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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: KOHLER GRAND PRIX

June 23, 2018

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

THE MODERATOR: Joined now by Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving the No. 28 DHL Honda for Andretti Autosport, who will be starting third in tomorrow's Kohler Grand Prix. Ryan, you've mentioned that you're hoping to capitalize on the momentum that you and the team seem to be gathering over the past few races. With this qualifying position, do you feel like you've put yourself in a pretty good place tomorrow?

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, it was a good start to the weekend, I think. We weren't here for the test last week, so we've been a little bit behind the 8-ball trying to figure out what this car needs here at Road America. But really thankful that the team has given me some good setup changes and it's given me what I needed to rally maximize the potential of the car.

Just came up a little short there. All of a sudden Josef and Will popped up in the top two out of nowhere. I thought I had a lap that was going to be close enough for pole at the end, and just had a bit of a bobble through 12, just a little bit light out there on the used reds, and just came up a bit short, but we can definitely work on it from third, and it's going to be interesting tomorrow with no warmup.

THE MODERATOR: Do you feel any more comfortable knowing that you're starting next to a teammate? I know this is not new, nothing that hasn't happened before, but especially at a track like this?

RYAN HUNTER-REAY: I think that everybody up there is aggressive. Everybody is going to be super aggressive, and if I've learned one thing over my career, it's you can't plan a start. You just kind of have to go with it and go on your instincts as things kind of develop in front of you. Yeah, it's good to start next to Alex, somebody who hopefully won't cross across your nose and take your wing off or something like that. Meanwhile, we've got a bunch of other guys who are racing in the championship up there, so it should be pretty interesting, that's for sure.

Q. Because on the long straights you have a lot of time to rest your arms, but yet you're going into the turns really hard, so does that make it physically strenuous here?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, I was talking to somebody else about this today. It's definitely physical. You would think this place would be nice and easy; you get down the straights, you can rest and all that stuff, and it ends up -- as hectic of a lap as it is around here, it ends up feeling like a much smaller track because you're always turning, you're always doing something, and it's definitely -- it's a hair-on-fire type of feel around here.

Q. We've got qualifying done, tomorrow you're dealing with tires and fuel and whatnot. What's tomorrow going to be like? What are the factors that are going to affect who's fast and who's not?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: Yeah, that's a good question. I think it'll be interesting to see downforce levels. Tire degradation is going to be a factor, so you're going to have guys that maybe trim quite a bit thinking that they're going to keep guys behind them on the straights, and then you have guys that run downforce thinking it might be better on older tires, so I think that'll be the story line. Unfortunately it's not stickered on the side of everybody's car what downforce they're running, so it's hard to figure out who's who and what's what. But that'll be the key to the day, whoever figures that compromise out and gets through a full stint without as bad a degradation as some others. That'll be critical.

Q. As far as getting a tow is concerned, is it possible to pass up the front straight without hitting the Push-to-Pass?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: I don't think so because I think if you're coming up behind somebody and you're that close, you're into their gearbox, they're going to be hitting it defensively. I think that's what's going to happen for sure. That's what usually happens. I don't see it happening. Yeah, I don't see that happening. I think you're going to have to use it to get around somebody.

Q. And have you worked out what the relative fuel consumption situation is between Honda and Chevy?
RYAN HUNTER-REAY: No, I don't even know. I'm not sure at all. So I think you're going to have to use it to get by no matter what. It's going to get pretty messy, I think, second half of the run on tires.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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