If there was something that could go wrong for the NAPA Auto Parts No. 27 IndyCar team during the 2020 season, it did go wrong.
But driver Alexander Rossi will be the first one to take responsibility for it.
“No, I just think we sucked globally,” Rossi said. “Like there wasn’t anything we were doing right, whether it was qualifying performance, whether it was race performance, pit stops, my driving. None of it was good.”
After back-to-back seasons in 2018 and 2019 of finishing third in the points standings, Rossi was expected to take the next step and compete for a title in 2020.
However, things went in an extremely different direction.
On two occasions, Rossi finished outside of the top 10 in three-straight races. He attributed it to the lack of track preparation as the pandemic trimmed down practice time.
“I think at the end of the day as much as we as a team struggled with the minimal practice time, I did, as well,” Rossi said. “Like I wasn’t doing a good enough job getting up to speed quick enough, which was putting us on the back foot and having to take pretty big risks in qualifying.”
Part of Rossi’s poor finishes involved poor luck.
Even things like mechanical failure hindered the Andretti Autosport team.
“Obviously we had three failures in a row, got taken out of a race before the green flag even dropped. There was a lot of things that happened out of our control, as well,” Rossi said. “But I think even without those things, it’s not like we were really in the top two to five anyways at that point. Yeah, like I said, it was a lot of self-reflection from all involved, and we’ve all made efforts to get better and get stronger.”
That was part of the main focus as the team started turning their attention to this season.
As Rossi was virtually eliminated from winning the title and buried in the middle of the points standings, him and his team rattled off four-straight podiums at Mid-Ohio and Indianpolis’ road course.
“We just all were honest with each other, and we all kind of discussed things that were good and things that were not good, and we took 2020 as an opportunity to learn from our mistakes,” Rossi said. “I think there’s an advantage and so many positives we can take out of it, and like I said, I think the end of the year went really well for us for the most part, minus St. Pete, which is on me.
2021 will be all about redemption for Rossi – as well as other drivers that will be trying to dethrone a six-time title winner.
Make no mistake, if this team returns to form, Rossi will be a major contender for the title this season as well.
“I’m ready to redeem myself I think is the big one,” Rossi said. “Last year just sucked. It sucked on track, it sucked off track. It was a terrible year for everyone except for Scott and Takuma, so good for them. Ultimately I’m just thrilled that we have the opportunity to get back to racing, that the calendar is what it is, that the continuity on the 27 team is what it is. I think everyone is pushing really, really hard to make sure that there’s no repeats of last year, and we’ll just let the on track do the rest of the talking.”
The season starts on Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, with the broadcast going live at 2:00 p.m. CT on NBC.
“There you go. I’m not going to get into the details of it because it’s not necessary, but I think we’re operating at a really high level right now, and I’m excited to get on track in Barber.”
