SEARS POINT, Calif. -- Ryan Hunter-Reay left the last Verizon IndyCar Series race at Watkins Glen International on Sept. 4 having just learned that his title sponsor DHL was on the brink of signing a contract extension through the 2020 season with Andretti Autosport. It was great news.
Since then:
• He and his wife Beccy welcomed a third child to their Florida home, a healthy baby boy named Rhodes, on Wednesday.
• Later the same day, Beccy's father, Bob Gordon, and his wife perished in what Orange County (Calif.) police are calling a murder-suicide.
• Friday was Beccy's birthday. That's the same day Ryan went back to work, stepping into his No. 28 DHL Honda Indy car across the country at Sonoma Raceway to practice for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.
• Sunday afternoon, Hunter-Reay and the Andretti Autosport team signed the contract extension and made the news public.
Few people have experienced the wide spectrum of emotions that have affected Hunter-Reay over the past few days, yet once strapped into his bright yellow race car at Sonoma, he was at his level-headed best.
In a season when most Honda cars have struggled for qualifying speed on road courses, Hunter-Reay advanced to the Firestone Fast Six for only the third time this year.
While he understandably misses his wife and family, being in the company of his extended work family has brought the driver comfort at a difficult time.
"Absolutely," Hunter-Reay said Sunday, speaking to a small group of reporters after the media conference to announce his contract extension.
"Especially to be surrounded by a group of people I work so well with. They feel like family; they're my friends. I know this is not about me, but being here is what everyone wanted and it has been a great bit of relief.
"Nothing can really prepare you for any of it, but on the professional side, things are going in the right direction and today's announcement is great news," he added. "I'm very happy about this and obviously it's been a lot of highs and some lows. It's just been a wild ride for the past week and a half."
Hunter-Reay has been though his share of professional stress and strife. After winning an Indy car race as a rookie in 2003 in the Champ Car World Series, he struggled to maintain a foothold in the sport over the next few years.
He caught a break when Rahal Letterman Racing signed him in mid-2007, but even though he won a race, that ride fell through when the sponsor pulled out of racing and he faced several winters of uncertainty.
Michael Andretti scraped together enough backing to sign Hunter-Reay to a three-race deal at the start of 2011, and once again, RHR came through by posting a win at Long Beach in his third start. The Andretti/Hunter-Reay combination has been together ever since, with DHL signing on as title sponsor in 2012.
Now the most experienced American driver in the IndyCar Series is contracted for three years as opposed to three races.
"I was on the brink there in 2006-07," Hunter-Reay admitted. "I was maybe a month or two away from going and doing something else with my life when Bobby Rahal gave me the chance at Rahal Letterman. Every time I got in the car I knew I had to prove myself immediately because it wasn't going to be a two-year deal where I could just take my time to develop.
"That fighting mentality was instilled at that time, when I was given opportunities and not a lot of time to prove myself."
Beccy was a big part of Ryan's support network in those tough times, and now the couple are established in the fabric of the IndyCar Series. Having grown up in a racing family (Bob Gordon was a well-known off-road racer, and brother Robby is a former Indy car and NASCAR star), she understands why it was so important for Ryan to get back into his work environment this weekend.
That didn't make it any easier for Ryan.
"Beccy is doing amazing," Ryan said. "She's strong, and focusing on a newborn baby has been a blessing at this time. It's amazing how strong she is, how strong Robby has been, and her sisters Robyn and Hailey. It's blown me away because this is nothing you can prepare for. This isn't as simple as a life passing."
Team owner Michael Andretti had no doubt that Hunter-Reay would be in the car this weekend. As a former driver, Michael knows that being in the car is the best sanctuary during emotional times for a racer.
Michael famously continued competing in the 1992 Indianapolis 500 after his father Mario and brother Jeff were both hospitalized with significant leg injuries from crashes.
"He's a professional," Andretti said. "He even made the comment that he's so happy to be here at the racetrack and getting back in the car because he's able to just focus on that. That's the best medicine. I know how he feels; I've been there where I had to focus when there were outside things. It was always good to get in and just do your job and I know that's the way it is with him.
"I truly believe he's one of the best and it's very important to have a talent like him on your team," Andretti added. "Now he's got stability as well and that's huge. It's big for him, it's big for us, it's big for the team itself."
Now in the most secure position of his career, it's likely that the best is yet to come for Hunter-Reay. He's won 16 races and the 2012 championship, making him the most successful American driver currently competing in the IndyCar Series, and at age 35, he's just hitting his prime.
He's the lead driver for Honda's flagship Indy car team, putting him in prime position to capitalize if the manufacturer can gain the upper hand over its competition from Chevrolet.
And even though he has been put through a world of worry in the last week, the next four years look pretty much care-free.
"To not stress about a contract, I can't tell you how beneficial it is to the racing side," Hunter-Reay said. "You don't have to think about the pressure involved in that. You can just go out there and put everything on the line and you know that if you over step the edge or if you try to make that pass and it doesn't work out, it's not going to blow back on you.
"I know when we get this program sorted, we're going to contend for championships."