WATCH: Ex-F1 Driver Rossi Has a Scary Encounter in Baja 1000

Alexander Rossi, the last American driver on the grid, rode for Marussia Racing between 2014 and 2015, but could only manage 7 entries. He switched to IndyCar in 2016 and then achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Indy500 as a rookie. (Something even the mighty Fernando Alonso couldn’t do)

So far he’s taken 5 victories, 12 podiums and 4 pole positions in IndyCar and continues to look impressive. Recently he decided to run in Baja-1000, an off-road racing event. It is a Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula. The racing series allows various types of vehicle classes to compete on the same course with classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs and buggies.

In doing so, Rossi became the fifth Indy500 race winner to compete in Baja 100. Speaking about the same, Rossi had earlier revealed, “It’s just one of those iconic races. There’s a Honda connection, so [when offered the ride] I just figured, ‘Why not?’ I’m pretty excited about it. It’s something new, something different. I’m looking forward to the experience.”

In the first few miles of the SCORE Baja 1000 run, Rossi was driving a No.709 Honda Ridgeline Class 7 truck, driving on a high-speed section of the course near Ojos Negros, just 33 miles into the race. The road, despite the presence of race cars, is open to local traffic and Rossi got to know about it in a very ugly manner.

Taking over the speedy bumps, he had a Mexican spectator right in front of him giving him split seconds to think and react. A head on collision might have been fatal for the spectator considering Rossi’s speed and strength of the vehicle he was driving.

In the end, he managed to just clip the car’s side mirror escaping harmless. But it must have been a nerve wrecking moment for him and the the guy driving the black truck (in video).