WEST ALLIS, Wis. ? No doubt about this one. Ryan Hunter-Reay was the class of the field at the Milwaukee Mile.

Hunter-Reay, who took a surprise victory last year on the road course in Surfers Paradise, Australia, with the help of a hailstorm and a well-timed pit stop, needed no acts of nature or lucky breaks Saturday night in the Road Runner 250.

The 23-year-old American started from the pole and led every lap, the first Champ Car World Series driver to do that on an oval track since Bobby Rahal won a 200-lapper at Phoenix in 1992.

The youngster lapped everyone else in the 18-car field except Patrick Carpentier and 2003 Milwaukee winner Michel Jourdain Jr., who never really challenged the leader after the early laps.

It apparently looked tougher from the cockpit of Hunter-Reay’s Herdez Competition Lola than from the grandstands.

“It was such a battle with the traffic,” Hunter-Reay said. “You couldn’t relax for a second. There were some squirrelly cars out there, and you just had to keep it all together and stay sharp all the time.”