Ryan Hunter-Reay at Vision for 2009
Vision racing says it’s a done deal even though the paperwork has not yet been signed to have Ryan Hunter-Reay drive a second Vision car for the 2009 season. Ryan took The Indy 500 rookie of the year honors last season as well as winning the race at Watkins Glen. He spent the past few months talking to teams such as Vision Racing, KV Racing Technologies, HVM, and Dale Coyne Racing for a potential ride. HVM seemed like the team that he would run with after his private test at Sebring with them.
Vision Racing is now fielding two American drivers in 2009 with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ed Carpenter.
If Ryan remained without a ride for this season, he along with the IndyCar Series would be placed in a bad situation. IZOD had already filmed their commercials for the 2009 season and had already made billboard and magazine advertisment featuring Ryan Hunter-Reay. Their investment and marketing plans for this year would have been lost. Ryan not finding a ride could have pushed away potential sponsors that were looking into getting involved with the IndyCar Series. Mike Kelly, executive vice president of marketing for Philips-Van Heusen Corporation stated:
It was very important to get him a full-time ride. I can’t underscore that enough. Personally, I like Ryan a lot. He is a winner and he is good for the sport and the brand. From a business point of view we made him the center of our 2009 campaign. We wanted to bring the drivers to the forefront and celebrate the drivers and what they represent. He represented all the right stuff and we connected the brand to him and he is our representative in the campaign, the commercial, print and other areas.
The addition of Ryan Hunter-Reay to Vision Racing brings the car count for the opening race on the Streets of St. Petersburg up to 20 cars.
You can watch the season opener on the streets of St Petersburg Sunday April 5th on Versus Network starting at 2 p.m. ET.
Update:
Ryan Hunter-Reay’s St Petersburg car,
March 31st, 2009 at 01:33
Glad to see Hunter-Reay got his ride back. I was starting to worry that a driver with his talent would not be able to perform this year.
March 31st, 2009 at 13:50
Hopefully his car doesn’t look anything like the one in that commercial, that car was tacky and the colors didnt go to well. Definately a good move for the sport and Tony George, who has been criticized for only running one entry in ’09.
March 31st, 2009 at 17:22
If you look at the car carefully, You will see the EPIC logo on the car. That commercial was shot before Epic pulled sponsorhsip from Rahal Letterman Racing. I think the car will look similiar to what the Vision cars looked liked the past few seasons. As soon as I get a glimpse I will pass it on.