Nick Heinz, who grew up in Freeport, is being lauded for playing a crucial role in rookie driver Alexander Rossi’s victory in the historic 100th running of the famed Indianapolis 500 race late last month.
The Exponent — the student newspaper of Heinz’ alma mater, Purdue University — featured Heinz this week.
Heinz, a top engineer on Rossi’s team, helped devise a fuel conservation strategy that would help him get farther on less gas. It was Heinz who gave team co-owner Bryan Herta that all-important fuel number — the amount Rossi would need to cross the finish line and not a drop more — The Exponent reported.
Had the number been too low, Rossi would have needed to stop more for refueling or, perhaps worse, run out of gas before the race ended. Too high and he could’ve been carrying around unnecessary weight.
USA Today described it as a “Hail Mary strategy, which had [Rossi] tail cars he could’ve passed in order to go farther by saving fuel — not a strategy to which F1 drivers are accustomed.”
Other drivers in contention for the win at the iconic race “had to make late stops for a splash” of extra gas, IndyCar.com reported.
“We knew that there wasn’t enough fuel and that we would probably run out on the last lap,” Heinz told the Purdue student newspaper. “I remember Rossi going through turn three and then turn four and it hit me, we were going to win the 500.”
Heinz graduated from Purdue in 2011 with a master’s degree in aerospace engineering and landed a job with Bryan Herta Autosport — which would later go on to merge with Andretti Autosport — in 2012.
