Marshall Pruett | SpeedTV.com
Of all the things RHR’s been called, hearing his name followed by “IZOD IndyCar Series Champion” for the first time was a mix of surreal and sublime.
“This is unbelievable,” said Ryan Hunter-Reay as he experienced was appeared to be an out-of-body experience.
Of all the things he’s been called over the past 31 years, hearing his name followed by “IZOD IndyCar Series Champion” for the first time registered with a mix of surreal and sublime for the American.
After almost a decade of digging and clawing to get to where he stood posing with the Astor Cup Saturday night in Fontana, the southern California boy sat at the podium and shared his emotions with the assembled press.
“I can’t put it into words the feeling,” he said. “How hard I had to fight. How we had to fight tonight. How we had to fight at Baltimore. Just this whole thing has not set in yet. I’m still in almost fight mode. We just came back. We really earned this one.”
“For all the bad luck we had this year, to get it, it feels so good. It feels like we really earned this. We really worked for it. To get it done for Andretti Autosport, DHL, Sun Drop, Circle K, these folks have been behind me. This is a dream come true. This is what I’ve wanted since I was 6 years old. So it hasn’t all set in yet, but, my gosh, amazing.”
I asked the new IndyCar champ the same question I’ve been posing for years–why his racing was continuously filled with drama–and got the same answer…
“I don’t know…I don’t know,” he said. :I heard Will was close to hitting me too. Really close, huh? Yeah. Unbelievable. What a race though. I don’t know how it seemed to you guys, but, Geez, I was on the edge the entire time just trying to hold on to the car. You’re right, nothing can be easy. It was stressful down to the last bit. Then the red flag comes out and I have to sit there and think about it some more while we had a good rhythm going. It was just, man. Still the relief is coming off. I’m still just taking it all in.
“This is just amazing, you know. This is what racing is about, what sports are about. I’m going to let this one sit in for a second and really enjoy it.”
The partisan Fontana crowd, estimated at 25,000, freely chanted “USA, USA, USA” when Hunter-Reay emerged from his car after the race, and spoke to the meaning of being the first American to win the IndyCar title since 2006.
“It’s important, it’s important to me,” he said. “I’m very proud of my country. I always have been. I’ve always looked up to the American drivers when I first started this whole deal as a fan of the IndyCar Series, a genuine fan before I raced go karts I followed the American greats. That really appealed to me.
“Now here I am on the other side, and I see these kids that are looking up to us drivers. Man, it’s so cool being on the other side of it all. I mean, to do this against the Ganassis, and the Penskes, and the talent in the series as even Dario and Will and all these guys have said. I feel like I’m up against the best in the world. It’s just amazing to get it done. I’m running out of words to describe it.”
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