Ryan Hunter-Reay, John Green & David Letterman Cross Paths in NYC
Life isn’t slowing down yet for newly crowned Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, and on Monday, he met up with a guy who knows the feeling: hyperpopular novelist John Green. They found themselves in Midtown Manhattan a few blocks away from each other last night, when The Fault in Our Stars premiered at the Ziegfeld Theater and Hunter-Reay was in the neighborhood to film that evening’s episode of The Late Show with David Letterman. The two have more in common than their Indiana connection: Hunter-Reay advocates for cancer research (his fundraiser over race weekend raised money for several foundations), and, of course, Green’s story centers on cancer patients. “This movie means a lot to me because of the story,” Hunter-Reay says. “It looks like a lot of eyes are going to be on the screen, and that’s good news for the fight against cancer.”
Off-camera at the Ed Sullivan Theater, Andretti Racing’s Hunter-Reay gifted rival IndyCar team owner Letterman with his winning car’s turbocharger. Ouch. Then Letterman asked the new champ why he didn’t bring home the Borg-Warner Trophy when he drove for Rahal Letterman Racing in 2007 and 2008. Double ouch. But Hunter-Reay reminded him that he did deliver the Rookie of the Year award for the host’s team, and the two man-hugged it out.
For his part, Green, an IndyCar fan and pretty much the center of the pop-culture universe right now, seemed plenty excited to meet the racecar driver even after hobnobbing with celebrities all day:
On the #tfios blue carpet with my best friend @wategi and 2014 Indy 500 winner @RyanHunterReay pic.twitter.com/HUZ4crZ0Kg
— John Green (@realjohngreen) June 2, 2014
