Basically, an American making his debut at the Indy 500 won the 100th race of the legendary race.
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Rossi watched the 500 as a young racer in California – his first memory of “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing” is Marco Andretti almost winning as a rookie in 2006 – but he never had any plans to be a participant.
But I probably won’t watch another open-wheel race until the Sunday of next year’s Memorial Day weekend.
Rossi stretched his fuel mileage for the final 90 miles to score an upset victory. He sat in the vehicle for some time before climbing out to take that sweet sip of milk.
That was fine with me, because it allowed plenty of time to take in all the pageantry that Indianapolis is famous for, and as we walked into the track, I couldn’t help but ponder the big question of the day: who would win?
At the post-race press conference, Ross described the conversation with Andretti-Herta co-owner Bryan Herta as Rossi was trying to complete his 36th lap on one tank of gas.
“The emotional rollercoaster of this race is ridiculous”. I experienced goose bump-provoking moment after goose bump-provoking moment.
Rossi: I was a basket case, man. Yeah, I couldn’t even see.
“I have to thank Michael Andretti and Bryan Herta for giving me such a wonderful race auto all month”. He seemed devastated after his second runner-up finish in four years. In fact, before Rossi got to the head of the pack and stayed there, it was Munoz, Newgarden and Kanaan who were battling it out for the win at the 2016 Indy500. “I was really disappointed to get second”.
“Half a lap short of fuel”, he said. “What can I say?” “I will win the 500 someday”.
Munoz has contended at Indy before and he’s proven to be fast at the speedway.
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.
This was a win no one – not even Rossi – could have predicted when he made a decision to return the United States and give IndyCar a chance. His eye was always on Formula One, and he headed to Europe at age 16 to pursue his dream.
Rossi was the first rookie victor since Helio Castroneves in 2001 and the first American-born rookie victor since Louis Meyer in 1928.
Rossi called his Indy 500 victory the biggest win of his career, and likely the biggest he’ll ever have. This is unbelievable and I have no doubt it’s going to change my life.
Rossi: Yeah, Saturday night going to the Andretti Autosport night-before party where I was at 0 miles to the gallon and I needed 2 miles to get to the exit, so I guess I got some practice in my Honda Pilot. “I’m just happy we finished”.
Added Andretti: “The thing that I tried to explain to him [was] when you come over here, you’re going to really enjoy the racing”.
In more than 70 attempts, his family has only Mario Andretti’s victory in 1969. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Townsend Bell combined to lead 64 of the first 119 laps, but the Americans were knocked from contention when Bell clipped Castroneves as he left pit road. “And then you pull in, and I had no idea what I was doing”, he said, holding back a laugh. “Unfortunately, they had their problem in the pit, which I could not believe, and I thought that may have been our shot at winning”.
Rossi noted that because IndyCar distributed twice the regular number of series points, he has climbed to sixth in the standings, 89 points behind leader Simon Pagenaud. I’m like, Hmm, “who knows, we’ll see”. “To come home 1-2 is just incredible”. I didn’t know if I was supposed to drink it all at once.
Josef Newgarden was top-finishing Chevrolet driver, taking third and $574,243 in the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing machine. Hunter-Reay led a race-high 52 laps followed by the 27 of Hinchcliffe. James Hinchcliffe, of Oakville, Ont., faded to seventh despite being one of the best cars in the field.
“For the past three years I’ve been very, very concerned about the weight that I am because in Formula One it’s hyper-critical”, he said. “They played the fuel strategy”.
“It is not an overnight sensation and we are looking forward to the 101st and building on this strong platform”. “It worked out at the end for them”.
A sellout crowd of approximately 350,000 people attended the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The F1 for Marussia a year ago was determined to win and so did he.
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Rossi’s calmness will come in handy in the days ahead, as he is launched into the whirlwind of attention and publicity that comes with the Borg-Warner Trophy.
