How Does An Indy 500 Champion Prep For The Big Race?

Andretti driver Ryan Hunter Reay on getting his face on the back wall of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum.
www.thedrive.com

How does a former Indy 500 champ prepare for the big race? Does having won make racing in the 500 easier? What’s it like to be a huge Indy fan and have your face on the hallowed back wall of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum? How do you learn car setup for one of the most important circuits in motorsports? I dunno, let’s ask.

Today on AFTER/DRIVE, we’re out of The Drive Garage, on assignment at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum with Ryan Hunter Reay, driver of the #28 DHL Honda IndyCar-Andretti Autosport entry. He’s not only the 2014 Indy 500 winner, but also a huge Indy fan, with deep knowledge of everything Indy, going back to the Brickyard’s early days. We’re looking at Indy cars from 1911 to last year’s car, and talking about racing technology development, driver strategy and anything else related to American open-wheel racing.

If you only watch one interview in advance of this year’s Indy 500, it should be this one. Of course, we’re biased.

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Mike Spinelli

VP of Content

A sucker for Ford-era Jaguar XJs and glitchy, early-90s BMW V12s, Mike was the founding editor of car culture site Jalopnik, and a former editor-in-chief of 0-60. He's also a co-host of the TV show /DRIVE on NBC Sports, which can be seen from time to time on NBCSN, usually after midnight.