He also turned the fastest lap of the race, at an average of 225.288 miles per hour, with his Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti producing the second-fastest race lap, at 224.772 miles per hour. Rossi was Andretti’s fourth winning driver, joining Dan Wheldon (2005), Dario Franchitti (2007) and Hunter-Reay (2014).
Advertisement
“One day, I will win this race”, said a dejected Munoz, who rebounded to finish 4.49 seconds behind Rossi.
Herta chose to gamble with Rossi on fuel strategy, and it’s the only thing that made him a late contender. Despite that, Rossi praised the efforts of his team, got out of the way when the race leaders came rushing up to pass him and was always polite and thoughtful in post-race interviews. “I was sputtering out of turn four for sure”. Rossi led 14. “I’m shocked”, Herta said.
“I knew I had the vehicle to win in the first half of the race”, Muñoz said. There were moments I was stoked, moments I was heart broken, moments where I was stoked again.
“The only actual site of an oval that I’d ever been to was Phoenix in February, I’m definitely a rookie on ovals”.
Some of that fuel saving came as a result of drafting behind teammates in the second half of the race.
Rossi sat seventh on the Lap 167 restart and bided his time as those ahead of him began to peel off for a splash of fuel in the final 10 laps.
Andretti tabbed Rossi, 24, after Rossi’s Manor Racing deal fell through. The occasion marked only the third time in history the race was televised in the Metro area. It doesn’t mean he will have a European ride, however. “The auto was flying”, Munoz said.
The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 produced one of the unlikeliest winners in its history.
Rossi said it was “no secret” that his “goal was to get to Formula One” but that he was “ecstatic” to be in the IndyCar series instead, especially now that he has won the Indy 500. Hunter-Reay led a race-high 52 laps while Bell had 12. He was told “all clear” by his spotter to exit his stall, but wound up colliding with Tony Kanaan. Rossi had looked toward the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2015, but the GP2 opportunity surfaced and he grabbed it. So if we’re under that number, we’re going to run out of fuel before the checkered flag. He missed the first 48 laps as his crew made repairs. He’s the first American rookie victor since Louis Meyer in 1928. And Helio Castroneves damaged his rear wing and had to replace it late in the race, hurting his chances of joining the exclusive club of four-time winners. Hinchcliffe first incurred trouble on the first pit stop when the fueling mechanism stuck, costing him an extra five-plus seconds.
The last driver to win consecutive 500s was Helio Castroneves in 2001 and ’02.
Juan Montoya’s last-place finish did serious damage to his former finishing average. Before Karam could get back on top of the steering wheel, impact with the outside wall came, and it was a hit significant enough to damage the SAFER barrier, which required fix.
It’s about luck, good luck, bad luck, even Andretti luck, although that seemed to turn some Sunday. Both drivers lost a lap as repairs were made, and Bell lost another serving a penalty for an improper move. The leaders pitted under caution with 36 laps remaining.
“It’s hard not to say the wrong thing”, Newgarden said. “It was nuts today”, Newgarden said of the environment. He caught a huge break when Takuma Sato crashed and the Penske crew was able to make the 40-second fix under the caution flag.
Power wound up 10th, the best of the Penske drivers, with Castroneves right behind him. Roaring down the front stretch was the pace auto, with Roger Penske at the wheel; at that moment probably the fastest 79-year-old in the world.
Advertisement
“I have no idea how we pulled that off”, an emotional Rossi said as he sipped from a quart bottle of 2 percent milk, the traditional drink of Indy winners. We struggled a bit in the early pit stops, but then Bryan [Herta, team co-owner] came up with an unbelievable strategy.
