Hunter-Reay was a full-time driver in the IndyCar Series until he lost his DHL-backed Andretti Autosport drive to Romain Grosjean last year.
He returned to the series at Indy last month, finishing 11th in a one-off start for Dreyer and Reinbold. He will drive ECR’s Chevrolet-powered #20 entry in place of Daly, whose departure from the team was announced yesterday, from the Road America race on 16 June.
“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” said Hunter-Reay. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realise its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help.
“Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in Bitnile.com.”
The 42-year-old Texan, who now resides in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, has 18 career IndyCar wins to his name, including the 2014 Indianapolis 500 and a championship in 2012.
“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well,” he said. “It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead.
“The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing Bitnile.com, we will make progress.
“I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”
Team owner Ed Carpenter added: “We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team.
“We have worked together in the past as team-mates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test.
“I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”
