Racing
John Oreovicz, Autos, Open-Wheel 8y

Fuel strategy makes Alexander Rossi a rookie Indy 500 winner

IndyCar

INDIANAPOLIS -- There have been some stunning finishes in the first 99 editions of the Indianapolis 500.

 

But what went down Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 100th may have trumped them all.

 

Rookie Alexander Rossi was one of three drivers who stretched their final tank of fuel over 36 laps at the Brickyard, and even though his last lap was clocked some 40 mph slower than his charging pursuers, his Andretti Autosport Honda had enough in hand to coast across the Speedway's famous Yard of Bricks 4.498 seconds ahead of his teammate Carlos Munoz.

 

Rossi is a 24-year-old Californian with Formula One aspirations who hasn't regularly raced in America since 2008. Four months ago, the Verizon IndyCar Series wasn't even on his radar.

 

But when Bryan Herta merged his one-car team into the multicar Andretti Autosport operation over the offseason, Rossi got the call. Herta was the man who was convinced that after the majority of the field stopped under yellow on Lap 164 of 200, saving fuel was the best avenue to victory.

 

Sure enough, one by one, the leaders peeled off into the pits for fuel as the closing laps wound down. Suddenly, Rossi found himself in the lead on Lap 197, and he took the white flag 13 seconds ahead of Munoz, feather-footing the throttle and praying that his fuel supply would last another 2.5 miles.

 

Even though Rossi's last lap was taken at a speed more appropriate for the 1970s, he had enough of a margin in hand over Munoz to become the first rookie winner at Indianapolis since Helio Castroneves triumphed in 2001.

 

"At one point, we were 33rd, but we rolled the dice and came through and made it happen," said Rossi, who averaged 166.334 mph. "I have no idea how we pulled that off. We struggled a little bit with the pit stops, but Bryan [team co-owner Bryan Herta] came up with that unbelievable strategy.

 

"I just can't believe that we've done this."

 

Frankly, almost nobody could believe that a driver with just five IndyCar race starts under his belt (including only one race on an oval) would have been in position to win the heavily hyped 100th running of the 500.

 

But believing there was a high likelihood of a full-course caution over the final 35 laps, Herta counseled Rossi to save fuel from the start of the stint, coaching him to drop the clutch and coast into corners.

 

While far more experienced drivers, including former Indy champions Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon as well as pole winner James Hinchcliffe, were forced to gas up in the closing laps, Rossi just kept rolling.

 

Charlie Kimball (fifth place for Ganassi Racing) and Will Power (10th for Team Penske) played the same fuel strategy with their Chevrolets but didn't have the pace to beat Rossi's Honda.

 

Rossi clearly had a fast car; he turned the fastest lap of the race at 225.288 mph.

 

But his pace over the final 36 laps while in fuel-saving mode made the difference.

"It was stuttering out of Turn 4, for sure," Rossi said. "I mean, it was close, too close for comfort, but obviously the people on the timing stand knew what was going on and we made it work.

 

"I was trying to take one lap at a time because the emotional roller coaster of this race is amazing," he added. "I just focused on doing the best job I could, and Bryan is a very calming voice on the radio."

 

Herta, winner of two IndyCar races during his driving career, has now earned two wins as a team owner -- both of them at Indianapolis.

 

His gutsy call at the crucial juncture of Sunday's race proved to be the difference.

 

"Alex did exactly what we asked him to do, and obviously things kind of came right for us in the end," said Herta, whose team also won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 in dramatic, last-lap fashion with driver Dan Wheldon.

 

"We ran the numbers, and the guys on the timing stand were giving us updates every quarter lap; we were watching it that close," Herta continued. "We were able to draft off our teammates, and you guys saw how close it was.

 

"It's one thing to have a plan, but it's another to be able to execute it the way we did. I can't overstate how hard it was for Alex to drive to a fuel number and still keep pace with the opposition."

 

It was a roller-coaster day for Andretti, who never won the Indianapolis 500 as a driver but has enjoyed much better luck as a team owner.

 

Rossi earned Andretti Autosport's fourth Indy victory, adding to those claimed by Wheldon (2005), Dario Franchitti (2007) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014).

 

For much of the day, it appeared as if Hunter-Reay and Townsend Bell were the Andretti drivers in the mix for the win until they got clipped into a pit lane collision by Castroneves. Both went down a lap.

 

The advantage of Andretti's series-high five-car effort then came to the fore, as Rossi and Munoz suddenly emerged in contention in the closing laps.

 

Munoz pitted with four laps to go, but he couldn't make up the lost ground to catch Rossi.

 

"We thought Ryan and Townsend were going to be the guys to beat, and unfortunately they had their problem in the pits," Andretti said. "I could not believe it, and at that point, I thought our day might have been over for a shot at winning.

 

"Then all of a sudden, I saw the way Carlos and Alex were coming back through, and I thought maybe we still had a shot at it. I knew Alex was going to try to make it, so we decided to try different strategies, and it worked out that we had two cars that had a shot at winning with two different strategies."

 

Josef Newgarden finished third for Ed Carpenter Racing after stopping for fuel with five laps remaining.

 

Newgarden, tipped as the next American IndyCar superstar, refused to sulk about being beaten by a fuel-conservation strategy.

 

"It's really heartbreaking, to be honest, because I think we had a car to win," Newgarden said. "I wanted an opportunity to race those guys at the end, and we didn't get that.

 

"I think if I was in Alex's position, I'd be the happiest man in the world right now," he added. "I wouldn't care how we won the damn race if we won the damn race. They mixed it up and it paid off big for them. He was there at the end and he capitalized."

 

Andretti said he wasn't surprised by a victory that certainly stunned the rest of the racing world, even though the winning driver admitted he was "clueless" about IndyCar racing back in February.

 

"I saw he was very confident going into the race, and he did a hell of a job," Andretti said. "He kept his composure the whole race. Even when there were problems in the pits, he kept his head in the game.

 

"I'm not surprised, but it's still amazing for a rookie to win this race."

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