Some might argue Rossi backed into the win with his strategy, but Newgarden didn’t go there.
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Maria Valdez, from Indianapolis, said Sunday was her fifth Indy 500.
In 1995, Andretti’s predecessor – Team Green – lost 500 victor Jacques Villeneuve to an F-1 offer he couldn’t refuse. We saw a parade of Indianapolis 500-winning cars, an F18 flyover, the green flag arriving by helicopter, driver introductions, Josh Kaufman singing Back Home Again in IN in a way that would’ve made Jim Nabors proud, and Grammy-winning country superstar Darius Rucker’s spine-tingling rendition of the national anthem, during which a bald eagle swooped in low over turn one. Multiple members of the Andretti family have been in the race. “And then I knew with two laps to go, they were going for it”, Dawn Rossi said.
“I have to be careful what I say”, Castroneves said, fuming.
Rossi, 24, was clearly a happy IndyCar driver Monday, but he steered clear of what might be next for him.
“I can certainly say I’m not in a Grand Prix vehicle anytime soon”, smiled Rossi.
I had no idea Id be in IndyCar, I had no idea Id be in the Indy 500, Rossi said.
Rossi said he celebrated the 500 by getting to bed early and sleeping well in preparation for a hectic media tour that will have him in NY on Tuesday, at Texas Motor Speedway on Wednesday and in Detroit starting Thursday. It’s a testament to his talents and more importantly, it shows how exciting motor racing can be, especially when the chips fall the way they did during the Indy 500.
In front of the first sellout in Indy 500 history, Rossi stunned the more than 350,000 fans in attendance.
Rossi? Well, not many know much about him at all.
That might seem hard to believe, given that the victor of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 is a 24-year-old series rookie making just his second start on an oval.
The driver just needed a bit of convincing to lie back and wait for the race to come to him.
“He likes it here, but he liked it even before all of this”, Andretti said.
“I saw that he was very confident going into the race”. It’s fun racing, and after the St. Petersburg race (March 13) he realized that.
Rossi understands why people wonder what’s in store for 2017. He began watching the race 10 years ago as a teenager.
“I’m not surprised, but it’s still wonderful to be a rookie and to win this race”. “This is what I’m looking toward for the future, and I definitely want to finish out the season in the strongest possible way”.
Noblesville driver Bryan Clauson drove to a 23rd-place finish, completing the race for the first time in three attempts.
It was the second Indy 500 triumph for vehicle owner Bryan Herta, who merged his team with that of Michael Andretti this year. I focused on my job: “making sure the vehicle was in the right spot all the time”.
As millions sat on the edge of their seats wondering, just as the rest of us were, whether he would literally have enough gas in the tank to take the checkered flag; then it happened.
Rossi has only driven in six Verizon IndyCar Series races and he said his focus is strictly on the Series and not on Formula 1 where he had previously been determined to conquer.
Boles harkened to 2011, when Dan Wheldon won in the same No. 98 auto, then a joint project between Herta and Sam Schmidt. Both Andretti cars turned to the inside wall, Bell’s hitting a tire sitting out.
Question: It seemed you were unsure what to do in victory lane. Now he knows, and he wants another chance to flawless it.
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“I was like, ‘Yeah, it’ll be a seamless transition, ‘” he said. I had no idea what to do.
