Ryan Hunter Reay

When rain began to fall as forecast in Sunday's Grand Prix of Baltimore, Ryan Hunter-Reay's car owner Michael Andretti had a game plan. Andretti's bold decision to stick with the treadless slicks used on a dry track - combined with perhaps an even bolder move by Hunter-Reay to seize the lead on a restart with five laps to go - allowed the driver to pick up his fourth IZOD IndyCar Series victory of the season and keep alive his hopes for a series...

The Grand Prix of Baltimore was IndyCar points leader Will Power's chance to wrap up his first title on a street course, the kind of race track that is his forte. He couldn't do it. Now he has to go to Fontana, Calif., to a 500-mile race on an oval. The mere thought of it is enough to make Michael Andretti, who owns the car driven by Power's main foe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, just a little bit cocky. "We're going to win this thing," Andretti said as soon as Sunday's Grand Prix was over and his driver, Hunter-Reay, had won the Baltimore race and closed within 17 points of Power.

[ Editor's note: This is IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay's second blog for The Baltimore Sun. It was written before he won the pole for Sunday's race in Edmonton. To see his introductory post, click here. ]   Welcome back, everyone. It's been a great run lately, three consecutive wins and going for four this weekend in Edmonton. I think the reason behind it is that our team is reaching its potential, to be honest. Early in the season, we knew we were a threat to win races, but we just didn't quite get it done.

Will Power was widely considered to be nearly untouchable coming into in the Grand Prix of Baltimore. He had won the inaugural event last year, was on the brink of clinching this year's IndyCar Series title and, after sitting on the pole for Sunday's race, was leading 18 laps into the 75-lap race. But as three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti said about Power on the eve of the event, "I think we've proved the last two years he's beatable. " Ryan Hunter-Reay showed it Sunday, as did the four others who finished ahead of Power on the rain-slicked course.

Welcome to my first blog for The Baltimore Sun. I'll be writing regularly leading up to the Grand Prix of Baltimore in September, and I'm excited to be able to share my IndyCar experiences with you. First, a quick introduction. I'm Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Andretti Autosport Chevrolet/Dallara. I'm from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and I'm a down-to-earth guy who grew up dreaming about IndyCar racing. I've idolized the American heroes of open-wheel racing since I was a kid. Guys like Michael Andretti, Rick Mears and Bobby Rahal were my heroes. Now Michael is my team owner, I drove for Bobby for two years, and I see Rick at every race. Racing is my passion in life, and I'm fortunate to be living the American dream.

The Grand Prix of Baltimore was IndyCar points leader Will Power's chance to wrap up his first title on a street course, the kind of race track that is his forte. He couldn't do it. Now he has to go to Fontana, Calif., to a 500-mile race on an oval. The mere thought of it is enough to make Michael Andretti, who owns the car driven by Power's main foe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, just a little bit cocky. "We're going to win this thing," Andretti said as soon as Sunday's Grand Prix was over and his driver, Hunter-Reay, had won the Baltimore race and closed within 17 points of Power.

Baltimore Racing Development and the IZOD IndyCar Series will hold a press conference and luncheon Wednesday to announce final plans for the Baltimore Grand Prix to be run around the Inner Harbor in August 2011. Gov. Martin O'Malley, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Jay Davidson, president of Baltimore Racing Development, and IndyCar officials will be on hand to make the announcement. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard announced in May that the Baltimore race will be on the schedule next year.

Everyone knows there are major differences between 17-year-old race car drivers and 30-something race car drivers. But it couldn't be better illustrated than the activity of Star Mazda driver Zach Veach Wednesday and IndyCar drivers Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who are in the midst of a championship fight during this Grand Prix of Baltimore weekend. Wednesday afternoon, Power, 31, spent his time doing media interviews at a luncheon in downtown Baltimore, while Hunter-Reay, who will be 32 in December, also took the opportunity to take a nap before getting ready for a sponsor activity Wednesday evening.

IndyCar drivers found a number of flaws during Thursday afternoon's track walk, their first up-close-and-personal look at the course for this weekend's inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix. The drivers brought up varying concerns, but nearly all agreed to take a wait-and-see approach. Graham Rahal noticed there is a lot of work still being done, and he worried the late paving of the train tracks near pit road by the B&O Warehouse might not set right overnight. He also didn't like the chicane - an an artificial feature creating extra turns - around the train tracks on Pratt Street.

LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Will Power, feeling a little under the weather from a cold that has been traveling through members of the Penske Team this weekend, put his foot down Friday afternoon to let Ganassi driver Scott Dixon know someone else can find his way around the 2.258-mile road course. Dixon -- who has won three of the last five IZOD IndyCar races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and sat on the pole for last year's race -- had to settle for second-fastest in the day's last practice session.

Rain tires are meant for wet racetracks. Slick tires drive best on a dry course. It doesn't take a Firestone engineer to figure that out. What had Ryan Hunter-Reay muttering a prayer to Mother Nature early in Sunday's IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Baltimore, though, was the fact that only one tire type is equipped to safely handle both surfaces. And they weren't the ones zipping his Andretti Autosport car around a wet Baltimore course at nearly 90 mph. "These cars are very stiffly sprung and they're 700 horsepower, and to put that down on a city street when it's wet is one of the tougher things in racing, I think," Hunter-Reay said minutes after a controversial first-place finish.

When rain began to fall as forecast in Sunday's Grand Prix of Baltimore, Ryan Hunter-Reay's car owner Michael Andretti had a game plan. Andretti's bold decision to stick with the treadless slicks used on a dry track - combined with perhaps an even bolder move by Hunter-Reay to seize the lead on a restart with five laps to go - allowed the driver to pick up his fourth IZOD IndyCar Series victory of the season and keep alive his hopes for a series...

Ryan Hunter-Reay won the second Grand Prix of Baltimore, a sloppy race full of fits and starts run before a diminished crowd. Organizers, though, came away convinced that this year's hastily planned event proved an IndyCar race can work downtown. "This is a 90-day miracle," said J.P. Grant , the local financier who swept in three months ago to take over the race following the collapse of two previous organizers. "Our goal was to put on a race we could handle ourselves. " IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard praised Grant's work and said he was pleased with the crowd and quality of the race, despite scattered showers that helped result in nine caution flags and a number of restarts on the track.

IndyCar driver Will Power teased his competition in  Grand Prix of Baltimore practice Saturday morning and worried himself a little bit, too, as he was just 15 th fastest during Grand Prix of Baltimore practice Saturday morning on the track as drivers worked to familiarize themselves with overnight track changes. with the chicane that had been installed overnight on Pratt St. But when qualifying came in the afternoon, Power said he was inspired, “I really wanted the pole,” he said, and demonstrated how much, stepping on the gas and repeating as the pole sitter for the second edition of the race that will run over 2.04 miles of the city's downtown streets.

Team Penske driver Will Power is still a little disappointed about not winning the Grand Prix of Sonoma last weekend, but his energy level picks up when he hears the magic word. Baltimore. "That [Baltimore] race, it was like a Formula One race," he said, his blue eyes wide open. "You know we worried about coming here, a first-time event. But the crowd was awesome. It was a party atmosphere in the paddock and everyone left saying, 'Why didn't we come here years ago?' "For me, being on that podium after we won, with all the people - it was the best ceremony I've had in my career.

Everyone knows there are major differences between 17-year-old race car drivers and 30-something race car drivers. But it couldn't be better illustrated than the activity of Star Mazda driver Zach Veach Wednesday and IndyCar drivers Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who are in the midst of a championship fight during this Grand Prix of Baltimore weekend. Wednesday afternoon, Power, 31, spent his time doing media interviews at a luncheon in downtown Baltimore, while Hunter-Reay, who will be 32 in December, also took the opportunity to take a nap before getting ready for a sponsor activity Wednesday evening.

Few IndyCar drivers are more reserved and soft-spoken than Mike Conway, a 27-year-old Englishman who prefers to let his driving do the talking. His skill spoke loud and clear Sunday as Conway, rebounding from serious injuries suffered in a horrific crash at last year's Indianapolis 500, won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach — his first victory in the Izod IndyCar Series in 26 starts. "The car was just on fire, really, at the end," said Conway, who drives for Andretti Autosport, the team co-owned by former racer Michael Andretti.

If there was one complaint about the Baltimore Grand Prix from IndyCar drivers Sunday, it was that the course could have used one more area where it was feasible to pass. The course was set up so that drivers had to be patient, and most of them were. But the one time a driver tried to press the issue, the result was chaos. On Lap 37, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Briscoe were coming around the tightest turn on the course — No. 3, which asked drivers to make a 180-degree change of direction on Light Street — when Briscoe tried to slip inside Hunter-Reay's car. Briscoe's front left tire clipped Hunter-Reay's right side, and both cars spun out, blocking nearly the entire track.

LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Will Power, feeling a little under the weather from a cold that has been traveling through members of the Penske Team this weekend, put his foot down Friday afternoon to let Ganassi driver Scott Dixon know someone else can find his way around the 2.258-mile road course. Dixon -- who has won three of the last five IZOD IndyCar races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and sat on the pole for last year's race -- had to settle for second-fastest in the day's last practice session.

[ Editor's note: This is IndyCar driver Ryan Hunter-Reay's second blog for The Baltimore Sun. It was written before he won the pole for Sunday's race in Edmonton. To see his introductory post, click here. ]   Welcome back, everyone. It's been a great run lately, three consecutive wins and going for four this weekend in Edmonton. I think the reason behind it is that our team is reaching its potential, to be honest. Early in the season, we knew we were a threat to win races, but we just didn't quite get it done.