IZOD IndyCar Series title contender Ryan Hunter-Reay is set to face a 10-spot grid penalty for changing engines after he crashed in Wednesday’s testing at Auto Club Speedway, site of Saturday night’s season finale.
The American driver, who sits 17 points back of leader Will Power going into the MAV TV 500 (Sat., 7:30 pm ET on NBC Sports Network), was on a early qualifying run when he lost control of his No. 28 DHL/Sun Drop Chevrolet in Turn 2 and tagged the wall.
According to the Associated Press, the Andretti Autosport crew went ahead with installing a new Bowtie powerplant for Hunter-Reay, who was uninjured in the incident. The good news for him is that qualifying doesn’t mean as much at ACS’ wide and fast two-mile oval as it does on other tracks in the IndyCar circuit.
Meanwhile, Power has told the AP’s Jenna Fryer that his Team Penske crew is also planning to swap engines on his No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet in advance of Saturday’s battle for the championship.
