Ryan Hunter-Reay has signed a multi-year contact extension to his contract with Andretti Autosport, with the team confirming the deal ahead of this weekend's IZOD
IndyCar Series season finale at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
A team source revealed to
The Associated Press on Friday that the deal was done, and on Saturday the team issued a statement making the two-year extension to Hunter-Reay's official.
"We are happy to have Ryan back with us for the 2013 and 2014
IndyCar seasons," said the team's president, chairman and chief executive officer Michael Andretti. "He is a tough competitor and has become an important part of our team."
Hunter-Reay has been with the team since 2010 and finished in seventh place in the championship for two consecutive seasons, but this year goes into the final race as the only man who can prevent Team Penske's Will Power from clinching the 2012 title.
"Today we are focused on leaving Fontana tonight with a championship," Hunter-Reay said. "I'm happy to be able to enjoy the off season knowing what the next two years hold."
It had been rumoured over the past few weeks that Roger Penske, the owner of Team Penske, had been making a serious effort to sign the 31-year-old Texas-born driver to his own squad, but in the end Hunter-Reay opted to stay where he felt he belonged.
"I have a lot of deep rooted relationships with the team and the team sponsors and I'm looking forward to continuing and further developing those relationships," he said. "I'm looking forward to my return with Andretti Autosport and hope to have the opportunity to speak more on it soon."
Hunter-Reay's career in the series has been up-and down over the years, and before he moved to Andretti after stints at Rahal Letterman Lanigan in 2008 and AJ Foyt and the now-defunct Vision Racing in 2009 it looked as though Hunter-Reay was adrift and might not get a proper chance of achieving success in IndyCar.
Even once he moved to Andretti Autosport it has not been all plain sailing: the team had a slump in 2011 which included the ignominious failure of the squad to qualify Hunter-Reay onto the grid of the 2011
Indianapolis 500. Ultimately, in order to appease team sponsors, Andretti bought Hunter-Reay a seat with AJ Foyt Racing at the expense of Bruno Junquiera who had already managed to qualify the car for the race. It was an embarrassing low point for all concerned.