NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Alexander Rossi
Starts 12th
THE MODERATOR: We will start with row 4. Starting 12th, the 2016 winner the Indianapolis 500, Alexander Rossi. Starting 10th, seven-time winner in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Scott McLaughlin. We’re waiting on Conor Daly.
Rossi, I was here for your first win as a rookie, with a new team this year, rookie on the pole. Number two this year.
ALEXANDER ROSSI: I hope so. What I’ve explained to quite a few people throughout this month is when you feel all of the emotions of this place, the heartbreak and the close calls, as well as the good moments, it really just continues to increase your desire to be successful here.
You think each year that, like, Okay, I’ve reached the most that I could want to win this race. Then you come back and you go through the whole process again and you get a glimpse of you have a good team a good package, a good opportunity, and you can’t help but imagine what it would be like to do it again.
Yeah, I mean, I think it was a long time ago at this point. We’ve come very close multiple times since then. I think we have as good a shot as any this year to try to get number two.
Q. Because you won it so soon, do you look back at it now and kind of relish and cherish and appreciate it even more?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: I think it’s hard for any athlete to in the moment, right, because you’re so focused on trying to get better, trying to improve yourself, it’s very hard to look back and, for lack of a better term, relax and reminisce about the good moments.
You so often think about the ones that got away more than you think about the one where it all actually worked out.
Yes, you see clips that bring you back. There’s memorabilia that I have in my house that you take a moment. Ultimately you’re always focused ahead and trying to figure out how you can get back to that point for a second time.
Q. You’ve been doing this for a while. First sellout in decades. There’s a lot of energy in Indy right now. How does it compare to years past? How excited are you for Sunday?
CONOR DALY: He won that one last time it was sold out, so he can start.
ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah, just waiting for it to sell out again so I could drink more milk.
It’s amazing. I think INDYCAR as a whole has been on a pretty amazing trajectory since I joined in 2016. This race in particular. Every year, Doug would talk about, when we started in ’17, it’s been the most amount of tickets we’ve sold other than the 100th running. Finally we’re at as many tickets as the 100th running. It’s not an anniversary event.
I think a lot of people that came in ’16 were there because they wanted to be there for the 100ths. I think it just shows the appetite that everyone has for INDYCAR, for the Indy 500.
As Scott said, it’s a representation of what’s been done by the leadership to get to this point.
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