SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Takuma Sato took the lead on lap 195 and held off Helio Castroneves to win The Indianapolis 500 this afternoon, besting a field of 32 other competitors to take the checkered flag. The 40-year-old Sato becomes the first Japanese driver ever to win this crown jewel of motorsports, in its 101 runnings since 1911. Strangley, Takuma didn’t start racing until he was 20, in sport which sees drivers these days strapping into a go-cart nearly as soon as they’re able to walk. He spent the past four years driving for underfunded team, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, before defe
cting to Andretti Autosport for the 2017 season. Sato acknowledged post-race that it was great to be with a team that could give him all the tools he needed to be successful. His former boss and Indy legend, A.J. Foyt, was in Winner’s Circle to heartily congratulate both the driver and Andretti Autosport Chief, Michael Andretti.
Helio Castroneves finished second, being denied his quest to join the exclusive club of four-time Indy 500 winners, which includes A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears. The three-time winner lamented the fact that his Penske Chevy lacked the power to overcome Andretti Autosport’s Honda-powered racecars, which seemed to be the team to beat in this spring classic. The win moves team owner, Michael Andretti, to second in Indy 500 wins as an owner, behind only Roger Penske. It wasn’t all roses for Andretti’s team, though. His cars looked strong early, but that superior Honda powerplant proved unreliable in at least three instances. Team members Sage Karam, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and heralded rookie, Fernando Alonso (on-loan from Formula One), all left the race between laps 125 and 179 with mechanical difficulties. In the end, it was Sato’s winning car, along with last year’s winner, Alexander Rossi, and Marco Andretti, as the fifty-percent of Andretti machines still running when the checkered flag was waved. Said Andretti, “That’s why we have six bullets in the gun.”
Dale Coyne Racing rookie, Ed Jones, finished third — also in a Honda-powered car. A pair of Chip Gnassi Racing Hondas round out the top five, piloted by Max Chilton, followed by veteran fan-favorite Tony Kanaan, who earned his 500 ring in 2013.
Weather was not an issue during the 200-lap affair, despite being lengthened by eleven cautions, including a red flag to clean up a nasty-looking collision involving Scott Dixon and Jay Howard on lap fifty-three. Amazingly, neither driver was injured in the horrific-looking crash that sent Dixon’s Dallara airborn and left it missing all but one wheel and most of its rear-end. In all, a quarter of the race’s laps (50) were run under caution. Yet raindrops held off until well after the event’s three hour and thirteen minute conclusion, and fans had left the historic speedway. Cool temperatures led to fast lap times at the famed oval, with the quickest one turned by Sato on lap 150, at 226.19 miles per hour. There were thirty-five lead changes, which made for an exciting day for race fans at 16th and Georgetown.
Despite not having won an IndyCar Series race in three years, Helio Castroneves now sits at first in the season championship points. Second place (11 points back) is a 3-way tie between Simon Pagenaud, Takuma Sato, and Scott Dixon.
