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Alexander Rossi Wins Indianapolis 500 While Running Out Of Gas

By Trisha Faulkner
Published on: 09:21 PST, May 29, 2016

According to ESPN, an American driver no one expected to win took the Andretti family to victory lane for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. Alexander Rossi overcame “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” when he was able to stretch out his fuel just long enough to win the Indianapolis 500. Alexander Rossi ran out of gas just after he took the checkered flag. This rookie won the Indianapolis 500 on nothing more than fumes.

“I have no idea how we pulled that off,” Rossi said. “It’s an amazing result for Andretti Autosport.”

Alexander Rossi is just the ninth rookie to win the Indianapolis 500. The last time a rookie won the Indianapolis 500 was back in 2001 when Helio Castroneves won.

“I’ll cherish the fact that at one point we were 33rd,” Rossi said. “We rolled the dice and came through and made it happen. This is unbelievable. I have no doubt it’s going to change my life.”

Rossi is a relief driver for Manor Racing in F1. He came back to the U.S. this year to drive for Bryan Herta as part of a partnership with Andretti Autosport. Herta was the owner of a winning car in 2011 with Dan Wheldon.

The Andretti family were hoping that Marco Andretti would be the one to give them their first Indianapolis 500 title since Mario Andretti won back in 1969. Marco, however, didn’t contend to his four teammates including Ryan Hunter-Reay and Townsend Bell. While Alexander Rossi was technically driving for the Andretti family, he was never really a factor they considered. No one thought this rookie was going to win the race.

Alexander Rossi of the United States, driver of the #98 Andretti Herta
[Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images]
Yahoo! Sports reports Rossi may be one of the most surprising winners of the Indianapolis 500 in the history of this race.

The car Alexander Rossi was driving literally coasted towards the yard of bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thankfully, there was not anyone around him when he came to the finish line as his vehicle was running on fumes. This strategy to stretch his fuel as far as he possibly could worked, as many of the leaders pitted for fuel. Even Carlos Munoz, who was the first to pit for fuel, finished in second place. He was a quarter-track behind the winner when Rossi finished the race.

When Rossi saw the green flag with just 33 laps left to go in the Indianapolis 500 there was a chance the 100th edition of the Indianapolis 500 was going to come down to nothing more than fuel mileage. When he was sitting in ninth place at the final restart of the race, Rossi decided to use the opportunity to take a fuel gamble.

The gamble worked. After Rossi took the checkered flag, he let his crew know he was out of gas.

For Herta, the end of the race was a bit of déjà vu as Dan Wheldon won the Indianapolis 500 back in 2011 via fuel mileage. Wheldon was able to nurse his vehicle through the finish line while running low on gas. He was able to pass J.R. Hildebrand just before crossing the finish line after Hildebrand hit a wall following the fourth turn.

While Wheldon’s win was a surprise in 2011, it wasn’t impossible to see him in the victory lane of the Indianapolis 500, as he had previously won back in 2005. The difference between Wheldon and Rossi is no one even factored Alexander Rossi in as a possible winner because he had never even raced in the Indianapolis 500 before. In fact, Alexander Rossi had no major-series oval experience at all.

Did you watch the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500? What do you think about rookie Alexander Rossi taking the win?

[Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images]

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