ALEXANDER ROSSI CLAIMS FIRST WIN IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES

Starting from the 11th position, rookie Alexander Rossi has won today’s historical 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race driving the No. 98 NAPA AUTO PARTS / Curb Honda for the Andretti-Herta Autosport collaboration. 

Today’s 200-lap race marked a new beginning for Rossi’s open-wheel story, finding victory at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his sixth career Verizon IndyCar Series start.

Rossi, 24, boasts an impressive racing portfolio including being the 2015 GP2 Series Vice-Champion. The California-native holds 209 Formula car starts, including 42 wins, 75 podiums, 36 poles and a current win percentage of 20.1%. Michael Andretti along with Rossi and Scott Speed, who currently competes for Andretti’s Global Rallycross team, make up the last three American-born drivers to compete in Formula 1. 

Today’s win is the 55th Verizon IndyCar Series victory for Andretti Autosport and the fourth Indianapolis 500 win. Since 2003, the Indianapolis-based team has scored four series titles (‘04/Kanaan, ‘05/Wheldon, ‘07/Franchitti and ‘12/Hunter-Reay) and four Indianapolis 500 victories (‘05/Wheldon, ‘07/Franchitti, ‘14/Hunter-Reay, ’16/Rossi).

Andretti Autosport has five entries in the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500, with Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 DHL Honda), Marco Andretti (No. 27 Snapple Honda), Carlos Munoz (No. 26 United Fiber & Data Honda) and Townsend Bell (No. 29 California Pizza Kitchen / Robert Graham Honda).