Overall, the raucous, action-packed event seemed like a solid return to form for the famed race and its glorious past.
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Rossi won for a combined effort of Andretti Autosport and Bryan Herta Autosport.
Herta scored his second win as an owner, the first coming in 2011 with the late Dan Wheldon.
He had petered down to 130 miles per hour (209 km per hour) by the time he got the chequered flag, nearly 100 mph (161 kph) slower than he should have been, but still crossed the line with more than four seconds to spare.
To put the victory in perspective, Rossi had never seen the Indianapolis Motor Speedway until March and only drove his first laps around the huge 2.5-mile oval in early May.
Josef Newgarden was top-finishing Chevrolet driver, taking third and $574,243 in the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing machine.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, it’ll be a seamless transition, ‘” he said.
“Their experience and their knowledge and their capability is exceedingly high”, Rossi said of his teammates, “and they’ve been nothing but helpful to me in trying to get up to speed”. He stunned his faster rivals by outlasting them in a fuel-mileage showdown, his auto running out of gas during his victory lap. Hansen and nephew Todd Edwards left for the race at 4:30 a.m. Sunday, watched Alexander Rossi take the checkered flag and returned home by 8. It doesn’t mean he will have a European ride, however.
Now, he’s an Indianapolis 500 victor, the 10th first-timer to do that in 100 years of the event. And the last few years we’ve had a large number of lead changes. Over 350,000 people on site and millions more on TV will all agree that this is the kind of race that can generate greater series interest. He missed the first 48 laps as his crew made repairs. 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. That honor went to Hunter-Reay, his former Andretti teammate. Half a lap short. “We need to really push this forward”.
2015 Indianapolis 500 victor Juan Pablo Montoya saw his chances of repeating end after the two-time champion crashed in the T… At first glance, Rossi’s story reads more like “beginner’s luck” than “epic journey”. “I’m just so happy for everyone on the team”. Brazilian Helio Castroneves, an IndyCar veteran, was the last rookie to accomplish the same feat when he won the Indy 500 in 2001.
Sage Karam was charging to the front after starting 23rd when he ran out of Turn 1 real estate while battling Townsend Bell for the fifth spot.
In total, Hinchcliffe held the lead on 11 separate occasions and finished leading the second-most laps on the day with 27 (behind Hunter-Reay’s 52). Both Andretti cars turned to the inside wall, Bell’s hitting a tire sitting out.
When he made the move as a teenager, he was expecting that the Europeans would look down on an American. He got one lap back shortly after the restart. Several contenders were on pit road when the caution came out.
Sometimes, it just takes a little while for a plan to come together. Castroneves dropped to fourth and then was struck in the left rear bumper by Hildebrand.
Penske drivers were equally frustrated.
And now Rossi knows IndyCar is his top commitment. “It’s incredible what a difference a year makes”.
“We don’t come often but we like the races”, Valdez said. When you’re dead last in a race, it’s easy to just pack it in and call it a day.
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