By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Alexander Rossi was one slingshot move away from becoming a two-time champion of the Indianapolis 500.
Battling pole-sitter Simon Pagenaud for the top spot in Sunday’s 103rd running of the Indy 500, Rossi was the biggest threat to steal the victory from Pagenaud, the day’s dominator.
Overtaking back and forth throughout the final 15 laps, Rossi saw the short stick when he was passed by Pagenaud with two laps to go. The time didn’t align, ending Rossi’s day in second place.
“There’s not much to say. I think you all saw it. We just didn’t have the straight-line speed,” Rossi said. “There’s not much we can do about that from my side inside the car. Obviously the [No.] 22 guys fully deserve it. They were on pole. He led probably 70 percent of the laps. He was a deserving winner for sure.”
The race saw its share of turns for Rossi and the No. 27 Andretti Autosport team. After running well on fuel mileage for the closing stages, a six-car accident set up a red flag period with 22 laps to go, shattering his advantage in that regard over Pagenaud.
“That last yellow really hurt us because we were doing a lot better on fuel mileage than he was,” he said. “That was the first kind of nail in the proverbial coffin.”
Ironically, it was a fuel issue that plagued the No. 27 team earlier, when the fuel man was unable to fill the car with fuel during a pit stop on lap 138.
“When you come here four times and three of the times you can’t get fuel in the car, I think you can understand why I was upset,” he said. “It can’t happen. It wasn’t a human error, it was a mechanical problem, but still, it’s not something that we can have here. It’s the biggest race in the world, and 75 percent of the time we can’t get fuel in the racecar.”
These issues multiplied the frustration for the 2016 Indy 500 winner, who knew the potential given the car’s speed.
“The car was by far the best in the field in terms of what we could do,” he said. “I didn’t see anyone else doing that. So a huge testament to the whole Andretti Autosport organization for really my fourth year here giving me a car that was capable of winning.
“That’s a great thing, and I’m very, very thankful for that.”