1. Takuma Sato drove the best race of his career and Sato is a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.
This was better than 2017. Three years ago, Sato deserved that victory, but there was some fortune. While Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Fernando Alonso lost engines, Sato stayed alive and outmaneuvered Hélio Castroneves. He was up front all race in 2017, but not the top driver and benefited from the misfortune of others.
Today, Sato was up front all race, rarely outside the top five. This felt like a race where Sato paced himself all day. Veteran knowhow paid off. He knew to stay at the front and remain in touch. There was no point in being overaggressive on lap 63 or lap 90 or even lap 126. When the time came, after the final round of pit stops, Sato attacked, as he does.
Scott Dixon had been the class of the field and when Dixon emerged from his final pit stop in the lead, it felt like things had fallen into place. A second Indianapolis 500 victory for Dixon would have been just. This year has been Dixon's and in what will likely be his sixth championship season, a second Indianapolis 500 victory would have been more than deserved for this historic season.
However, Sato had the run. Sato attacked. Sato saw his opportunity and took it. It was still early. Dixon was going to have plenty of time to counter. Dixon made his looks, but Sato's defense matched his offense. Running the inside line, Sato forced Dixon wide and it was a move Dixon was not able to complete. Dixon settled in and waited for one final shot down the stretch.
It looked like lapped traffic would be to Dixon's benefit, but Sato negotiated it better, or caught the field better. Sato lapped Tony Kanaan into turn three and Dixon was caught. The gap opened and Dixon was fighting from behind with the laps clicking down.
Unfortunately, Spencer Pigot's terrible accident hitting the pit lane entrance brought this race to a close with five laps to go. Between the timing of the caution and the extensiveness of the accident, there was no time for a red flag and one final shot to go green. It stinks that the race ended under caution, the first time since 2013, but it happens, and today Takuma Sato was on the right side of the yellow flag.
Today, Sato's attack paid off and put him in right position at the right time. That attack made him a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, the 20th multiple-time winner of this race.
It is hard to place Sato. He is a two-time winner and back in May, when coming up with The Greatest 33 drivers after the previous 103 races, I did not have Sato in the field of 33 and said even if he was a two-time winner I am not sure he would be in The Greatest 33. Time will have to pass before we revisit it, but today, Sato gets his moment and another a few Indianapolis 500s are in his future. A third is not out of the question.
2. This is the most painful defeat for Scott Dixon. Dixon is looking great for the championship, but a second Indianapolis 500 victory would have been monumental for him and it would have been his 50th IndyCar victory nonetheless. He led 111 laps today, it moved him to third all-time in Indianapolis 500 history on 563 laps led. He is ahead of Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Wilbur Shaw, Emerson Fittipaldi, Parnelli Jones and Bill Vukovich and only Al Unser and Ralph DePalma remains ahead of him. This day was set up for Dixon to erase any doubt that is one of the greatest ever.
Look, Mario Andretti only has one Indianapolis 500 victory and we don't hold that against him. Why should we hold it against Dixon? This was Dixon's third runner-up finish in the Indianapolis 500, tied for the most runner-up finishes in the event's history. He has eight top five finishes. He already had three pole positions. All the pieces are there.
For the first 170 laps, it was Dixon's race. It never felt in doubt. Sato took it and Sato deserved it. Dixon didn't throw this race away. Dixon's didn't lose this race. It will feel like Dixon lost it but it just wasn't his day. There is always next year.
3. Graham Rahal finds himself second fiddle in his father's team again. Rahal found his legs down the stretch and drove into a position to be a contender, but again, Sato won out. I think back to Barber last year. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars sweep the front row, but Sato takes pole position. Both cars run strong, but Rahal suffers a mechanical failure early. Sato goes on to win the race.
Rahal has driven well this year. He entered the Indianapolis 500 proceedings sixth in the championship. He has not had the best of fortune at Indianapolis. Last year, a top five was taken from him after he and Sébastien Bourdais came together. Sato ended up finishing third last year when he really wasn't much a factor and Rahal spent more time at the front. This year, Rahal has maybe his best Indianapolis 500 and Sato has one better. Sato ends up spending the entire day at the front and pulling out the victory and Rahal ends up third.
Rahal is a good sport and he sees the bigger picture. He is a team player... but there has to be part of him that is a little upset he was not the driver to get RLLR its first Indianapolis 500 victory since Buddy Rice in 2004. It has to sting a little more that he was third. It would have been one thing if he was not in contention. It was within his grasp and the sister car gets the glory.
4. Two years, two aggressive Indianapolis 500s for Santino Ferrucci and he was fourth today. This pace was not there in practice. Ferrucci was maybe the third of three Dale Coyne Racing cars entering Carb Day. The team found something, and it was another year where he made aggressive moves and it never bit him.
5. Josef Newgarden was the best Penske car today, Newgarden finished in the top five and it still feels like a horrible day. It wasn't. Newgarden got as close as he could have. He did not have the pace to compete with the front four and it wasn't just him, it was all the Chevrolets.
When it came time to turn up the wick after the final pit stops, Newgarden lost a few spots. He was going to finish fifth and have to like it. That was not on him. Unlike last year when Chevrolet had that extra gear and could use it late, Honda had it and Honda's advantage was significantly greater. Newgarden did soften the championship blow finishing fifth with Dixon in second, but he still lost a chunk of ground and he has a lot of work to do.
6. Patricio O'Ward deserves Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors with his sixth-place finish. O'Ward moved to the front and he was the second-best Chevrolet today. He spent a lot of time in the top ten. He didn't have the car to win the race or run with Sato and Dixon but sixth was great for him, considering he missed this race last year. This is a good bit of redemption for the rookie and this serves his championship hopes well. He is was fourth in the championship entering today. O'Ward improved upon that.
7. For all the speed Andretti Autosport showed in qualifying, its best finisher was James Hinchcliffe in seventh. We will get to the rest of the Andretti Autosport finishers in due time, but this is a disappointment for Andretti Autosport. It nearly had a sour moment in the Fast Nine session after the team had the top four cars on Saturday only to have Marco Andretti take the track as the final car of the day and possibly looking at none of its cars starting on the front row.
This was a good day for Hinchcliffe, because he fell outside the top twenty after one poor pit stop. To rally to seventh as a part-time driver bodes well for him. But this team has some work to do because that qualifying pace was fool's gold come race day.
8. I will say Colton Herta was eighth and that is where he was all race. This was a good day for Herta but only a good day. He couldn't find that little bit more and that is fine. He didn't lose anything, but it has to be frustrating because this is the story of Herta's season. He has been there in almost every race, but he never gets fully there. He was fourth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and he was the fourth best car. He was fifth in both Road America races and he was a top five car. We have yet to see Herta roll into race day being one of the top two cars and look like a contender for the victory. When you win your second career start and have multiple victories as a rookie, you are not going to settle for being a top ten regular.
9. Jack Harvey was ninth and he deserved ninth. It was a quiet ninth. Harvey did not make waves. He didn't make any daring moves, at least none that drew much attention. He drove smart and got ninth and that is his M.O. Harvey is not foolish and he is the right driver for Meyer Shank Racing. MSR wants to win races, but it also wants a driver who can drive a car up the order and beat some better cars. Harvey has done that multiple times in his brief IndyCar career.
This is MSR's first full season, same with Harvey. Considering where the team was at Texas, the fact it has finishes of seventh, seventh and ninth in its last three oval starts is tremendous. This team is heading int he right direction.
10. Ryan Hunter-Reay was an odd tenth-place finisher, because he seemed better than this but never showed more than this. Hunter-Reay was one of the top cars all practice and he started fifth. He looked good in the opening stint, but he kept losing spots on pit stops. Twice he lost four spots on pit stops under yellow. That set him back and, when in traffic, he was not working his way forward. If anything, a tenth-place finish might have been a gift today.
11. Hélio Castroneves tried to do something different, but with the Chevrolet pace not being there, 11th was all he could manage. Coincidentally, Castroneves' first Indianapolis 500 start was from 11th on the grid. How fitting would it be for Castroneves' final Indianapolis 500 start with Team Penske be an 11th place finish? I am not sure Castroneves will be back. Penske is ready to move on. Castroneves wants to be back in IndyCar. He is 45 years old. There cannot be much of an appetite for a 45-year-old free agent who will turn 46 in the middle of next year.
If Castroneves wants an Indianapolis 500 ride, he will get one. It will likely not be with Team Penske. That will be a tough pill to swallow.
12. Felix Rosenqvist was good and finished 12th. He never really appeared, outside of staying out and taking the lead. It is not great and Rosenqvist will want to be better. Chip Ganassi expects better. This is an odd year for Rosenqvist. He won Road America but threw away second at Texas and has had mechanical issues cost him results.
13. Marco Andretti didn't have it today. It was not a poor day for Andretti, but the pole speed did not carry over to race day. For a portion of the race, he settled into the back half of the top ten and perhaps could have adjusted the car to get back into the fight, but he continued to slide and ended up 13th.
This wasn't as bad as last year, but I am pretty sure Andretti did not lead a lap from pole position. It is not a terrible day, but after the week we experienced hyped for the possibility of this being Andretti's year, seeing him not at least be in the fight is a letdown.
14. Will Power tried and all he could manage was 14th. That was the best he was going to do. Power has not been happy much this year. I don't think he wants out at Team Penske, but last year on Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s podcast Power revealed he nearly walked away from IndyCar a few years ago and I get the sense Power would not think twice when that thought of walking away enters his mind. He has a championship. He has an Indianapolis 500 victory. He has plenty of victories and pole positions. He can leave and not have any regrets. That day could be sooner than most of us think.
15. Zach Veach was 15th and he is a 15th-place race car driver. He is good. That's it. This is year three of a three-year deal with Andretti Autosport. Has he done enough for a fourth year? I say no. There is time left this season for him to turn it around. I am not sure that time is enough.
16. J.R. Hildebrand went from 32nd to 16th with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. In 2020, that was the best you could ask for. Hildebrand got into the top half of the field. The time wasn't there for D&R to work this car into a top ten contender. Good on Hildebrand for bringing it home and completing all 500 miles.
17. Kudos to Max Chilton completing all 500 miles, but it was another 17th place finish, which isn't great.
18. Charlie Kimball was the final car on the lead lap. A.J. Foyt Racing is still lost.
19. Tony Kanaan was the first car a lap down. Kanaan will be back. Even when he said this was it for him, I kept thinking Kanaan would be back for Indianapolis for at least one or two or three more years. However, I don't think he will be back with Foyt. At least, I don't think he should comeback with this operation. If Kanaan is going to be a one-off, it can't be with a 19th-place car. He has to call Michael Andretti and brush the dust off the #11. He needs to see if Jimmy Vasser can secure that third Coyne car for him and see if they can re-create their 2013 victory. Maybe Ganassi would roll out a fourth car for Kanaan. We confirmed Foyt is not the answer.
20. Rinus VeeKay's day was ruined with one bad pit stop when he slid into his pit stall and hit a crew member. That stop is lost when that happens. You are sacrificing 20 seconds on those stops and then you have to serve a penalty. I did not feel confident VeeKay would match the pace he showed it qualifying. He is young and for some reason ECR does not regularly carry over qualifying pace to the race. Add to it, VeeKay has not looked great this year and he has been rough on ovals.
21. If you forgot Fernando Alonso was in the race, you are not alone, and Alonso's sophomore start ends with a 21st-place finish, one lap down. I am not sure how Alonso lost his lap. He stayed ahead of Dixon at one point when a caution came out. He was up to 17th or 16th and then he was a lap down. I am not sure what happened. It was never stated or covered. Alonso blended into the field. He got the coverage a 21st-place finisher gets.
This could be it for Alonso. His next two years are tied to Renault's Formula One program. It could possibly be three. Will the desire for the Triple Crown still be there in 2023 or 2024? How different does this feel compared to three years ago? Three years ago, it felt like Alonso was gunning for the Triple Crown, for historic achievements and he would carve out part of a decade for himself and leave a mark on Indianapolis 500 history. Now, he will just be a blip, like many other international stars to come before him.
22. Car #22 was 22nd and Simon Pagenaud's Indianapolis 500 defense was rather weak. Outside of Newgarden, Team Penske did not have the speed. Pagenaud never looked like a threat. Unlike Texas, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and both Iowa races, the team could not use pit strategy to flip to the front. Pagenaud added insult to injury running into the back of Hunter-Reay on a restart. It forced an extra pit stop and Pagenaud was only hanging on from that point.
23. Ben Hanley was slow and he was 23rd. The slowness is not entirely his fault. DragonSpeed was fighting from behind all week. The team deserves praise for completing 198 laps in its second Indianapolis 500. Hanley is a good sports car driver. I am not sure he is DragonSpeed's answer if it wants to be regularly in IndyCar. I understand the team has a good relationship with him and Hanley is a good guy. The best this team will accomplish with Hanley is last car on the lead lap in the Indianapolis 500. DragonSpeed needs to branch out if it hopes to be a competitive IndyCar program.
24. Car #24 was 24th and Sage Karam was two laps down. What is the point? Karam is five years removed from his only significant sample of IndyCar. He is six years removed from an impressive drive to ninth as an Indianapolis 500 rookie. The most notable thing he has done in his career is brake check Katherine Legge in a sports car race at Virginia International Raceway.
Karam has not been full-time in any motorsports series since 2017. He is only 25 years old, but is Karam a race car driver? He should have done more by now. He cannot continue to live on that ninth-place finish. Karam needs to drive something regularly because being a Indianapolis one-off is not enough. I think he should return to Indy Lights next year. Indy Lights will need drivers and Karam needs to drive something. Maybe he would get more opportunities and better opportunities if he spent more time on the racetrack.
25. Let's tackle Spencer Pigot's accident and the decision not to throw the red flag here, because we have reached Pigot's finishing position.
That was a brutal accident and it nearly wasn't. If Pigot stays against the outside wall, we never think twice about a red flag. Throw it, bring the cars on pit lane and set up a green-white-checkered finish.
Pigot hit the tires at the end of the pit wall at pit entrance. I heard on the radio it would have taken 90 minutes to repair that barrier. Ninety-minute repair for at best two laps of racing, is it worth? No. One, we would definitely have an accident and a few race teams would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs. Two, there is no red flag protocol, and I have suggested there be a protocol established, but even if there was one, five laps to go feels like the point of no return.
Pigot's accident is five to go, the pace car picks up the field with four to go and even if it immediately goes red flag there, the cars need to return to pit lane because there are no on-board starters so that means we are down to three laps to go.
Is it possible to restart the cars and then immediately go green? I guess it is possible but that is risky. You have to get the field in the correct order, and do you remember when IndyCar did not remove lapped cars at the end of Texas how upset people got? No matter what, it would have felt rushed and unprofessional. It stinks the race ended under caution, but it was the right choice and it emphasizes the importance of leading. This is why you want to be the leader and the leader deserves that incentive.
26. Ed Carpenter had contact with Zach Veach on the opening lap, brushed the wall and had to stop for repairs. Carpenter does not do well when he is starting in the middle of the field.
27. On to Alexander Rossi and we will get to the unsafe release penalty. Without the cautions, this race is Dixon versus Rossi for the victory. I think we were set up for a battle for the ages. But that wasn't the case and Rossi nudged Sato exiting his pit stall. Rossi earned a penalty, dropped to the rear and was fighting from outside the top twenty.
You can only make so many drives from the back and with how this package races with the universal aero kit you are not going to be able to do it every year. Rossi was going to try and a wiggle in turn two put him in the wall. Rossi's tremendous start to his Indianapolis 500 career is over.
A lot of people are upset with the penalty call, but I think it was the correct call. IndyCar has been pretty consistent where if you make contact with another car while exiting your pit box it is a penalty for unsafe release. You don't even need to make contact. Last year, Marcus Ericsson got a penalty at Austin for simply cutting off Spencer Pigot. In terms of consistency, IndyCar was right on.
The one argument for Rossi, and I think there is a point to be made, is he and Sato leave simultaneously. Sato's exit is with O'Ward to his outside. It is equal to Rossi's exit with Sato. The difference is Sato did not make contact with O'Ward and Rossi got into Sato.
Sato was not even completely out of the inside lane. If Rossi was exiting and got into Sato when Sato was completely in the outside lane, the fast lane, then no one would have a gripe with the penalty, but Sato was still transitioning and that is what makes it harsh.
These penalties need teeth. The pit lane is tight, too tight, and Roger Penske should look at widening it. I have been saying that for years. There has to be a significant punishment to make sure these drivers are polite and do not put pit crew members in danger. I get the penalty to send him to the rear. I am sure some will say the penalty should be for Rossi to just give the position to Sato and that would be fairer but there needs to be a deterrent and that would be it.
It is a shame for Rossi, but this was another year with minor errors. The team messed up calling him for a pit stop. On the stop that led to Rossi making contact with Sato, the right rear tire changer had the wheel nut fall off the pit gun. The tire changer corrected it very quickly. I am not going to say it is all on the tire changer, but if that bobble doesn't happen, Rossi is out well clear of Sato and O'Ward.
A lot of people will point to this as souring the result and possibly souring Sato's second victory, but 98% of people will forget about this in three months.
28. Álex Palou had a great month going, but lost the car exiting turn one. It is a same Palou's only mistake came in the race when it appeared he was set for a top ten finish.
29. Conor Daly's accident brings us to restart protocol, because once again an aggressive move on a restart led to an accident before even going green. Daly laid back in the North chute and makes a run up inside of Palou and nearly made a move on another car on the inside of turn four and spun when he got too low.
One, what is a jumped restart? We see this every year at Indianapolis and at other IndyCar oval races. We saw it last year at Iowa where Ferrucci passed like five cars on the outside before even getting to the start/finish line.
You cannot have cars passing one another in the final turn coming to the green flag. It doesn't make any sense and at times IndyCar lets it be too much of a free-for-all.
I know with the universal aero kit it is tougher to pass and restarts are key, but you cannot have the field organized at the front and then cars passing one another in the rear a quarter mile from the line.
IndyCar has to do something. I don't know if it has to reinstitute no passing before the start/finish line or no cars side-by-side before the start/finish line. That will take some of the excitement out of the air, but it would be fair and clean cut.
The current protocol is not good enough and IndyCar needs to clean up restarts.
And the start! Scott Dixon slid in behind Marco Andretti coming to the green and then slipstreamed ahead of Andretti into turn one. The pole-sitter should not be vulnerable to the car starting second slipstreaming him into turn one at the start. That is something very simple IndyCar should police and not allow.
30. Oliver Askew spun in evasive action to Daly's spin. Askew was doing well up to that point.
31. I am wrapping up the final three here. Dalton Kellett got into the wall in turn three. Marcus Ericsson got loose in turn two. James Davison's brakes exploded after four laps. There is not much to say about those three, other than bummer.
32. One final thing on aero kits, I wish IndyCar can find something to help passing a little bit. I am not asking for 2013 and 68 lead changes, just something that makes the cars a little more stable and allows cars to make runs and complete passes. The final half of the race was good, but we cannot have processional racing for 100 laps.
To be fair, there was some passing in the opening half of the race, but it quickly fizzled out. I think a balance can be found. You don't want passes every lap and make it seem like none of it matters but you don't want cars settling in line and a single-file train of 33 cars for 35 laps, a round of pit stops and then return to a single-file train of 33 cars until the next pit stop. There needs to be some jockeying for position, otherwise people will lose interest. There needs to be a little more.
There is a happy medium and IndyCar is still searching for it. It can find it. IndyCar has done well developing the DW12 chassis. The universal aero kit is just a trickier animal.
33. A little shorter wait until the 105th Indianapolis 500, 280 days.
