Indy 500 Results 2016: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

Usually, it takes a driver years of experience to conquer Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Struggles and heartbreaking near-misses typically culminate a lengthy journey to the sport's pinnacle.

Not for Alexander Rossi.

The 24-year-old took home the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, conserving fuel just well enough to stay on the track and top a loaded field of drivers.

Mobil 1 The Grid shared a photo of Rossi's celebration following his victory along with his disbelief at the achievement:

In his first race at the hallowed speedway, Rossi wasn't forced to pit on the last round of stops and won the race going away. He held a 4.5-second lead over second place Carlos Munoz and a 4.9-second advantage over third place Josef Newgarden. No other drivers were within 10 seconds of the lead.

Tony Kanaan and Charlie Kimball rounded out the top five.

Position	Driver
1	Alexander Rossi
2	Carlos Munoz
3	Josef Newgarden
4	Tony Kanaan
5	Charlie Kimball
6	JR Hildebrand
7	James Hinchcliffe
8	Scott Dixon
9	Sebastien Bourdais
10	Will Power

Most of the top cars wound up running a few laps short on fuel. Kanaan and Newgarden were battling for the lead before needing to stop, and Munoz took a brief lead with 10 laps remaining. Smart pitting strategy wound up making Rossi look like a genius, and he glided to a chance to kiss the bricks.

"I have no idea how we pulled that off. ... I can’t believe we’ve done this," Rossi said, per Matt Glenesk of the Indianapolis Star.

Points leader Simon Pagenaud finished the race in 19th place, a lap down. The dominant Frenchman had won his last three races and had finished no worse than second all season, but he struggled all day after being penalized on pit road. Scott Dixon, who entered second in points, gained some ground with an eighth-place finish.

Ranking	Driver	Points
1	Simon Pagenaud	253
2	Scott Dixon	190
3	Helio Castroneves	178
4	Juan Pablo Montoya	165
5	Graham Rahal	149
6	Tony Kanaan	143
7	Charlie Kimball	141
8	James Hinchcliffe	136
9	Josef Newgarden	135
10	Alexander Rossi	129

It was a dreadful day for defending champion Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished in last place after being involved in a crash on Lap 64. Montoya made contact with the outside wall in a one-car crash, losing control of his car coming out of Turn 2:

The No. 2 car entered the day in third place in the point standings and had not finished any worse than ninth all year. 

"It was loose and I just lost the car," Montoya said, per John Oreovicz of ESPN.com. "It got loose in the corner and the thing just snapped. It's just difficult. People are doing dumb things on the restarts. I was just taking my time coming through the field and the car felt pretty good. It just snapped out of nowhere."

Youngster Sage Karam also crashed out to finish 32nd. Karam, 21, has finished 32nd each of the last two years after running to a surprising ninth place in 2014. He lost control of his car in Turn 1: 

Mechanical issues undid the Indy 500 runs of Ed Carpenter and Buddy Lazier, who each bowed out with dispiriting performances. Lazier, celebrating the 20-year anniversary of his 1996 Indy 500 win, finished 100 laps down. He was the oldest driver in the field, this time competing as a car owner.

“I hope that five years down the road it’s a full time program,” Lazier said about Lazier Burns Racing, per Rob Peeters of Indianapolis Monthly. “Hopefully at least a two car team.”

Still, this day was all about Rossi, who may have started his own legacy with a surprising win at the sport's biggest race. Rossi had not finished better than 10th in any of his previous races for Andretti Herta Autosport. While he's a promising young driver, his win has to rank among the most surprising in recent memory.

The list of recent winners is a who's-who of dominant IndyCar racers. Montoya, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Kanaan and Dario Franchitti are quite the company to keep—and that's just going back a half-decade. Rossi didn't have the best car all day, but he ran the smartest race. Sometimes that's all you need.  

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Post-Race Reaction

Rossi spoke of his mindset, via the Associated Press (via ESPN.com): "I really was focused on taking it one lap at a time. The emotional roller-coaster of this race is ridiculous. There were moments I was really stoked, really heartbroken, really stoked. I was like, 'Wow, I'll need to see a psychiatrist after this.'"

Team owner Michael Andretti offered his thoughts: "I knew Alex was going to try (the fuel strategy), and we said 'Alright, if he's going to try it, we're going to try something else (with Munoz).' To come home 1-2 is just incredible. It was amazing. I don't know what to say, it's a great day, to be a part of history, to win the 100th running, and to win it with a 1-2 finish is just incredible."

Munoz was frustrated by how he lost the race: "I was really disappointed when it comes with fuel and you lose the race because of that. I was really disappointed to get second. Half a lap short. What can I say? The only thing I'm clear about is that I will win this race one day."