INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Motor Speedway certainly rewards those who have experience, especially those who have won at the speedway in the NTT IndyCar Series’ most prestigious event, the Indianapolis 500.
Veteran Takuma Sato is certainly one who found himself in the good graces of the speedway in years past, winning twice in 2017 and 2020.
However, in the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, a year after leading the most laps in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, Sato had to grind in the midfield and fight his way through the pack all afternoon en route to a 10th-place result on Sunday, May 24.
Rolling from 12th on the outside of row four, Sato, who showed top-10 pace throughout May, looked to use the pace of his Rahal Letterman Lanigan No. 75 Honda to good use to attempt to capture his third Indy 500 and become the oldest Indy 500 winner at 49, older than Al Unser Sr. when he won the 1987 race 39 years ago.
Unfortunately for the Tokyo native, the speedway would be unforgiving on a day that saw 70 lead changes, 14 different leaders and the closest finish in Indy 500 history between Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist and Team Penske’s David Malukas at 0.0233 seconds.
“We were not there yet,” Sato told Frontstretch. “It wasn’t the day for us to challenge for the win today.”
Instead, Sato tangled with a fellow Indy 500-only entry and Indiana native.
On the first restart of the race on lap 27, Sato and owner/driver Ed Carpenter collided racing three wide into turn 1, turning down onto the No. 33 Chevrolet.
The contact sparked anger from Carpenter as he began what was another devastating day for the Ed Carpenter Racing team and a frustrating month of May for the operation.
However, when Frontstretch spoke to Sato, he did not see a replay of the incident
“Just a chaotic restart,” Carpenter said, “I was kind of in the middle of a gaggle of cars. Takuma tried to make it thee wide into [turn] 1 on the restart, which is unwise. Not only do you do that, he squeezed me down like I was not gonna be there.”
The upset Carpenter also predicted that Sato would continue racing others aggressively as he had just experienced on the restart.
“Takuma races every lap like it’s the last lap,” Carpenter said. “He’ll hit someone else today, I’m sure.”
Driving aggressively is certainly something Sato has been known for, with such battles as with Dario Franchitti for the win in 2012, but one thing that is for sure, Sato kept his racecar clean for the remainder of the race as he tried to battle through the field.
Opportunity arrived in the form of cautions breeding even more cautions for weather conditions as well as the misfortune of many of the 33 competitors
Sato, after the flurry of cautions and delays due to rain, ended up as part of the alternate strategy turned winning strategy late, battling with fellow drivers Romain Grosjean and Santino Ferrucci, but the pace wasn’t there even in the two restarts to close the incredible finish.
Sato, while finishing in the top 10 for the sixth time in his career at IMS, couldn’t put himself in a position to capitalize and compete in the end.
“Not really [pleased with my day],” Sato said. “Obviously pleased for [RLL]. over the course of the winter and considering a challenging, short program, I think they did a fantastic job, but obviously, we wanted to win. We wanted to be fast, and from that circumstance, we didn’t achieve it this time.”
Now with his 50s on the door, Sato is still considering further Indy 500 attempts.
“We need to focus on what we can put together for the future program,” Sato said when asked about his plans for the future. “I hope so.”
While today wasn’t his day, Sato still showed that it’s still “No attack, no chance” wherever he runs in the 33-car field. Let’s see if his next chapter awaits him in the 111th running of the Indy 500 in 2027.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattWRacing