Alexander Rossi, Honda Continue with Andretti Autosport

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer

LEXINGTON, Ohio — Alexander Rossi’s foreseeable future is secure.

Andretti Autosport announced at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course that the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner has signed a multi-year deal to remain with the team in the No. 27 entry. As part of the deal, NAPA Auto Parts will remain with the team for nine races next year while AutoNation will join the car for the remaining races.

The team also announced that Honda will remain as the team’s engine supplier in a multi-year agreement. Since joining forces in 2014 following a couple of years with Chevrolet, Andretti Autosport have won three Indianapolis 500s with Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Rossi (2016) and Takuma Sato (2017).

Rossi has built up a good team around himself at Andretti Autosport. Race engineer Jeremy Milless joined Andretti Autosport for 2017 and has been with Rossi for all of his wins since. That chemistry was a big factor in helping Rossi make his decision in a winning environment.

“It’s been an amazing experience to be able to discuss and plan the future with a huge amount of trust,” said Rossi. “And that’s really what made this decision what it is. This is home for me, this is a team that I know. Michael gave me the opportunity in 2016 when I was an unknown to this series and really to North American racing and what we’ve been able to grow through and accomplish in three and a half, running on four years is sensational and I think that we’re only going to get stronger, we’re only going to get better and the partnerships and commitments that we have from Honda and NAPA and AutoNation are going to allow us to do this and we have big plans ahead and it’s all going to start here this weekend.”

Rossi’s career has been based around Honda since joining Andretti Autosport. In addition to driving in Indy car competition, Rossi also drives the Acura DPi for Team Penske in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Having Honda remain with the team was essential for the deal to come together.

“This is an important moment for Honda Performance Development,” said Ted Klaus, President, Honda Performance Development. “Andretti Autosport is unquestionably one of the premier teams in the NTT IndyCar Series, and we are gratified to earn their confidence for the foreseeable future.”

The Honda Indy 200 is Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET on NBC.