INDIANAPOLIS // Alexander Rossi has gone from Formula One to finishing No 1 at the 100th Indianapolis 500, the first rookie to win the event since 2001 when Helio Castroneves won the first of his three Indy 500 titles.
The American Rossi, 24, who made five starts in F1 last season for Manor Racing, said last year he was at Monaco for the grand prix, looking for a place to watch the Indy 500.
On Sunday he had the best seat in the house at the end in delivering the title to car owners Michael Andretti and Bryan Herta, both former drivers who did not win the 500 when behind the wheel.
Carlos Munoz finished second for the second year in a row, making it a 1-2 finish for Andretti Autosport and Honda, with Josef Newgarden’s Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing third.
“I have no idea how we pulled that off,” Rossi said in Victory Lane. “We came up with an unbelievable strategy. I can’t believe we’ve done this.”
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With the laps running down towards the finish Rossi’s Honda was dangerously close to running out of fuel before the finish. Then he got a little help from a friend.
“[Teammate] Ryan [Hunter-Reay] gave me a little tow near the end and that helped,” said the rookie of his improbable victory. “At one point we were 33rd. We rolled the dice and made it happen. I had no idea I would be in the IndyCar Series let alone the Indy 500, and now I’m here and I’ve won the Indy 500.”
For Munoz the bittersweet feeling of finishing second again was mitigated somewhat by his Andretti Autosport teammate ending up in the Winner’s Circle.
“One thing is clear to me,” the 24-year-old Colombian said afterward. “I will win the 500 one day.”
Newgarden had been strong all day, at one point trading the lead lap after lap with 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, but at the end fuel concerns had him backing out just a bit and he was not close enough to challenge at the finish.
“It was a tough day,” the 25-year-old American said. “I thought we had a shot. It was a car that could’ve won today. We just didn’t have enough at the end.
“There are more guys in the history of this race who thought they could’ve won rather than did win. I can’t be sour about it. There are a lot of guys who come close.
“But it kinda stinks.”
On a day of milestone numbers with the 100th running of the event during the state of Indiana’s bicentennial celebration, a crowd in excess of 350,000 saw a race with 54 lead changes between 13 drivers, and 850 passes overall in the 33-car field over the 500 miles and six caution periods for 46 laps. Average speed on Sunday was 166.644mph.
“Time has changed the racing but this place is still all about courage, innovation and passion,” Newgarden said. “You can’t undervalue what Andretti Autosport and Alexander Rossi has done today. It was hard for me to come here as a rookie and get through it. It’s difficult to get through the entire month and race without something going wrong.”
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