MADISON, IL – After driving Arrow McLaren’s fourth entry in the Indianapolis 500, Ryan Hunter-Reay is remaining with the team in a full-time role. Hunter-Reay will become Arrow McLaren’s sporting director, the team announced Saturday.
Hunter-Reay will work under team principal Tony Kanaan, with whom he was teammates at Andretti Global (then Andretti Autosport) in 2010. Kanaan was Arrow McLaren’s sporting director in 2024 before McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown promoted him to team principal in 2025. Hunter-Reay, the 2012 IndyCar champion and 2014 Indy 500 champion, will “serve as the critical bridge between competition, engineering, the driver lineup and commercial efforts.”
“I am incredibly honored and excited to join Arrow McLaren as sporting director,” Hunter-Reay said in a news release. “After 23 years competing at the highest level of American open wheel racing, I’m eager to bring my experience, passion and insight to contribute pushing this ambitious team forward, and I’d like to thank Zak, Tony Kanaan and Arrow McLaren board members for this opportunity.
“Arrow McLaren has shown tremendous potential and possesses all the ingredients necessary to continue fighting for championships and Indy 500 wins as well as the coveted Triple Crown that McLaren Racing is aiming to achieve once again. Together with the talented drivers, engineers and crew, I will work relentlessly to help elevate our performance and deliver the results this iconic team, its fans and partners deserve.”
Hunter-Reay finished 32nd in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after losing control in Turn 2 of Lap 18 in a crash that also took Katherine Legge out of the race. He has been at every IndyCar race this year, assisting Arrow McLaren using his 24 years of IndyCar experience. Although he’s remaining with the team, Hunter-Reay and Arrow McLaren have not decided what they’re doing with the team’s fourth entry for the 2027 Indy 500.
“We think the same,” Kannan told IndyStar about him and Hunter-Reay before the Indy 500. “We share the same goals and qualities and defects. We speak the same language, and it became a lot easier for me to just default to him.”
Arrow McLaren is in search of its first IndyCar championship and Indy 500 win since McLaren Racing bought a stake in the team in 2020 and became a majority owner in 2021. McLaren Racing secured full ownership in 2024, and the team moved into the new McLaren Racing Center — formerly Andretti Global’s home — in northwest Indianapolis earlier this year.
Now, Hunter-Reay will assist Kanaan and Brown in managing Arrow McLaren’s three-driver lineup of Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel. Lundgaard and Siegel are in the final year of their contracts, and Kanaan previously stated that Siegel — who’s currently 20th in the IndyCar championship — “needs to finish in the top 10.”
The IndyCar season continues Sunday with the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Sunday night. When the green flag waves for that race, Hunter-Reay will be an official, full-time member of Arrow McLaren.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Ryan Hunter-Reay remains with Arrow McLaren as sporting director, Indy 500 future unknown
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
