Alexander Rossi’s Road America beatdown baffles Penske’s podium finishers

PLYMOUTH, Wis. — Rarely has Will Power bore witness to such dominance. 

Throughout his 15-year Hall-of-Fame worthy career, there have been few times where Power could say he didn’t have anything for the race winner. 

But Sunday at Road America, neither Power nor anyone else had anything for Alexander Rossi and his No. 27 Andretti Autosport machine. Armed with what Rossi would later characterize as a “perfect car,” he smoked the field, winning by an astonishing 28.4 seconds — 8 seconds better than his domination at Long Beach earlier this season. That triumph was only by 20 seconds.  

Alexander Rossi I27) celebrates his win at the Rev Group Grand Prix, Sunday, June 23, 2019, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. (Photo: Gary C.Klein, AP)

“We simply did not have the pace to run with Alex,” Power said. “I’ve rarely said that in my career.”

Keep in mind that Power finished second Sunday. And that he drives for Team Penske, the most accomplished and dominant team in IndyCar history. And that when it comes to speed, few have shown more through their careers than Power. 

And yet …

“Yeah, I actually never saw him during the race,” Power said. “I felt like I was in my own race with Josef (Newgarden). That’s all we had.”

More IndyCar:

Highlights: Sick of settling for second, Alexander Rossi dominates at Road America

Nothing but for an act of God was going to stop Rossi, who led 54 of 55 laps, Power said. For him to have even been in the same vicinity as Rossi, he’d have needed some rain and a whole lot more push to pass than the 200 seconds IndyCar provided. And even then, who knows? 

Rossi’s car was so good, Power was struggling to reckon with that kind of speed. By the time he arrived for his post-race news conference, all he could do was question the caliber of his own car, which again, finished second.

Power called his car “reasonable.” On a normal day, he might have classified it differently. But Sunday was far from normal. 

“Let’s say if Alex wasn’t in the race, I would have said I had a good car,” Power said. “But he’s in the race. You look at that pace and go, ‘What are we missing?’ …  Yeah, hard for me to understand how he can be so fast over a whole stint.”

Third-place finisher and Power’s Penske teammate Josef Newgarden was similarly baffled. A little more than halfway through the race, the championship points leader checked in with strategist Tim Cindric to learn Rossi’s advantage. When Cindric reported back to him that the gap had grown to 19 seconds, a short silence came over the transmission before Newgarden radioed back: “Wow.” 

After the race, he said that he and Team Penske would have to rethink their setups and strategy. Rossi and Andretti Autosport were too fast. Too good. If that continued throughout the read of the season, he knows, the phrase “championship points leader” might not accompany his name for much longer. 

Alexander Rossi (27) exits turn 5 during the Rev Group Grand Prix, Sunday, June 23, 2019, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Rossi won the race. (Photo: GARY C. KLEIN, AP)

For now, it does. Fortunately for Newgarden and the rest of the NTT IndyCar Series title contenders, extra points aren’t awarded for dominance. Despite a 28-second victory, Rossi earned 53 points (50 for the win, a bonus point for leading a lap and two for leading the most laps) and still trails Newgarden by seven (402-395). 

And while Rossi isn’t pleased to be trailing in the championship, he took some solace in the fact that for the first time in a while, he didn’t finish a race behind a Penske. 

Entering the weekend, Rossi had finished runner-up to a Penske car in three of the past four races (Simon Pagenaud at the Indianapolis 500 and Newgarden at Detroit and Texas). 

It wasn’t so much that he was sick of settling for second and it was being disappointed that he kept coming up agonizingly short. 

“We don’t show up to finish second,” Rossi said. “It wasn’t that we were upset with second, it’s that we were getting beat by the guys we were fighting in the championship. That’s where it was hurting us. But the thing that I was telling everyone is, ‘We have pace. It’s not that we’re finishing second or 10th because we’re struggling. We’re there fighting for wins. We’re just not getting it done.'”

Rossi took particular pride in Sunday’s win because of the location. It’s not just that he added Road America to the other jewels on his impressive resume (Watkins Glen, Long Beach, the 100th Indianapolis 500); it’s that for one reason or another, he’d never been able to deliver a good result in the heart of Wisconsin.

Before Sunday, he’d never even finished in the top 10 at Road America. Heading into the offseason, that was something he and his team were determined to fix. After finishing second to Scott Dixon in the championship, Rossi said the team underwent a lot of soul-searching to try to unearth the reasons they didn’t thrive at certain tracks — places like Barber and Detroit. 

It has been immensely satisfying, Rossi’s strategist Rob Edwards said, to have improved at each of those venues this year. 

The team went from 11th to fifth at Barber. They left Detroit with 73 points instead of 57. Texas was only a minor improvement — third to second — but it was an improvement nonetheless. That’s been the story of Rossi’s season so far. At six events this season, the No. 27 car has scored more points than it did at the same venue last year. 

“It’s always hard to take a fast car and make it faster,” Rossi said. “It’s very impressive that they’ve been able to do that. Obviously can’t do it without Honda’s continual development, as well. In some ways I think it’s minimizing mistakes and just trying to take advantage of the days where you have the car that’s best in the field.”

While Rossi was happy to put to bed the storyline of, as he put it at Texas, “being the bridesmaid and never the bride,” there’s still one plot he cannot erase despite his best efforts. 

Almost every time there’s a camera of microphone placed in front of his face, the potential free agent is bombarded with questions about where he’ll drive next season. 

After Sunday’s race, one journalist — Motorsport’s David Malsher — asked the biggest name in the Silly Season rumor mill if a show of strength like that one would have an effect on where Rossi ends up driving next year. 

Rossi’s response? Check with the Big Man Upstairs. 

Question: Bearing in mind the Penskes finished half a minute behind you, does that weigh into your consideration where you want to drive next year?

Answer: I have no considerations.

Q: None whatsoever?

A: No.

: It’s in God’s hands.

Q: Is it?

A: It is.

There you have it. If you want to know which team Rossi will be driving for next year, start praying. 

Follow IndyStar Motorsports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @jimayello. 

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