Rookie Alexander Rossi wins the Indy 500

Alexander Rossi, a 24-year-old rookie from California, won the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 after the other leaders were forced to pit for fuel in the closing laps.

Rossi, too, was running out of fuel but he had enough to slowly cross the finish line at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Carlos Munoz finished second, Josef Newgarden was third, Tony Kanaan took fourth and Charlie Kimball, another Californian, came in fifth.

Rossi became the first rookie to win the race since Helio Castroneves in 2001.

“I have no idea how we pulled that off,” Rossi, a native of Nevada City, Calif., said after he took the traditional gulp of milk in Victory Lane. “I just can’t believe that we’ve done this. I’m just so thankful.”

Rossi inherited the lead after Kanaan, Newgarden and then Munoz had to pit for a splash of fuel to complete the race’s 200 laps.

“I really think we had a shot,” Newgarden said. “It just didn’t fall our way.”

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12:05 p.m.: With less than 40 laps to go, Takuma Sato scraped the wall and brought out another yellow flag at the Indianapolis 500.

Moments before, James Hinchcliffe and Tony Kanaan were swapping the lead as all the front-runners remained tightly packed.

And J.R. Hildebrand was running third. The Californian lost the Indy 500 in heartbreaking fashion in 2011 when he hit the wall with one corner to go in the race.

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11:25 a.m.: The two drivers leading the Indianapolis 500, Townsend Bell and Ryan-Hunter Reay, suffered a major blow when their cars collided on pit road.

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Alexander Rossi celebrates with the traditional bottle of milk after winning the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.  (Darron Cummings / Associated Press)

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Tony Kanaan leads a pack of drivers through a turn late during the 100th Indy 500.

  (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

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Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda, and teammate Townsend Bell collide on pit road during the Indy 500 on Sunday.  (Chris Graythen / Getty Images)

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Alexander Rossi’s pit crew services his car during a pit stop for the 100th Indy 500 on Sunday.

  (Rob Baker / Associated Press)

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Pole-sitter James Hinchcliffe (5) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (28) battle for the lead early in the Indy 500 race on Sunday.

  (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

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Ryan Hunter-Reay leads a pack of cars through a turn during the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

  (Robert Laberge / Getty Images)

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Pole-sitter James Hinchcliffe leads the field into the first turn on the start of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

  (R. Brent Smith / Associated Press)

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Lady Gaga and Mario Andretti do a double fist-bump before they take a lap in the two-seater IndyCar during pre-race ceremonies for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

  (Kerry Keating / The Indianapolis Star via AP)

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Car owner David Letterman applauds during driver introductions before the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

  (Darron Cummings / Associated Press)

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Four F-18E fighter jets perform a flyover before the start of the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

  (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)

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A digitally converted black-and-white image features the one-yard wide strip of brick on the front stretch at Indianapolis Motor Speedway the morning of the Indy 500.

  (Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images)

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Celebrities arrive on the red carpet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the 100th running of the Indy 500.

  (Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

Bell was trying to pass Hunter-Reay on the outside when he lost control and hit Hunter-Reay’s car, sending both cars into the pit wall. The drivers are teammates on the Andretti Autosport team.

The wreck was a boost for James Hinchcliffe and Helio Castroneves, who were running third and fourth, respectively.

Bell and Hunter-Reay dropped to 25th and 26th, respectively.

The field had pitted after a crash involving Mikhail Aleshin and Conor Daly.

Aleshin lost control and hit the wall between the first and second turns on lap 114 of the 200-lap race and Daly’s car was collected as well. Neither driver appeared injured.

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10:55 a.m.: Sage Karam slammed into the Turn 2 wall to bring out another caution flag near the halfway point of the Indianapolis 500.

Karam was running sixth when the crash happened. The Pennsylvania native climbed from the cockpit and walked away after the accident.

Meanwhile, Helio Castroneves – seeking to become only the fourth driver in history to win the Indy 500 four times – was swapping the lead with pole-sitter James Hinchcliffe.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was third and Josef Newgarden fourth as all the front-runners remained tightly packed at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Graham Rahal had moved up to 12th after starting 26th.

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10:25 a.m.: Juan Pablo Montoya, the defending winner of the Indianapolis 500, spun and crashed on lap 64.

The Penske Racing driver was running mid-pack when he lost control, slapped the outside wall and came to rest in the infield, bringing out the second caution flag of the race.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was leading, followed by James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell.

The Indianapolis 500 is Bell’s only IndyCar race of the year, but the veteran driver from California was running a strong race after qualifying fourth in a car prepared by the Andretti Autosport team.

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10 a.m.: Ryan Hunter-Reay led the Indianapolis 500 after 40 laps while Tony Kanaan made a charge. The race has been caution-free so far.

Hunter-Reay, who won the race in 2014, held a 1.5-second lead over Townsend Bell. Josef Newgarden was third.

Kanaan, the 2013 winner of the 500, climbed to seventh place after starting 18th.

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Mike Conway of England crashes in the third turn in the closing laps of the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 2010,

  (James Miller / Associated Press)

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A burning tire, left, flies toward spectators after a gasoline tank explosion resulting from a crash on the fourth turn on the second lap of the 48th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 30, 1964.

  (Bob Daugherty / Associated Press)

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The feet of Salt Walther protrude from his car (77) after a crash during the Indianapolis 500 on May 28, 1973. Walther survived the crash.

  (Charles A. Robinson / Associated Press)

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Al Unser raises four fingers after winning his fourth Indy 500 on May 24, 1987. Long before he won the Indianapolis 500, Unser was an up-and-coming 25-year-old sprint car driver who had showed up at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to watch his older brother try to qualify. Unser still remembers the feeling of awe when he drove through the tunnel beneath the track.

  (Mike Conroy / Associated Press)

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IndyCar driver JR Hildebrand reacts next to track safety personnel after crashing on the final lap of the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, 2011.Dan Wheldon of England won the race. In a survey of the 27 living winners of the Indy 500, The Associated Press found the 1992 race won by Al Unser Jr. to be the greatest in history. Other memorable races included Little Al’s loss to Emerson Fittipaldi in ‘89, Sam Hornish Jr.’s victory in 2006 and the second win for the late Wheldon in 2011.

  (Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

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Marco Andretti, left, his father and car owner, Michael Andretti, right, and his grandfather Mario Andretti talk in the pit area on the first day of qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 on May 10, 2008. Amazingly, the Andrettis have not driven into Indyís victory lane for more than 45 years.

  (Tom Strattman / Associated Press)

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IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon of England, douses himself with milk after winning the Indianapolis 500 on May 29, 2011. The unusual beverage choice, after a race that lasted hours, was embraced by dairy farmers and has become one of the most unique traditions in sports.

  (Darron Cummings / Associated Press)

The field also completed its first round of pit stops. Pole-sitter James Hinchcliffe, who was challenging for the lead, had a poor pit stop and fell back to sixth.

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9:30 a.m.: The 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 is underway.

The 33-car field started the race cleanly and Ryan Hunter-Reay, a former winner, quickly took the lead.

Pole-sitter James Hinchcliffe was second, followed by Townsend Bell.

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A crowd expected to top 300,000 is pouring into Indianapolis Motor Speedway today for the 100th running of the legendary Indianapolis 500.

It’s a mostly sunny morning with temperatures in the low 80s, and the green flag is set to wave shortly after noon local time, or 9 a.m. PDT. The 33 drivers then race at speeds topping 220 mph.

Located in a residential neighborhood west of downtown Indianapolis, the speedway was here before Fenway Park and Wrigley Field were built. The track has hosted the 500 every year since 1911 except for six years during the two world wars.

This year’s centennial race is a sellout. The 2.5-mile, rectangular track has about 250,000 grandstand seats and can accommodate an additional 70,000 spectators in its infield.

The track said it issued credentials for about 2,000 members of the media.

Tradition is everything at Indy, such as the pre-race festivities that include singing “Back Home again in Indiana” and the release of thousands of balloons as drivers get the command to start their engines.

And, as always, the winner will take a gulp of milk in Victory Lane.

James Hinchcliffe, a 29-year-old Canadian who nearly died in a practice crash a year ago, will lead the field in the pole position.

Two Americans, Josef Newgarden and former Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, will start alongside Hinchcliffe on the front row.

james.peltz@latimes.com

Twitter: @PeltzLATimes