Ryan Hunter-Reay and Kurt Busch will be teammates again Dec. 13-14 when they will represent the USA in the Race of Champions' Nations Cup at the Bushy Park Circuit in Barbados.
In May, Hunter-Reay won the 98th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race and Busch was voted the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year after a sixth-place finish. Both drove Andretti Autosport-prepared cars.
"I've raced for a lot of great sponsors in my career, but to race for my country, that's something pretty special," said Busch, 36, the 2004 NASCAR Cup champion who is 15th in the series standings heading into the Oct. 26 race at Martinsville, Va. "You look at the names of the people who've competed in the Race Of Champions, past and present, to be included on that list is a real honor. I'm excited to team up with Ryan again. He won the Indy 500 for our team, hopefully we can win this one for the United States."
Star drivers from multiple motorsports disciplines compete in head-to-head knockout races in identical cars on a serpentine racetrack to determine the Champion of Champions. In the Nations Cup, featured in the Race of Champions since 1999, both drivers representing their country compete head-to-head on the parallel track against other countries in their group. The four most successful teams progress to the knockout semifinals.
Hunter-Reay, who was named to the field last month, competed in the Race of Champions in 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand, following his Verizon IndyCar Series championship. He is the most successful American driver currently in open-wheel racing and the only driver to have won in the Verizon IndyCar Series, CART, Champ Car, American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am.
“Experience really helps with the short amount of seat time in each of the different types of ROC race car," Hunter-Reay said. "When it’s time to head to Barbados for the race weekend I’ll be focused on winning. It’s an honor to represent America, INDYCAR and the Indy 500 in such a prestigious event.”
Others confirmed are Formula One driver Romain Grosjean, 24 Hours of Le Mans champion Tom Kristensen, Rallycross star Petter Solberg and five-time V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup.