Alexander Rossi was the stunning victor of the historic 100th running of “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing” on Sunday in a victory that allowed the long-suffering Andretti family to celebrate in the biggest race of their famed careers.
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On Sunday, in the biggest race of his life and as a rookie driver to boot, Rossi nearly ran out of gas.
Rossi, who had started 11th in the 33-car field, did indeed fall to last in the early going.
It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
“I’m out of fuel, guys”, Rossi told his crew over the radio moments after taking the checkered flag at the chaotic finish. I’m like, Hmm, “who knows, we’ll see”. “The whole team, not only these guys here, everybody on the 98 vehicle, but everybody on Andretti Autosport”. But a risky fuel strategy turned up aces for the IndyCar neophyte when he stopped for gas with 36 laps left in the race despite the expected mileage of a full tank of gas around the track being 32 laps. Munoz ultimately finished second – a feat he also achieved in his Indy debut in 2013 – but said that it will take him time to come to terms with Sunday’s result. “I was really disappointed to get second and be half a lap short”. “I think this (win) has kind of cemented the fact that, A, I don’t have an issue with (oval-track racing), B, I do enjoy it, and C, I’ve fully committed to this program and being successful in IndyCar”.
Munoz has contended at Indy before and he’s proven to be fast at the speedway.
“We have to congratulate him (Alexander Rossi)”.
He’s an IndyCar rookie who has chased a ride in Formula One since he was 10. He is the ninth rookie to win the 500 and the first since Helio Castroneves in 2001.
Rossi understands why people wonder what’s in store for 2017.
Rossi admitted he held his breath as the race neared conclusion, watching his gauges closely as his fuel supply was almost depleted. “But we just rolled the dice and went for it”. This is unbelievable. I have no doubt its going to change my life.. But IndyCar after all is not Formula One, and in a time where fans are feeling the distance F1 is putting between them and their teams and drivers, it’s certainly better to be closer to a fan approach that has proven it’s merits over the years in the stock cars. Herta was the winning auto owner in 2011 with Dan Wheldon.
Instead, Marco Andretti never contended on a day his four teammates were clearly among the best in the field.
On Feb. 18, Herta announced his team has been folded into Andretti Autosport of the famous Andretti racing family. Andretti, who had led with five laps to go, watched the scintillating battle from the cockpit of the third-place vehicle. It was all his from there as he easily coasted to the finish line.
On the final lap, Rossi’s No. 98 NAPA-sponsored Andretti Herta Autosport-Honda was coasting on fumes, apparently running out of fuel in turn four. Rossi became the 70th victor in race history. “In February I wasn’t even thinking about Indy vehicle, and now we’ve just won the Indy 500”. It’s great for the drivers and their teams. We just didn’t have enough at the end.
Any hopes of winning the Indy 500 were dashed for both Hunter-Reay and Bell following a pit road incident on Lap 117. It a tough defeat for Newgarden.
“I pointed to that auto and said it needs a sponsor”, Andretti said. “They played the fuel strategy”.
We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don’t want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly. “It worked out at the end for them”. It’s a fitting statement to make when the race was dominated by IndyCar stalwarts at various stretches, including the aforementioned Castrovenes, polesitter James Hinchcliffe, and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
But Rossi admitted Indy 500 glory is not where he envisaged his motor racing success. He’d been in Monaco this time previous year, unsure of what his future held.
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“She’s going to distract me quite a bit, actually”, Mario said to The Indianapolis Star.
