The migrant racing career of Ryan Hunter-Reay has already taken more twists and turns than a blind man trying to navigate the Long Beach Grand Prix circuit.

Three different teams in the Champ Car World Series, with a pair of wins; a Rookie of the Year award and a race win (Watkins Glen) in the Indy Racing League with Rahal Letterman Racing, followed by a split season last year with Vision Racing and A.J. Foyt Racing.

IZOD factory backing helped Hunter-Reay move to Andretti Autosport over the winter. After a long and sometimes strange trip, he seems to have found a permanent home, in the car and out. Or should it be he hopes to have found a new home? Permanence in racing is about as long lasting as sponsor dollars keep hitting the direct deposit at the bank.

"It's been excellent - we've been on the podium half the time we've worked together and we've already won a race," Hunter-Reay said after Friday's drivers meeting, referring to his emotional victory at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

The 29-year old Florida native is one of a select group of drivers to have won on an oval, road and street course at the elite level of American open wheel racing and is the only active American driver to have done so. Adding an Indy 500 victory would probably raise his status from star to the superstar level.

After a sixth-place finish in his 2008 Indy 500 debut earned him Rookie of the Year honors, Hunter-Reay ran the 2009 race with Vision before replacing the injured Vitor Meira with Foyt. The game plan this time around is to be aggressively patient, if there is such a beast when the red mist triggered by the green flag starts flowing.

"We're going to just go out there and try to be aggressive, but we're going to let it come to us," Hunter-Reay said. "We're right in the middle of the pack so it'll be interesting to see where we are halfway through (the race). We've gotten great (pit) stops so far and the team has given me great race cars."

While Hunter-Reay is content to focus on the big race, it's hard to believe that the spectre of an uncertain future still does not tap him on the shoulder from time to time. The deal with Andretti technically runs through Texas, and despite numerous rumors of a contract extension to finish out the season, nothing has been confirmed.

Andretti has already announced plans to run A1GP champ and Formula 1 test driver Adam Carroll in select races, but no one seems willing to define whether it will be as Hunter-Reay's teammate or his replacement. Winning on Sunday would go a long way toward cementing a future with the team, as it is difficult to imagine IZOD wanting to see their poster driver rideless again, but stranger things have happened in the topsy-turvy world of big money racing.

"It's going to be a heck of a race all the way down to the finish. It's the best race in the world, it's going to be tight."

At this point, it's hard to say whether Hunter-Reay was referring to the upcoming Indy 500, or perhaps alluding to his career trajectory. Some strange trips never end.

Our long national nightmare is over. At last, there is an official contract announcement from Danica Patrick!

Danica Patrick confirmed a sponsor deal to drive an IndyCar for the next three years on Monday -- and her plans to drive a part-time schedule for JR Motorsports in NASCAR's Nationwide Series in 2010 remain on track as well, a source close to Patrick said.

Patrick unveiled the GoDaddy.com-sponsored Indy car she will drive for Andretti Autosport on Monday in a Good Morning America appearance. The company said in a statement that the deal to drive the car is through 2012.

That, according to the source, had to take place before she could finalize any plans in NASCAR.

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Jay Busbee of From the Marbles calls this news "underwhelming". Sorry, N-word fans. The rest of you can check out her new neon green ride.

A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet and have all those nasty thorns, and with that comes news of the financial rearrangement of the racing entity formerly known as "Andretti Green Racing". The departures of investment partners not named "Michael Andretti" have been finalized, and now what remains shall be henceforth known as (drum roll, please...)

The former shareholders of Andretti Green Racing have completed a transaction that has resulted in the restructuring and rebranding of the Indianapolis-based company, effective immediately.

The racing team, which boasts three IZOD IndyCar Series championships, two Firestone Indy Lights titles and two wins in the Indianapolis 500, is now solely owned by racing legend Michael Andretti and has been rebranded Andretti Autosport.

Andretti Autosport sounds rather regal and the logo looks very American, although I don't know if Michael has considered that now every contract announcement will be greeted with "(driver x) joins AA", which as many of you know relates to a certain support group for those who have imbibed too much. Not that such an association is really a big deal. I mean, does "AA" sound any more snicker-inducing than "TP" (Team Penske)? Roger Penske is certainly not bothered by such things.

At any rate, AA has much remaining to settle, as they currently have one driver officially signed (Tony Kanaan), one unofficially signed (Danica Patrick), one rumored to be signed (Ryan Hunter-Reay) and one presumed to be signed (Marco Andretti).

For the curious, here is an unofficial list of rejected names for AA:
- Three Men and a Little Lady
- (If Only We Were Just A Little Bit Faster At) Racing
- Bunnies & Rainbows Motorsports
- The White Collar Comedy Tour
- Michael Michael Motorcycle
- The Anthony Fedele Motor Militia
- Team Meeting