Alexander Rossi celebrates winning the NTT IndyCar Series Gallagher Grand Prix. (DARRON CUMMINGS / AP)

Alexander Rossi didn't understand the allure of Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he showed up as a rookie seven years ago and won one of the biggest races in the world.

His win Saturday on the Indy road course didn't rival his 2016 victory in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. But it did snap a 49-race losing streak and gave him a perfect bookend for his seven seasons with Andretti Autosport.

And as he has learned since leaving Formula 1 and transitioning into American motor sports, any win at Indianapolis is incredible.

"Every time I come here, I just appreciate it more and more. It's just such an amazing place for us," said Rossi.

He thought he had a car strong enough at Road America in Wisconsin last month to end his three-year losing streak. Instead, his losing streak lasted 1,133 days－but put him in position to end it at Indy.

"I kind of was hoping on the Road America weekend for it to kind of start and end this drought, but it actually ended here and that's actually kind of a cooler story," said Rossi, who appreciated celebrating with his No 27 crew on the elevated victory podium that was built by track owner Roger Penske in 2020.

"To be able to go up on the lift with the guys and let them experience that, because that didn't exist in 2016, there's a lot of special things about this place," Rossi said."It's just a very special thing for sure."

Rossi's last victory was at Road America in the 10th race of the 2019 season and the losing streak led him to seek a change of scenery: Rossi will drive for Arrow McLaren SP next season.

It was Michael Andretti who gave Rossi a shot in IndyCar when the Californian washed out of F1. Rossi's surprise victory as a rookie in the celebrated 100th running of the Indy 500 made him a star and earned him loyal sponsorship that has weathered his long drought.

"It would have been a pretty sad story if we weren't able to (win),"Rossi said. "I've had the majority of the same group of guys, probably 70 percent of the same group of guys since 2017. It's been hard for them, as well, so it's great to do it as a unit and as a group on the 27 car to kind of get this behind us. Hopefully, we can have a pretty strong run to the end of the year."

Some of Rossi's issues the last three seasons have been team-inflicted－errors, mechanical failures and a full Andretti team meltdown earlier this month at Mid-Ohio－and Saturday was hardly a perfect day for the organization.

Colton Herta controlled the early part of the race but slowed from the lead right before the halfway mark.

"Nothing I can do," he radioed as he tried to cruise his underpowered Honda back to the pit lane.

He later walked alone back to the paddock as the race continued without him.

"Man that is sad," Herta tweeted."We showed what we can do, we'll keep going until we win again."

Rossi sympathized with his teammate.

"I do feel for Colton, I do. But I'm thankful something finally came our way," Rossi said."I think Colton was definitely strong, and we had pretty much the same race car, and that (battle) would've been interesting. But it was the 27's turn. And that's awesome."

Meanwhile, Andretti rookie Devlin DeFrancesco drew the ire of Conor Daly as tempers flared when DeFrancesco ran Daly off the track.

"Devlin needs to be kicked out of this racing series! He's an idiot!"Daly screamed over his radio.

There's been speculation that Andretti is reconsidering bringing DeFrancesco back for a sophomore season.