Every successful NTT IndyCar Series team begins with trust. The driver must trust the engineer with devising a competitive setup. The trust factor shifts to the chief mechanic, whose crew builds the race car to that particular setup.

Then, there is the race strategist, who comes up with the pre-race strategy, that is often changed quickly in a race to stay on top of the conditions that develop. An early caution period can change the race strategy completely, with some teams opting for a fuel savings strategy, or an all-out attack on building as large a lead as possible before having to pit.

A successful combination can give the driver a “secret weapon.”

For Alexander Rossi, driver of the No. 27 NAPA Honda, his secret weapons are Jeremy Milless (pictured above) as his race engineer, Scott “Skid” Marks as the chief mechanic and Andretti Autosport Chief Operating Officer Rob Edwards calling the race strategy.

With Rossi behind the wheel, this group is among the best on pit lane.

In last Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix at Road America, they were nearly perfect as Rossi led all but one lap in the 55-lap race and defeated Team Penske’s Will Power by over 28 seconds.

“If we had stayed out two laps longer on that last pit stop, we would have led every lap instead of Graham Rahal leading one lap,” Milless told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “It was still nerve-wracking.

“It’s good to see when we give Alex a proper car, he puts it to work. You always wonder after you win if you are ever going to win again, but we still have it.

“Our goal is to win three more times this season.”

In victory lane, Edwards admitted it was a near-perfect race.

“It was made by the start when Alexander got the pass done on Colton Herta,” Edwards told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “From there on, we managed the race, the rest of the way home. We got caught at COTA (Circuit of the Americas) earlier this year by running to the end of the fuel window, so we determined we would stop at the beginning of the window. I’ll gladly give up that one lap led. The pole would have been good, but I’ll take wins every time, especially after all the second-place finishes we’ve had.

“Alexander is so good; he communicates well with what the car is doing and is able to let us know what it is doing.

“We hold ourselves to a high standard. If we are going to win the championship, we have to win a bunch more races. Today was a good start. We have to win two or three more races, now.”

Rossi knows the men behind is effort helps him compete at a high level and challenge for the championship.

“The chemistry you have between your engineer, strategist and the whole team is important,” Rossi told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “The continuity we’ve been able to have since 2017 is a really good thing and it will play a big role for us here as we fight down the stretch for a championship.”

NTT IndyCar Series action resumes July 12-14 with the Honda Indy Toronto. The race is at 3 p.m. on NBC and the Advance Auto Parts Radio Network.