Takuma Sato Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon led 111 of 200 laps in the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge, but not the most important lap that would’ve gotten him a second Indy triumph. After starting on the middle lane of Row 1, the series points leader quickly humbled pole sitter Marco Andretti and seamlessly took the lead in Turn 1 without a fight. It set the tone because for much of the race, Dixon mastered the clean air as very few would amounted a legitimateRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer If 2020 couldn’t get any worse for former Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi, it just did as he crashed out of the 104th Indy 500 on Lap 144, finishing 27th. Up until Lap 125, Rossi’s No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda was an absolute rocket, running towards the front pack and looked like it was going to be another strong Indy 500 outing. However, things changed once pit road was open because IndyCar reprimanded Rossi due to an unsafe pit release. Rossi barely exited in frontRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The first guy out to fight for the Indianapolis 500 pole position was Takuma Sato, and for awhile, it appeared Sunday would’ve been another milestone to his racing career. Then Scott Dixon and Marco Andretti stole his thunder and out-qualified him, but nonetheless, Sato will start third for next Sunday’s 104th Indy 500. In his 10 previous Indy 500 starts, Sato qualified no better than fourth back in 2017, the year he won the 500-mile race. After Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout, he became the first JapaneseRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Where a driver rolls of in line for qualifying has never been so vital than this year’s Indianapolis 500 as Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato will be the first two guys out for tomorrow’s qualifying session, beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET. Drawing took place 15 minutes after the six-plus hour Fast Friday practice session concluded as drivers and team representatives came up to the stage based on where they ended up in practice. Once they were on stage, they grabbed a coinRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Colton Herta set the pace of the only practice session for Friday’s Iowa INDYCAR 250 at Iowa Speedway as his fastest speed was 171.990 mph, topping Carlin’s Conor Daly’s speed of 171.488 mph with just four minutes remaining. The Iowa doubleheader will mark Daly’s second race with the No. 59 team this season and he navigated at the bumpy and physically demanding circuit days with ease despite undergoing rehabilitation to his right shoulder. Last Saturday at Road America, Daly was involved in a heavy shunt followingRead More

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