Jim Ayello

jim.ayello@indystar.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- As he pulled down victory lane, sweat pouring off of him, tears dripping from his eyes, Alexander Rossi was seconds away from performing one of the most historic celebration rituals in American sports.

And he was absolutely clueless.

Still stunned after his miraculous victory in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, the 24-year-old rookie took a deep breath and stood up in his car to the raucous applause of a record-setting crowd. He raised his arms in triumph, and from there … utter confusion.

What do I do with the milk?

How does one even wear a wreath?

Is that Mrs. Brady?

“What I try and explain to people,” Rossi said months later, "was that there was never a single point in those 3½ hours (during the race), let alone those weeks of buildup before, where I really thought I was going to win the Indy 500.”

But he did.

For some, however, his naivety to the sacred traditions of the 100-year-old race wasn’t cute. It was sacrilege.

“The connotation became,” Rossi said, “that I didn’t care about the 500 because I wasn’t jumping on top of the car and screaming my head off.”

Fans and media began putting the puzzle pieces together. Here is this California kid who fled America at 17 for the pomp of Europe and Formula One. He stayed there for seven years and returned — donning European clothes and sporting a slight English accent — only when things didn’t go his way. And now he has the gall to show irreverence on the sport’s grandest stage?

It might have appeared that way, Rossi said. But they had it all wrong.

Let him explain.

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***

Less than 10 months have passed since the win that changed his life — and his name.

When he attends events — and there have been a lot of events since winning the 500 — he’s no longer Alexander Rossi. He’s “Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi.”

It's taken those 10 months for him truly begin to understand what winning the 500 means.

"He hadn’t even been to the speedway until (April)," said Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles, whose stepson, Conor Daly, has been a longtime racing friend of Rossi. "I think over time, he's realized how cool (the IndyCar series) is and how fortunate he is to be here. I think, as every day goes by, he realizes what’s happening here. What he did and what it means.”

Fans have to remember, Boles continued, “Rossi is the total opposite of Tony (Kanaan). He won on his first one before he knew what it meant. It took TK 13 years. And every year, it meant more and more and more to him. I think that’s what will happen to Alex. He’ll learn — unless he wins again this year — to want it more and more and more as the years go on.”

That's exactly right, Rossi said while sitting at a table at Dawson’s on Main, no more than a few hundred yards away from the site of his greatest triumph and a few miles from his new home in Fountain Square.

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Growing up in California, he watched the 500, but his focus was F1. He and his parents used to wake up at 4:30 a.m. 18-20 Sundays a year to watch Europe's grand prix races.

"It's just what we did," Rossi said. "We must have been one of the few families in America who did that, but we loved it. ... It wasn't that I disliked NASCAR or IndyCar, it's just that I didn't watch it enough.”

At 17, he left his home and family for England in hopes of chasing his childhood dream of becoming an F1 driver.

And once he left, said Andretti-Herta Autosport co-owner Bryan Herta, who divined the fuel-saving strategy that prompted Rossi’s 500 win, “he had blinders on to the rest of the racing world.”

Rossi spent seven years in Europe, returning last February to join Andretti-Herta Autosport, and he was beyond green when it came to his new gig. So green in fact that his boss, Michael Andretti, famously called him "clueless about IndyCar."

He had never raced on oval track. Never driven an Indy car. He hadn't even raced in America since 2008.

To make matters worse, he wasn't treated like an American upon returning home.

"'He’s claiming he's American, and he isn't,'" Rossi said, explaining his perception upon return to the United States. "That was hard to swallow. Because you’re like, 'No, I still lived here when I wasn’t racing. All of my family is in America; I came back to America every Christmas and spent all of the holidays here. I only went over there when I was 17.' ... So that part was hard. Or surprising. Maybe not hard. There wasn't anything negative, per se, or spiteful or bad blood. There was just this underlying connotation of, 'Yeah, but he’s European.'"

To outsiders, he might come across that way. Not necessarily because he looks or talks like he's from Europe, but because he doesn't try to dissuade people from thinking that about him.

With newcomers to his life, he's not exactly shy, but his tone is measured, rarely rising or falling no matter the topic of conversation. His sense of humor is dry-witted. He laughs, but not too loud. He's nice, but "an introvert," said the bombastic Helio Castroneves.

To a point, that's true, Rossi said. But to those who know him, he's as likable as anyone on the series.

"He's funny," said Herta. "I like him. I like being around him. I find him intriguing. He's not gregarious. He's not out there like Josef (Newgarden) or James (Hinchcliffe) might be. That's not his personality. But he's a good dude. Me and this team really like working with him."

That is the person Alexander Rossi wants America and IndyCar fans to get to know. Not the guy who looked like he didn't care about winning the Indianapolis 500.

"Not only had I not raced in the 500 before, I had never been to 500 before. So there was just no way (I could understand)," Rossi said. "I had a lack of understanding for IndyCar, and people had a lack of understanding of what I was trying to do."

Since May, Rossi has been on a mission to change that perception. It started in October when he put those "he's just using us to get back to Formula One" rumors to bed with his decision to re-sign with Andretti-Herta. It continued throughout the 10-month tour of events promoting his victory and the series.

And it will continue throughout the coming season, Rossi said, and he warns fans that they should start getting ready to see his face — a lot.

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***

When asked if he plans to snag as much air time as Indiana's biggest sports celebrity, Rossi didn't flinch.

"Possibly," he said with a smirk. "Won't be nation-wide. But we'll be around."

Like Peyton Manning, Rossi considers himself a perfectionist,.on the track as well as off. That's why instead of enjoying what little down time he did have this past winter, Rossi spent as much time as he could in Los Angeles working on his brand.

Rossi, who recently made pit stops at NFL Network, USA TODAY, CNN World Sport and even did a guest spot on Harry Connick Jr.’s syndicated talk show, “Harry," has a vision for himself. He wants not only to amass a dedicated following of IndyCar fans, but also become a bridge to IndyCar for non-racing fans.

"I’m doing a lot of things and building a brand completely separate from Verizon IndyCar Series and just being a racing driver," said Rossi, who's ambitiously targeting the fashion, nutrition and entertainment markets. "There's a lot of things I'm trying to do. Things outside the box, and things people will start seeing trickle in the next few weeks and months.

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For those already thinking it, “Dancing with the Stars” is not on his agenda.

Too much pressure, Rossi said, a little tongue in cheek. If he didn’t make it to the final like Castroneves in 2007 and Hinchcliffe last season, he’d never be able to live it down.

"It’s a long-term vision. But I definitely want to be that gateway to make IndyCar a household sport. There’s a huge opportunity because it’s the most competitive racing on the planet. I know that for a fact because I did the other one. There are a lot very cool people and very cool things that IndyCar does."

A fan interrupted Rossi. She'd pegged him from across the restaurant and needed to tell him how much she adores him.

Can’t wait to watch you drive again in Toronto, she said.

Does he get that a lot?

"In Indiana, yeah," said Rossi. "Nowhere else. Trying to change that though."

Follow Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter: @jamesayello and on Instagram: @jimayello.