Rossi: 'Fitting' to win first IndyCar pole at the Glen

Of the many revelations that have come from an amazing season of IndyCar racing, the consistent rise of Alexander Rossi ranks among the best stories in the paddock. His pole position Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen certainly stunned Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, and sent a message to the rest of the field that he and the No. 98 Andretti Autosport team have reached a place where big results are expected at every circuit.

The young Californian has already demonstrated a mastery of oval driving, which made his pole on a road course – in the one specific style of driving that dominated his life prior to IndyCar – a welcome addition to his mounting number of accolades.

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"I love this place," he said with a smile. "It's one of my favorite road courses in the whole world actually. It's amazing to come here. It's a joy to drive an IndyCar around here. This is IndyCars at their absolute best, Watkins Glen."

Beyond the joy of earning his first IndyCar pole, Rossi found extra meaning in where it was achieved.

"It's a privilege," he continued. "It was so exciting to me because I'd always watched Watkins Glen as a track in the old races, Formula 1. I knew that kind of from hearsay it was an amazing track from guys over in Europe. I'd never been able to be here. [When it was added] to the 2016 calendar, when it finally happened, I was pretty stoked about it.

"I'm glad my first career pole is here. It's fitting based on the fact that this is a track that is similar to the tracks that I kind of was racing on in Europe for so many years. It just all clicked here today."

Clicking with Jeremy Milless, his new race engineer who joined the team from Ed Carpenter Racing, was also a key element in the run to pole.

"I would say May onwards it's been there," Rossi said of their driver-engineer chemistry. "I think we had a shot to be on pole in Detroit. Takuma got it. I made a mistake in the final corner, next day we chose the wrong tire, but we were really fast all weekend. I think Detroit we had the chance. I have think Texas we had the chance. Pocono we had the chance."

It's only a pole; Rossi still needs to capture his first IndyCar win on a road or street course, but all indicators point to the 25-year-old being on the cusp of joining the series' front-runners as a regular threat for victory.