's where problems would occur."

The most amusing aspect of Hunter-Reay's Long Beach doubleheader will come from his dual representation of arch IndyCar and IMSA rivals. In the WeatherTech Championship race, he'll drive a Bowtie-badged Chevy Corvette DP and give everything he can to defeat the dominant Honda-powered Ligier P2 package that won the opening two rounds.

In the IndyCar race, he'll fly the Honda flag as he tries to stop the dominant Chevy-powered teams that have dominated the first two rounds. Provided he's successful in both endeavors, Hunter-Reay runs the risk of pissing off both brands simply by doing his job ...

"After Sebring and Daytona, I joked with everyone that I have it stacked against me in IndyCar with all the Chevys, and in the DP, we're getting beaten by the Hondas." he said with a laugh.

"Certainly, I'm a full-time Honda driver, and still have a great relationship with Chevy after winning the [IndyCar] championship with them, so to be able to do a weekend like this, it takes the bosses at Honda Performance Development—Art St. Cyr and Steve Eriksen—and Jim Campbell and Mark Kent at GM to give it their blessing. I think it's incredibly cool that they recognize how much I love to race and will let me go drive my heart out."