"Unreal": When champ Ryan Hunter-Reay shed tears after winning IndyCar's Alabama GP

Drivers express their emotions by celebrating race victories in various ways, but Ryan Hunter-Reay's win at the 2013 Alabama Grand Prix saw the defending world champion teary-eyed. The 44-year-old had claimed the race was unreal as he battled the limits of tolerance and peak performance amid a warm day in Alabama.

The 2012 IndyCar champion had started his title defense on the back foot by finishing the season opener in St. Petersburg down in 18th. This escalated his rivals in trying to mount a championship bid and put pressure on the Andretti driver to perform.

However, Ryan Hunter-Reay bagged the pole position in the very next round in Alabama. While he looked set to take home the victory, the heat that day had pushed drivers to the edge.

On the other hand, this heat seemingly did not affect Scott Dixon, who leveled up his pace and started hounding the reigning champion. Witnessing this, Reay had to be on his A-game and kept back the New Zealander from overtaking him.

The 44-year-old then emerged as the winner in Alabama, and as soon as he took off his helmet, his emotions ran loose. The Andretti driver shed some tears while talking about the exhaustion he had been through to claim the victory, and said (via Motorsport.com):

"It was challenging out there today. We really worked for it. Unreal. I'm exhausted."

Since the 2021 season, the 44-year-old has left his full-time role within the premier open-wheel racing series in the United States.

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Ryan Hunter-Reay wants to get another Indy 500 victory under his belt

Ryan Hunter-Reay at the INDYCAR Indy 500 Open Testing - Source: Getty

Reay ran a brief stint at the end of 2023 with Ed Carpenter Racing but has evaded getting back on the grid full-time. Despite his reduced interaction with the IndyCar realm, his desire to run the Indy 500 is still there.

The 44-year-old won the 2014 Indy 500 and joined an elite club of drivers to do so. Though he has not returned to the podium since then, Ryan Hunter-Reay has tried out his luck with Andretti and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports.

Talking about his intentions to return to the top step of the rostrum this year, he said (via IndyCar):

"It's been a fantastic time that I spent with this team. Ever since the beginning, really, since we first got together a few years ago, just really enjoyed. I really enjoyed the people there. That was the biggest thing for me, to really surround myself with some great folks... We all have the same agenda, right? That's to win the Indy 500. We're not there simply to participate."

Reay's Indy 500 open testing outing was limited to 96 laps of running, while many rivals completed over 200 laps of running.