Retooled strategy key to Rossi’s 18th-to-fifth run

On what was a largely frustrating day for his Andretti Autosport teammates, Alexander Rossi wound up making a satisfying race at Barber Motorsports Park after what had started off as a bleak weekend. The Indy 500 champ gained 11 positions from his 18th starting spot by mid-race, and went on to a fifth-place finish. Even so, he wasn't overly impressed.

"We knew based on our starting position that we had to come up with something different. We knew we were stopping early, then it was about how fast we can go while saving fuel," said Rossi. "The team did a good job and gave me a good car.

"Considering we started 18th, a top-five is really good. I don't think it was weather – we worked really hard overnight and tried to understand where we made mistakes this weekend. We'll use it as a learning experience, Friday and Saturday, and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"We were pretty disappointed yesterday – my engineer and I were on the bridge of desperation a little bit last night, so we made a lot of good decisions overnight and we resolved some of ours issues – not not all of them." he added.

At least he was feeling better than the rest of the Andretti Autosport crew which, otherwise endured another frustrating afternoon. Marco Andretti was forced into the pits before the start after his car got stuck in first gear. A change of gearbox control unit cost him three laps and any hope of a good finish.

Ryan Hunter-Reay's chances also took an early hit with he and James Hinchcliffe tangled, forcing an out-of-sequence stop. Things didn't get much better after that.

"We started fifth with the DHL car – which was positive since we started 18th here last year – so we were looking forward to capitalizing on that and then lost ground on the start," rued Hunter-Reay, who wound up 11th. "At the beginning of the race Hinchcliffe just tracked out and hit me; the contact broke our front wing. We went to the back and worked our way to what should have been a 10-place finish, but then Mikhail (Aleshin) knocked me off the track right at the end. It was an eventful day, but not the finish we were looking for. Looking forward to moving on to Phoenix."

Takuma Sato persevered through brake-related issues for a ninth-place finish.