FORT WORTH, Texas – Alexander Rossi will start the second half of the IndyCar season chasing points leader Josef Newgarden, possibly much the same way he did in falling short in the final laps late Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway as Newgarden won on the 1.5-mile high-speed oval for the first time.
The Andretti Autosport driver has plenty of time to try to finish what he couldn’t in the Lone Star State, starting in two weeks at Road America after the first break for the series since before Newgarden’s Penske teammate, Simon Pagenaud, won the Indianapolis 500 in late May.
The top three in points are Newgarden, Rossi and Pagenaud, which at the halfway point puts all three in good position for a run at the series championship. There were eight races before Newgarden’s win Saturday, and there are eight more after.
Josef Newgarden, who’s from Hendersonville, Tennessee, leads the IndyCar season points standings heading into the second half of the schedule.As for Rossi, it might come down to escaping the runner-up rut – three times in the past four races, including to Pagenaud in the Indy 500. Currently 25 points behind Newgarden, Rossi also finished No. 2 last year behind series champion Scott Dixon.
“When you have a Penske Chevrolet driven by someone as good as Josef, there’s only so much you can do, right?” said Rossi, who dominated earlier this year while winning in Long Beach, California, and has seven top-five finishes in 2019. “I mean, we’re always there, but we’re always playing the bridesmaid as of late.”