After what appeared to be a disastrous season, Ryan Hunter-Reay bounced out of the IndyCar Series cellar to nearly break into the top five of the championship standings.
The Andretti Autosport driver came into Sonoma 11th in the standings, but a runner-up finish and double points pushed Hunter-Reay up to sixth in the final championship results, moving ahead of Marco Andretti for best on the team.
Hunter-Reay’s wave of momentum started four races ago with a win in Iowa, then a seventh at Mid-Ohio, followed by another win last week at Pocono.
The 2012 IndyCar Series champion had more top 10 finishes in the last four races (4) than in his previous 12 starts (3).
“It was a good finish to the season, that’s for sure,” said Hunter-Reay. “We won two of the last four races – we finished second today, so it’s been a really good streak.
“Today we jumped a few spots in the championship… we finished sixth which is crazy coming from 11th in the championship this morning. It’s been a great run and it’s great that it ended on a high note like this headed into a busy off season.”
