(This is the latest in a series of stories tracing the roots of Verizon IndyCar Series drivers through their own words. IndyCar.com writer Phillip B. Wilson asks drivers where they grew up and what first sparked their interest in racing. Today’s subject: Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner from Nevada City, California.)

Wilson: Nevada City is heavy into the gold rush culture and history?

Rossi: Yeah, it was a gold mining town. The main mine there is Empire Mine. It was huge in the gold rush. One of the very first towns established based on the gold rush was called Sutter. That’s about 45 minutes from where I am. And then there was Nevada City.

Wilson: So you’re up on that?

Rossi: Yeah, I was there for 16 years.

Wilson: They added “City” to the town name to avoid confusion with the state Nevada. Do you get that?

Rossi: People get confused when I say Nevada City, California. The Nevada border is under an hour away, so it might as well be Nevada.

Wilson: Do you have an earliest memory?

Rossi: My family was huge into skiing. Nevada City is kind of a suburb of a ski town.

Wilson: Skiing was family fun?

Rossi: You start at a young age (5) and you just develop a skill. I remember instructors but my dad (Peter) was a very, very good skier. He had the potential to do a lot of things in skiing but never did because he started his business, but he was a good coach. And my mom (Dawn) was an excellent skier as well.

Wilson: Did you go to prom?

Rossi: No, I was in Europe racing.

Wilson: Do many people remember you from high school?

Rossi: I stay in touch with four or five people from high school. That’s it.

Wilson: It blows my mind how small your hometown is. You’re a small-town dude.

Rossi: Yeah, less than 10,000 people is the population.

Wilson: I read about 3,000.

Rossi:Yes, the actual Nevada City, but there’s little towns in the area, Grass Valley and Penn Valley.

Wilson: For an adventurer, I would think being in a small town would be boring, but here you turned out to be an Indianapolis 500 winner and avid skier. A rather unassuming beginning didn’t affect you at all?

Rossi: No, I guess not. We have four or five restaurants there.

Wilson: Favorite?

Rossi: There’s only one real nice restaurant, Friar Tuck’s.

Wilson: What do you like to order at Friar Tuck’s?

Rossi: They have this teriyaki New York steak, which is pretty good. That’s where all the parents will go on date night. It’s like the one white tablecloth restaurant.

Wilson: That’s home.

Rossi: It was front-page news when we got a Walgreens.

Wilson: A big deal, huh?

Rossi: That’s progress.

(Check out Rossi's IndyCar.com biography, Also read previous "Racing rel="noopener noreferrer" Roots" entries on Marco Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott rel="noopener noreferrer" Dixon, Ed Carpenter, Josef Newgarden, Spencer rel="noopener noreferrer" Pigot, Carlos Munoz, Ed Jones, Simon rel="noopener noreferrer" Pagenaud, Will Power and Charlie Kimball.)