DHL driver Ryan Hunter-Reay captured his fifth career pole position today, and third of the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series season, when he turned a lap time of 1:05.35 during the three-stage qualifying session at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. His time just missed the standing track record (held in a tie by Dario Franchitti and Gil de Ferran); Hunter-Reay’s time was two-hundreths of a second shy.
On his strategy in qualifying
“It took a lot of guts to do that strategy there. We put ourselves at risk there in that middle session to go on used reds against a field this competitive, but the risk paid off. That was definitely the most nerve-wracking part of that session, going out on used reds.”
On if the car has been good all week or if they made a lot of changes from testing
“We’ve been working on it steadily, but the track conditions, you know it’s been raining and then the track comes back, and then it rains overnight, so it’s been a big engineering exercise trying to stay on top of the grip of the track, but as always these guys have done a great job. Hopefully we can put the weekend together and have a good one here. I love Mid-Ohio, and it’s great to have the No. 1 DHL Chevy on top.”
On wanting to finally get a win here
“Absolutely, that’s the one thing I’m missing. I’ve finished on podium here a bunch, started on the front row before but never had the chance to win this race, I’ve never won this race. We need to bring it home, for the championship too. It’s going to be a long, hard race tomorrow going up against the Ganassi, Penske boys and my teammates as well.”
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