The Californian and his Andretti Huerta Autosport team cut it so close, he ran out of fuel on is victory lap.
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Legends Day is one for the fans – for all of us to celebrate and commemorate the great drivers who have raced and won at Indianapolis, names as familiar to race fans as those of their own families: Foyt, Unser, Andretti, Mears, Rutherford…and the list goes on.
But before we say why, here’s how he got to victory lane.
I feel pretty comfortable, but I have no idea what to expect. Gaga and 1969 Indy 500 victor Andretti rolled onto the track with the field of 33 drivers before Sunday’s race in a custom-built, two-seat Indy vehicle. Montoya had won two of his previous three Indianapolis 500 starts. However lack of sponsorship caused BHA to merge their operation with Andretti Autosport and hired the capable American F1 driver Alexander Rossi. In practice, Rossi ran in packs with his four teammates, including 2014 Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, to learn how to run in the rough air of traffic.
Race leader Carlos Munoz was forced to pit with four laps to go for fuel opening the door for Rossi.
“This is really the first time I’ve ever felt like I could have won that race and it just didn’t happen”.
While Indycar probably doesn’t get the recognition that it deserves, no one will question that the Indianapolis 500 is one of the more exciting sporting events of the entire year.
Rossi said he didn’t know how much fuel he had for the final few laps.
Rossi was ninth on the final restart and fearful he would not have enough fuel to reach the checkered flag.
Two-time and defending victor Juan Pablo Montoya crashed out on the 64th lap and finished last. “It’s just hard, people were doing a lot dumb things on the restarts and I felt it was not necessary. I can neither confirm nor deny that I used to sing along whilst sitting in my vehicle”. But Rossi stayed out, and the gamble paid off – just barely.
A year ago, he was watching this race from Monaco. Jimmy Bryan was the first in 1959, followed by Johnny Rutherford in 1977.
“It only took us 2 1/2 hours”, said Jackie Kuhens, a 56-year-old Louisville, Kentucky, resident who made the 110-mile drive Sunday morning. I was trying to find some clean air in pack running there, got a little too low on the inside. Our Verizon Chevy was really good.
“It was a tough day”, he said.
James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., who started form the pole, finished seventh.
Last year Karam, 21, crashed out of the 500 on the first lap. He came into the race with momentum as he had the top speed in both qualifying positions last weekend.
Josef Newgarden, started the race in second and looked strong all day. He finished the race in third place. The speed gained in the tow is complicated by the turbulence that comes with it when a auto gets closer to the one in front.
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The first caution of the race, which triggered the pit stops, was for debris on the track.
