IndyCar: The record Alexander Rossi inherited from Marco Andretti

By Asher Fair | Apr 24, 2021

Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport, IndyCar -Mandatory Credit: Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports /

To start the 2021 IndyCar season, Alexander Rossi inherited a mark that Marco Andretti had had to his credit for several years up until now.

For the first time since the 2005 season finale at Auto Club Speedway, Marco Andretti was not on the entry list for an IndyCar race. Andretti, who made his series debut in the 2006 season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway, did not compete in this past Sunday’s race at Barber Motorsports Park to open up the 2021 season.

Following his 15th consecutive season as a full-time driver, the 34-year-old Nazareth, Pennsylvania native made the decision to step away from full-time competition, at least for the 2021 season.

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He is still set to compete in the 105th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late May and perhaps a few other races throughout the season. This summer, he is set to compete in the all-new Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) stock car series.

Andretti never missed a race throughout his 15 seasons as a full-time driver.

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In fact, his 248-race streak of starts over that span is the third longest of all-time behind only Tony Kanaan’s, which just ended at 318 races (2001 to 2020), and Scott Dixon’s, which is still active and up to 273 (2004 to present). Andretti’s streak is the all-time record to start a career.

Going even close to that distance to start a career without missing a race is incredibly rare. Of the 24 drivers who competed in the 2021 season opener, only eight have never missed a race, and it should come as no surprise that five of them are either rookies from 2020 or 2021.

Now the driver with the longest active streak of starts to open up his career is Alexander Rossi, who hasn’t missed a race since he made his series debut on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in 2016.

He finished in ninth place in Sunday’s 90-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.38-mile (3.830-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama, giving him 82 consecutive starts to open up his career. It is not even one-third of Andretti’s record, but it is now the highest active mark in the series.

Aside from Rossi, there are only seven other active drivers who haven’t missed a race since their careers began, and only two competed in a race before the 2020 season began. None of their streaks are more than 33 races.

Colton Herta, who made his debut in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway, has competed in 33 consecutive races while Felix Rosenqvist, who made his debut in the 2019 season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, has competed in 32 straight.

Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay both made their series debuts in the 2020 season opener at Texas Motor Speedway. In fact, the same wreck took both drivers out of their race. They have both competed in 15 consecutive events.

The only other three drivers on this list are the three “veteran” rookies of the 2021 season: three-time Australian Supercars championship Scott McLaughlin, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson and former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean.

McLaughlin’s streak is up to two, as he made his debut in the 2020 season finale on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, while Johnson and Grosjean both have one start under their belts this past Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park.

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Rossi’s streak is set to hit 83 consecutive races in this weekend’s race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBC is set to broadcast this race live beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 25.