Alexander Rossi talks Indianapolis 500, drinking milk, and going fast with SB Nation

Kristin Enzor/For IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ahead of the Indianapolis 500, Arrow McLaren driver Alexander Rossi sat down with SB Nation

Indianapolis.

In the sporting world there are a few single words that immediately spark the imagination, and conjure up images that are seared into the collective memory of generations. Indianapolis is certainly one, as that one word provokes images of bricks, milk, and speed.

The 108th Indianapolis 500 is this weekend, one of the marquee events on the motorsport calendar each year. It is an event that Alexander Rossi knows well, having won this race as a rookie back in 2016. Ahead of this year’s installment SB Nation spoke with Rossi about what it takes to win in Indianapolis, what it means to win the 500, and whether starting fourth he can win again.

But first, a simple question, one I had been looking forward to asking him ever since his final qualifying laps on Sunday in the Firestone Fast Six.

What does an average of 234 miles per hour around Indianapolis Motor Speedway feel — and sound — like?

“Sound, I don’t really know that it sounds like anything,” said Rossi earlier this week.

“But feel, I mean, it’s pretty wild.”

Qualifying — and racing — at Indianapolis

“Indianapolis qualifying is the hardest four laps that you’re going to do as a race car driver every single year,” said Rossi to me on Tuesday.

Our discussion began with a focus on qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, which takes place over two days. Rossi’s performance on Saturday — where he averaged 233.069 miles per hour over his four laps — put him into the Sunday’s Top 12, keeping his shot at pole position alive. On Sunday Rossi’s four-lap average in the Top 12 was 233.071, which was fourth-fastest and good enough to move onto the Firestone Fast Six, as one of the final six drivers with a shot at pole.

His four-lap average speed in the Fast Six was 233.090, which included an first lap which averaged over 234 mph, leading to that opening question. The effort was good enough for fourth, where he will start on Sunday.

Not bad given the notion that it is the hardest laps of the season.

The reason it is so hard? It’s because you are right on the edge the entire time, explained Rossi.

“And the reason for that is because, you know, at Indianapolis, you’re full throttle around the whole lap, right? But if you make it easy, that means that your top speed is going to be too slow,” said Rossi. “So your average is going to be affected.

“If you make it too hard, you know, you’re going to be able to do the first two laps pretty successfully, but laps three and four, you may have to lift out of the throttle. And so then you’re gonna have an average speed that’s reduced as well. So you’re trying to find this, this balance of your full throttle for four laps, but like barely.”

Finding that balance requires a lot more than just working the throttle. Over the course of each lap Rossi — and the other drivers in the field — are paying attention to every little detail, making the adjustments as necessary to the car on the fly.

“And so what that means is you’re really having to pay attention to the super finite details of what’s going on. So, you know, twice a lap, you’re checking the wind direction,” said Rossi. “You’re trying to understand how the balance of the car is changing as the tires are starting to degrade, the fuel level is obviously coming down, and the minutia detail matters.”

It is one of the sport’s ultimate thrills, but even Rossi admitted that you are also happy when it is over.

“So, it all happens very quick but as much as it’s a little bit terrifying and challenging, it’s awesome at the same time,” explained Rossi. “So Indy qualifying is one of my favorite things that I get to do each year, but at the same time, I’m always relieved when it’s over with.”

Rossi called the effort over the weekend “really good,” and believes the team is in good shape heading into the Indianapolis 500.

“Yeah, it was really good,” said Rossi when I asked him to sum up his qualifying weekend. “I mean, I think Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy in particular, did an unbelievable job in the off season to really continue the progress and the development forward.

“You know, this place punishes very small errors. It’s very unforgiving. And so for us as an organization last year, we were the only team to get four cars in the top 12. And so there was a little bit of a target on our back in terms of, ‘[a]re we going to be able to kind of back that up this year?’ And for us to get three cars in the top 12 and two cars in the fast six, was really a big success and ultimately, we didn’t have anything at the end of qualifying for the front row,” outlined Rossi. “[B]ut we feel that we have a better overall package and our race cars are extremely competitive come Sunday.”

Beyond qualifying itself, there are other aspects to the Indianapolis 500 that make it such a tricky event. Arrow McLaren released a video on social media that featured Rossi and teammate Pato O’Ward talking about all the practice hours ahead of the Indianapolis 500, and how those extra session can cause problems for the drivers and teams, where you “spiral yourselves” as a driver.

I asked Rossi to explain that idea further.

“That’s just the nature of this race. It’s the nature of the beast because you’re here for so long, right? Most races that we do, you know, you show up on a Friday morning. You have, let’s call it two hours of practice before qualifying and then you qualify and then you race on Sunday and that’s kind of your weekend, done,” started the Arrow McLaren driver.

“Whereas the 500 it’s like nine days of practice, followed by qualifying over two days and then two more days of practice before the race. So you have a lot of time to like, kind of pace yourself.

“We call it the tail of the dragon, right?

“You’ll take yourself down a path and then realize maybe that’s not the right path and then you’ll swing too hard the other way and it’s hard to stay kind of centered.”

According to Rossi, that is when experience plays a huge role, experience that he has at Indianapolis.

“And it comes with time and experience, and I think you just learn to kind of ride the waves of this place and not react. If one day, you know, you go to bed Wednesday night, let’s say, and the car is great and you show up Thursday and it’s terrible. You don’t try and overcompensate for it,” added Rossi.

“You accept that it’s a different day. The conditions are different, the wind is different.

“You’re at a different spot and you just work on, you know, smaller things instead of trying to wholesale [change] the whole car.”

Another aspect that makes the Indianapolis 500 difficult? Just how “sensitive” Indianapolis Motor Speedway is. It may look like a simple track but to hear Rossi explain it, IMS is anything but. Down to the differences between the four turns over the 2.5 mile track.

“Yeah, I mean so we have what’s called kind of tools in the cockpit, right. So you have the ability to move cross weight, up to like 150 pounds from the right front of the car to the left front of the car. And you can change that weight and that will change the balance of the car,” explained Rossi.

“And you have just like in a road car, you have front and rear anti roll bar, sway bars that you can adjust in the cockpit. And so what you’re trying to do is you’re understanding that two, it’s a 2.5 mile track, right? So turns one and two are at one end and they’re very similar. Turns three and four at the other end and they’re very similar, but as individual sections are very different from each other.”

Rossi then outlined the differences in the turns, the reasons for those differences, and what he and the other drivers will be doing in the Indianapolis 500 to handle those differences.

“So you are usually adjusting the car twice end to end based on wind direction, and based on temperature. So like Turn One is always shaded because the grandstands are so large. So Turn One is actually the easiest corner on the track,” started Rossi.

“Turn Two is one of the hardest because it’s the most exposed by the wind. Turn Three is the hottest because there’s no shade, and Turn Four is [easy as well].

“So it’s really, really interesting because the radius, the banking, the corners, the width, everything is identical, but they’re all kind of their own special kind of beast. So really, you just have that understanding. And it is a challenge, you know, it’s something that you can’t pick up overnight in terms of kind of knowing how to read the track,” continued Rossi.

“But it certainly helps when you have a car that, you know, has a wider window and that’s a lot of things that we talk about,” outlined Rossi. “We might make a change that is better for overall performance, but the car is kind of too much on a knife edge and it’s like, ‘ok, maybe that’s a qualifying change, but for the race, we don’t want that because that will be too difficult to manage over 500 miles.’ So there’s always a cause and effect in racing.

“But at Indianapolis specifically, and there’s no free lunch, right? There’s always a compromise you’re trying to manage just to be, you know, no one’s going to be completely happy over the lap. You’re just trying to be happier than everyone else.”

Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

Winning as a rookie

Back in 2016 Rossi was certainly happier than everyone else.

He arrived as a rookie for his first Indianapolis 500, and just his sixth IndyCar event. After years trying to find a full-time seat in Formula 1, and running a few races at the tail end of the 2015 F1 season, Rossi signed with Andretti for the 2016 IndyCar season.

The deal was signed late in the offseason, so Rossi missed the bulk of preseason testing. He finished 12th in his first race in IndyCar, the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, And then 14th, 20th, and 15th over the next few races.

His first top-ten finish came in Indianapolis, in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, held on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rossi qualified 11th, tops among the rookies in the field, and then inherited the lead in the closing laps of the 2016 Indianapolis 500 as leaders pitted for final fuel stops.

The team gambled, leaving Rossi out to try and make it to the finish. In just his sixth race, with his team coaching him on how to conserve fuel, Rossi was in the lead.

He then ran out of fuel.

Rossi came out of Turn Four on the final lap and coasted to the finish line, hoping he would get there before a hard-charging Carlos Muñoz caught him.

He got there just in time, winning the 2016 Indianapolis 500 as a rookie, and in just his sixth IndyCar start. It was also a landmark victory, as it was the 100th installment of the historic race.

I asked Rossi how that win felt.

“Pretty weird,” admitted Rossi when we talked Tuesday. “I’ll be honest, because it was not something that I was expecting.”

In fact, because he was not expecting to win in 2016, some of the accomplishment was almost lost on him.

“Certainly no one involved in the race was expecting that. And so it was, I’ll be honest, it was lost on me because this is not only my first race participating in it, but it was my first one I’d ever been to,” explained Rossi. So, I didn’t know everything that went into what makes the Indy 500 what it is.”

Rossi then outlined the differences between winning, and winning the Indianapolis 500.

“If you win a race, like, let’s say in Long Beach earlier in the IndyCar season, right? People celebrate that on Sunday and then kind of by Monday, you move on and, and nothing’s really talked about. It was like ‘good job’ and on to the next one.

“You win the Indy 500 for a year.

“There’s things that are part of the ceremony like winning traditions, right, that you’re a part of, and it’s a really cool process to become an ambassador for the next year’s event,” explained Rossi. “And so through that process, I really learned about what it means to this series and especially what it means to the state of Indiana, now living here for the past six years.”

One of the most memorable parts of that year as an Indianapolis 500 winner?

Seeing his likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

“So if you win this race, there isn’t really a trophy but there that you get, but there is what’s called the Borg-Warner Trophy. And it’s very similar in essence to the Stanley Cup, right? You know, all of the drivers, their likeness, like a small sculpture of their face, is put onto this trophy and the series owns the trophy.

“And so for me, it was, I think in January the year after, the Borg-Warner Trophy was kind of unveiled with my face on it. And that was a pretty cool realization. That, you know, you look at the names you were next to, right?

“Castroneves. Foyt. Andretti.

“And it was like, ‘[y]ou’re now, you’re now a part of that group. You’re now a part of the history of this race.’ And as cool as it is to win it, it’s even cooler to know that in 20 or 30 years, I can take my kid to see that trophy and say ‘hey, look, that’s me.’”

However, winning one Indianapolis 500 has certainly made Rossi hungry for a second.

“I think there’s kind of two people in the field, right? You have the guys that are so desperate to win it because it’s what they’ve dreamed of their whole career and they’ve either come close or, you know, had near misses or whatever, but they haven’t quite won it yet,” outlined Rossi. “And then you have the group of eight of us this year that have won it before and I almost think the motivation for us eight is higher because, you know, you know what you’re missing every time you don’t win it. And so it’s a really unique experience to win this race.

“And I certainly would have a whole different set of emotions if I was able to get another one.”

I asked Rossi what it means to him knowing that no matter where his career goes next, the words “winner of the Indianapolis 500” will always be attached to his name. He admitted that it was a tough question to answer, but that winning in 2016 changed the trajectory of his life.

“I don’t know that I have an answer for that yet because I’m still trying to win another one. I’m still trying. There’s so much I want to accomplish still in this sport,” said Rossi.

“But I will say that it certainly changed the trajectory of my career and gave me a home in this series and allowed me to kind of re-establish myself as a race car driver in the US. You know, I came here in 2016, kind of on a last-minute, one-year deal,” continued the driver.

“When the Formula One deal that I had, kind of went away and I didn’t really know what I was going to do at the end of 2016. And so then this race happened and changed my life and here we are, eight years later.”

A question that was easy for Rossi to answer?

Which was his favorite part of the celebration: Kissing the bricks, or drinking the milk?

“Definitely the bricks, the milk is kind of gross,” laughed Rossi. “I’m gonna be honest. Like, I get that it’s tradition, but you just did three-and-a-half hours in 90 degree heat and humidity, and the last thing you want is milk.

“But it’s iconic, right?”

Joe Timmerman/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK

The mystique of Indianapolis

As noted above, the Indianapolis 500 is an iconic event on the annual sports calendar. It is one of those events where a single word can be used to spark the imagination. Akin to Monaco or Daytona in the motorsports world, simply saying “Indianapolis” conjures up images of Al Unser, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, and the legends who have won at Indianapolis.

I asked Rossi what makes the Indianapolis 500 so special.

“This is the 108th running of the Indy 500. You know, what was this year’s Super Bowl? 54? 55? Something like that?

“This is, this is double what the Super Bowl is,” started Rossi. “It’s the largest non-religious gathering of human beings on Earth. Like it’s just, there’s the people that you meet here that are fans, they’ve been sitting in these seats for generations.

“And it’s just a part of the fabric of the Midwest. It’s a part of not only U.S. motor sports history but U.S. history in general. It’s just, it’s one of those flagship events that are hard to come by and, because of that, there’s just a lot of mystique about it, and it’s just really special to be a part of.”

Rossi then talked about his own experience growing up and having F1 dreams, but still knowing everything there is to know about the Indianapolis 500.

“So for me growing up, my trajectory and goals and dreams were to race in Formula One, but you still knew about the Indy 500. You knew everything about who was racing in it and who was successful and everything and it’s just, it’s one of those events, right?

“Whether you’re involved in motor sports or not, you know of the Andrettis and the Unsers and the Foyts. And for me to be able to be a part of it now for eight years is really special and I enjoy every moment of it.”

The 2024 Indianapolis 500

The conversation then returned to this year’s installment, and Rossi’s expectations going into the 2024 Indianapolis 500. We first talked about Kyle Larson, as the NASCAR Cup Champion is attempting to “do the double,” which is to drive in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday afternoon, and then make the trip to Charlotte to race in the NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night.

Doing the double is one of the more unique challenges in motorsport, and Larson is looking to become just the fifth driver to pull it off, joining John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Kurt Busch. Only Stewart, in 2001, managed to finish both.

I asked Rossi about Larson, who also advanced to the Top 12 in qualifying and will start alongside Rossi on the second row.

“Well, Kyle has been fantastic,” started Rossi.

“You know, we grew up racing together in Northern California. I’ve known him for two decades now, and his success so far this month did not come as a surprise to me whatsoever,” continued Rossi. “You know, you look at his pedigree and what he’s accomplished and there was no reason to doubt him, [or to think] he wouldn’t be to win this race.

“He has picked it up really quickly, and it’s just been about the nuance stuff for him that he hasn’t experienced before in an IndyCar race — pit stops and in and out laps and that sort of thing. But, you know, he’s been great. It’s great for us to be a part of him attempting to do the double, to have Hendrick Motorsports involved is obviously a big win for us as well. So it’s been a really cool experience and an honor to work with him, and [I’m] looking forward to putting on a good show with him here in a couple of days.”

Following qualifying on Sunday, the drivers took to the track on Monday for one of those long practice sessions ahead of the Indianapolis 500. I asked Rossi how that session went for him, and whether he feels the car is in a good window.

“Yeah. Really good. I mean, we’ve had a pretty smooth month. The car that we’re on right now is very close to the car that we rolled off with over a week ago. So, it’s been very smooth from that standpoint,” said Rossi. “The confidence within the whole organization is very high and, you know, we have a good shot and that’s really as a driver, all you can ask for. This race is the hardest one to win for a lot of reasons. But, you just appreciate the days where, you know, you have a chance.

“You know, sometimes you show up to this event and you know, that for reasons X Y and Z, you’re just not in a race winning car. And that’s kind of hard because you don’t know, you never know, how many opportunities you’re gonna have with a car that can win it.

“But this year is certainly one for us.”

Rossi and the rest of the grid will get one more day of practice, on Friday’s Carb Day. (For those wondering, the name “Carb Day” comes from a bygone era of the Indianapolis 500, referring to the final day the teams would tune the carburetors on their gasoline-powered cars. Carburetors have not been used for decades, but for an event filled with mystique and history, the name remains). I asked the driver what he was hoping to see on Friday.

As few laps as necessary was the answer.

“Yeah, Friday is a very difficult session, because this will be the largest gap that there’s been from cars being on track to cars not being on track. And so a lot of the reads and feelings that you get on Carb Day are kind of poor,” started Rossi. “So it’s very hard to not overreact to what you have on Carb Day. I’ve had a lot of Carb Days where I’m really unhappy and I just decide ‘[d]on’t touch anything. The car’s been good all month, it’ll be fine on Sunday.’ And sure enough it is.

“So, the big thing for us on Friday is our race engine goes in. The car has been completely torn apart to, to kind of analyze everything and crack test everything. So it’s really just a shakedown for the car [to] break in the new engine and just make sure all the processes are working as they should.

And then you try and minimize the laps because every time you’re out there, it’s a risk and you don’t obviously want to hurt the race car.”

So we have arrived at the big question. Starting fourth on Sunday, behind the Penske trio of Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, and Josef Newgarden, can Rossi win his second Indianapolis 500?

He believes he and Arrow McLaren have a shot.

“I think we can,” started Rossi.

“You know, it’s the best car that I’ve had here since 2019 when I finished second. The team is executing and operating at a really high level.

“Obviously, as I said, eight of the top ten cars are Chevy powered. So we have every tool at our disposal. Ultimately, it’s gonna come down to some variables and potentially some things out of our control.

“But we have every possibility to win this thing and that’s all we’re focused on.”

If Rossi does win, keep an eye on the milk part of the celebration.

I heard that’s the last thing you want.