Taking the fuel gamble

The 2016 Indianapolis 500 took place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana. In a shocking finish, 24 year-old rookie Alexander Rossi of Andretti Herta Autosport won the race on fuel mileage over Carlos Muñoz and Josef Newgarden. That year, for its 100th running, I attended the race for the first time, and what a great experience it was!

Over the final ten laps, most of the leaders were cycling through pit stops, as no one was expected to make it to the finish without pitting for fuel. Alexander Rossi’s team took a huge gamble and coached the driver into saving fuel. As the other leaders made their stops, Rossi inherited the lead on lap 197.

On the last lap, coming out of Turn Four, Rossi pulled to the inside and literally coasted across the finish line, to take the checkered flag. Muñoz finished 4.4 seconds behind, his second runner-up finish at Indy (2013, 2016). Rossi was out of fuel, and came to a stop during his cool lap. A tow truck brought him in, believed to be the first time, the race winner was towed back to Victory Lane.