Ryan Hunter-Reay to work double duty at Long Beach

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Ryan Hunter-Reay will be tackling a rare double at Long Beach the weekend of April 16-17. Before competing in his regular ride in Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long BeachIndyCar race, he will join Visit Florida Racing to tackle Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach.

The 2012 Indianapolis 500 winner will co-drive with Marc Goossens in the No. 90 Visit Florida Corvette DP. He will be filling in for Ryan Dalziel, who has his lone schedule conflict of the season as he also competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Hunter-Reay drives the No. 28 DHL Honda for Andretti Autosport in Verizon IndyCar Series competition, winning for that team at Long Beach in 2010.

“It’s a new challenge," Hunter-Reay said of doing double duty. “I love mixing things up, and hopefully it will benefit me in both cars."

The South Floridian mixed things up at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2009, when he finished 11th with Scott Tucker in the DP class of a Grand-AM race on the 2.3-mile road course, and then placed 13th for A.J. Foyt on the venue’s 1.5-mile oval. Hunter-Reay planned double duty at Long Beach in 2010, but the Level 5 Motorsports prototype qualified but did not start. Hunter-Reay then went on to win the IndyCar race.

Hunter-Reay opened the 2016 WeatherTech Championship season by placing third in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and then finished fifth in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida.

“We didn’t quite have the pace for the two Action Express cars at Sebring — a little lack of balance — but I had a good time in the car before the cooling system went south," Hunter-Reay said. “We know what we need to do heading into Long Beach — hopefully that will be the race where we break through."

By IMSA Wire Service