Ryan Hunter-Reay says he had a “complete nightmare” at Long Beach after the Andretti IndyCar driver was caught up in three separate incidents and then crashed late on.
Hunter-Reay was forced into a front wing change when he clipped the rear of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon after starting seventh, although he was able to pit under a caution caused by Graham Rahal and Simon Pagenaud’s contact and switched to a three-stop strategy.
But at half distance Hunter-Reay’s car became loose and he was hit by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato, causing the Andretti driver to pick up a puncture.
After falling to the back once again, Hunter-Reay got held up after Sebastien Bourdais crashed after Jordan King’s failed pass on James Hinchliffe.
He then crashed following the final restart, just four laps from the end.
“For us, it was a complete nightmare of a day,” said Hunter-Reay, whose team-mate Alexander Rossi won the race.
“We had a damaged front wing on the start, came in for a wing change, went to the back and made our way up to fifth place.
“Then, I think Sato hit my right rear with his wing, we got a puncture and had to come in, and we went to the back.
“We came back through, again, to 11th and then Bourdais got spun around in the hairpin. I got stuck in that, and, again, [dropped] to the back.”
Explaining his accident, Hunter-Reay said the rear of his car had snapped away after he accelerated.
He added the crash made his weekend one to forget.
“On the last restart, I was just aggressive and put the power down,” he said.
“The back end stepped out and smacked the wall; we broke the left rear suspension.
“It was a weekend to forget. The potential was there and that makes it sting even more.”