Honda Wraps Up Dominating Motorsports Victory at Long Beach with Alexander Rossi

Race car driver Alexander Rossi and his Andretti Autosport Honda brought it home for Honda on Sunday, with a decisive victory for Honda at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Rossi, who led 71 of 85 laps, managed to fend off former series champion Will Power after a late-race caution bunched the field.

Starting from the pole, Rossi took the lead at the green flag and remained in command throughout the 85-lap event, surrendering the lead only as the field cycled through various pit stop strategies.  Although a late yellow flag bunched the field and eliminated his seven-second advantage, Rossi held off second-running Will Power over the final 10 laps, and built a 1.24-second lead at the checkers.

This victory was  Rossi's first of 2018 and his third career Indy car triumph. The win  moves him into the championship lead, with 126 points to Josef Newgarden's 104. With this event, Honda also has widened their lead in the IndyCar Manufacturers' Championship, with an unofficial total of 263 points to 193 for rival Chevrolet.

Rossi Takes His Andretti Autosport Honda and "Clears the Field" in Long Beach Qualifying Round

Honda reports that race car driver Alexander Rossi took his Andretti Autosport Honda to the pole yesterday in qualifying for today's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, emerging as the leader in both the opening and final rounds of "knockout" IndyCar Series qualifying.

Rossi logged a time of 1 minute, 06.5528 seconds in the third and last round, 0.3526 seconds quicker than nearest rival Will Power, exceeding the gap that covered the entire remaining Fast Six final qualifiers.

Scott Dixon, the 2015 Long Beach winner, and Graham Rahal also advanced to final round qualifying for Honda. Another four Honda drivers advanced as far as the second qualifying round, including Ryan Hunter-Reay, defending race winner James Hinchcliffe, impressive rookie Robert Wickens and St. Petersburg race winner Sebasties Bourdais.