2012 Trackside - IZOD IndyCar Series Media Site - IndyCar.com

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."
Marshall Pruett – Speed.com
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What we saw Saturday night was Indy car racing at its jaw-dropping best – a wild west show with 30 lead
changes, non-stop passing, one game-changing accident, a spirited charge to the title, an impressive
victory for a little guy and the kind of drama that can’t be scripted.
If you didn’t like the MAVTV 500, then you probably need to find another sport to watch.
It was Ryan Hunter-Reay delivering under the kind of pressure that defines a champion and it was Will
Power gutted by another mistake and denied No. 1 for a third straight year.
Robin Miller – Speed.com
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On this night, in the series finale, there was a nerve-wracking finish after points leader Will Power of
Australia crushed his car on the wall early in the race, leaving the championship to American Ryan
Hunter-Reay – if he could only finish in fifth place.
Fifth, you say? How about fourth for Hunter-Reay, while fellow American Ed Carpenter took the
checkered flag.
All in all, an exciting show, and never mind big crowd-little crowd dynamic. It would be a simple shame
if the IndyCar Series doesn’t find its way back here, sooner rather than later.
Gregg Patton – Riverside Press-Enterprise
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