IndyCar Rumors

Andretti IndyCar team hurting for money

Hunter-Reay races Castroneves to the line at Indy to win

How much is an Indy 500 winning car worth to you?

The Gooding and Company classic-car auction is usually dominated by post-World War II European sports cars from Ferrari, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, or prewar classics from the likes of Rolls-Royce and Duesenberg.

But at this year's auction on Jan. 29 in Scottsdale, Ariz., bidders will find an even more unusual item for sale: Lot 47 is the Dallara-Honda racecar driven to victory in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 by Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The Andretti Autosport team, in an effort to raise money for 2016, has put Ryan Hunter-Reay's 2014 Indy 500 winning Dallara DW12 up for auction and expects to take in an anticipated amount of $600-$750K. Although this is the first time ever being done, it makes sense, but also goes to show how bad things are in IndyCar when a top team has to resort to such tactics. Years of miniscule TV ratings on NBCSN have driven sponsors dollars in the toilet for everyone.

The successful bidder will get:

  1. The "Owner Experience" from Andretti Autosport
  2. Four Verizon IndyCar Series Wins, Including the 2014 Indianapolis 500
  3. Ryan Hunter-Reay's Oval Car for his 2012 Championship Campaign
  4. Expected to Race Through the 2018 IndyCar Season
  5. Restoration and Delivery to Purchaser at End of Racing Life
  6. Fourth-Generation Dallara Verizon IndyCar Series Chassis
  7. Ryan Hunter-Reay’s Oval Speedway Car Since 2012
  8. Aero Kit and Livery from 2014 Indy 500 Win

After the 2018 IndyCar season, Andretti Autosport is promising to "restore and repair" Hunter-Reay's car in its period-correct 2014 livery, according to the Gooding auction prospectus. The exception is the Honda race engine, which is owned by the manufacturer.

Since the engine is an integral component of the car's structure, the owner could receive the car in pieces. And the Dallara-Honda is not, nor could it be made to be, street-legal.

To assuage the disappointment of having to wait three years to receive the inoperable, engineless, obsolete chassis, Andretti Autosport is throwing in two season-long participant credentials for the IndyCar series races at which the team enters the car through 2018.

An Indy 500-winning car — if it remains intact — is unlikely to be relegated to a dark corner of a garage. It could be expected to end up in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, which showcases a number of past winning cars, dating to the inaugural 1911 race. The most recent former winner on display is the rebuilt Dallara-Honda that Dan Wheldon won with in 2011.

"Ryan Hunter-Reay's car would always have a place of honor in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum," said Donald Davidson, the facility's historian, "assuming its owner wanted to display it here."

The car's new owner will not be its sponsor and is not entitled to any signs, naming rights or advertising space on the vehicle. But such requests probably could be accommodated — for the right price. Major sponsorships in IndyCar racing can run into many millions of dollars.