Hunter-Reay forced into backup car after Carb Day fire

Ryan Hunter-Reay’s challenging month of May took another step in the wrong direction on Carb Day, as a fire at the rear of his No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold/Cusick Motorsports Chevy forced the 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner into using a backup car for Sunday’s race.

According to the team, which was continuing to evaluate the cause of the fire, the flames caused enough damage to the Dallara DW12 safety cell – the tub that carries the driver – to necessitate the switch to a spare chassis. Per IndyCar’s rulebook, Hunter-Reay will retain his 25th-place qualifying position after the new No. 23 Chevy is readied to compete.

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Hunter-Reay made a pit stop during the final practice session ahead of the big race and pulled away from his pit box with a small fire emanating from the car. He’d leave pit lane, round and enter the back straight, and hoped to have the rushing wind extinguish the fire, but they persisted and he drove into pit lane and stopped, where safety personnel put out the flames.

“The liquid I felt could have been fire-retardant after I hit the fire bottle (the on-board fire suppression system), but it just started smoking more and more,” said Hunter-Reay. “It really caught my attention when I was in fourth gear and the cockpit started filling up with smoke. I just kept going, trying to keep the airspeed up, and to get back to pit lane where there would be more help. I stopped short of the pit boxes and then I looked like Ace Ventura jumping out of the rhino.”

Hunter-Reay and DRR-Cusick Motorsports will be allowed to run a special 15-minute session on Saturday morning to shake the new No.23 car down. During the session, which will run from 8:30-8:45am, the car will only be allowed to complete install laps, and will not be permitted to cross the start/finish line.