(LONG POND, PA) As the Verizon IndyCar Series makes a return to Gateway Motorsports Park this week, one driver that clearly has momentum propelling him with three races left on the 2018 docket is Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport).
Photo Credit: INDYCAR – Chris Owens
The Californian led 180 of 200 laps en route to snaring the checkered flag at the ABC Supply 500 Sunday afternoon at the 2.5-mile Pocono Speedway tri-oval. Starting inside Row 2 in the 22-car field, Rossi powered the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda to a 4.4 second win over pole sitter Will Power (Team Penske) and posted his second straight duke and third overall this season.
More importantly in the overall complexion, the dominant performance narrowed the differential in his quest to overtake current points leader Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing). Dixon finished third on the afternoon and sits atop the hierarchy with 530 points but Rossi’s 53-point claim whittled Dixon’s lead to 29 points heading into Saturday’s meeting at the Madison, Illinois oval.
Photo Credit: INDYCAR – Chris Owens
“The momentum and the confidence of the whole team is really high right now,” said Rossi of his team’s current points push. “At the moment, all of our focus is on St. Louis next week, putting together the best race car and best package that we can. Hopefully go out and do the same thing.”
Starting thirteenth, Dixon steadily pushed the No. 8 PNC Bank Honda through the field and snared placement on the podium but is fully aware of the heat that Sunday’s winner is currently bringing to his team.
“Somewhat of a frustrating day,” reflected Dixon of the deep start. “Nice to get some points out of it. Obviously, we took a bit of a hit there with Rossi. Congrats to him. (He’s) doing a stellar job right now. We definitely need to try and sort our act out, especially qualifying.”
Power pestered Rossi throughout the course of the race – he claimed five of the race’s eleven lead changes – and his runner-up finish helped maintain his current fourth place standing in points (449). Series defending champion Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) finished fifth and currently sits third in the series (464).
Photo Credit: INDYCAR – Chris Owens
The race was halted early in Lap 6 as a five-car incident resulted in rookie Robert Wickens (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) having his No. 6 Lucas Oil SPM Honda being launched into the catch fence in Turn 2. A violent shredding of the car ensued and the impact resulted in the Canadian being airlifted to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in nearby Allentown where he was being evaluated for orthopedic injuries late-Sunday night.
“At the end of the day, all 22 of us, 33 of us, whatever it may be, are a family,” said Rossi of the wreck. “We try our best to look after each other out there. You don’t want to see that happen to anyone.”
After a two-hour delay to fix the mangled catch fence, the race resumed and Rossi effectively displayed the attributes to a trophy-lifting day. His top speed was 215.850 m.p.h. in Lap 134.
Photo Credit: INDYCAR – Chris Owens
“It means a lot to win any race for Andretti Autosport,” he said. “They have such a legacy in the sport. To be able to add to that in a very small way is a huge honor of mine. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity to do that a couple more times this year and we’ll be able to close it out with a championship.”
For more information on the Verizon IndyCar Series, go to their official website.
The series next stops at Gateway Motorsports Park for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 that takes place Saturday night.
Arch Sports Media will have coverage of the event all throughout the week.
ABC SUPPLY 500 OFFICIAL RESULTS
PLACE DRIVER START LAPS
1) Alexander Rossi 3 200
2) Will Power 1 200
3) Scott Dixon 13 200
4) Sebastien Bourdais 8 200
5) Josef Newgarden 2 199
6) Zach Veach (R) 7 199
7) Marco Andretti 11 199
8) Simon Pagenaud 5 199
9) Charlie Kimball 19 198
10) Ed Carpenter 15 197
Time of Race: 2:36:49 Avg. Speed: 191.304 mph
Lead Changes: 11 Cautions: 2
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES TOP FIVE
RANK DRIVER POINTS
1) Scott Dixon 530
2) Alexander Ross 501
3) Josef Newgarden 464
4) Will Power 449
5) Ryan Hunter-Reay 411
