Takuma Sato Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The bid of defending the No. 1 plate starts off right for Josef Newgarden, who set a two-lap average of 215.740 mph to claim pole position for tonight’s Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. As the last guy out for qualifying, Newgarden felt like his XPEL Chevrolet had the pace to be fastest as he took down five-time series NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, whose average speed was 215.638 mph. There was a bit of hesitation from Newgarden if he can fully execute the poleRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS — As the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge leaves the United States for the first time Saturday, April 18, three fan favorites of American motorsports who are new to the virtual racing series are coming along for the ride. Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, 2017 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Takuma Sato and two-time reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch will make their respective series debuts in the Firestone 175 on the 1.549-mile oval at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. The fourth of six roundsRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS — This is the second of a 12-part series of comprehensive team previews as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES prepares for the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg set for March 13-15 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. The preview series features each of the full-time teams as well as teams running a partial schedule that includes the season-opening race. Today’s featured organization: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Coming Wednesday: AJ Foyt Racing. The season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network onRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Through triumph and shortcomings, the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship soldiered through 2019 to finish their campaigns with solid champions crowned and the rest of the respective fields picking up the pieces ahead of a new year and a new decade. From Daytona and St. Petersburg to Road Atlanta and WeatherTech Raceway, IMSA and IndyCar had some very good, and at times, tumultuous dealings both on and off track. Let’s take a look back at some of the best and worst of 2019.Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – What a way to cap off a roller coaster NTT IndyCar Series rookie campaign for Colton Herta, scoring his second career victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Sunday. The sensational 19-year-old Californian led 83 out of 90 laps, which saw him leap from 14th to seventh in the final championship standings. RESULTS: Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey To do so, he had Will Power hot on his tail once the laps remaining went into single digits untilRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MONTEREY, California – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Saturday that Takuma Sato will stay with the team in 2020. Sato’s 2019 season has no doubt been his strongest of his 10-year NTT IndyCar Series career, scoring wins at Barber Motorsports Park and World Wide Technology Raceway, the most he’s won in a season. In addition to his victories, he has two more podiums to his name and led the field to the green flag twice at Barber and Texas Motor Speedway, which has played an intricateRead More

By INDYCAR MADISON, Ill. — NTT IndyCar Series driver Takuma Sato hasn’t had many weeks as wild as this past one. Sato qualified fifth for Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway, dropped to last place after opening-lap contact with other cars in Turn 1 and battled back to win in the closest finish in this track’s 10-year history – 0.0399 seconds over Ed Carpenter. The victory came six days after being the center of attention for his role in the first-lap, multi-car accident at Pocono Raceway thatRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer MADISON, Ill. — Just 0.0399 of a second was all the difference Takuma Sato denied Ed Carpenter from scoring his first NTT IndyCar Series triumph in over five years at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. “It could have been a little better if we had a little bit longer straightaway or another lap,” Carpenter on losing by a small margin. “But it was nice to finish on a high note, especially after the day we had yesterday.” Carpenter’s No. 20 SONAX Chevrolet had an entireRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer MADISON, Ill. — Countless hours of examination by racing fans, drivers and other experts on Twitter on last week’s opening lap accident at Pocono Raceway can be a drain on anybody but no longer for Takuma Sato. “The important thing is to understand what happened, the facts and try to make it how we can improve, that’s the most important thing,” said Sato. “Obviously we did not want to see that happen, but it happened, whatever the reason I think the important thing is that we’veRead More