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Fox News
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox News
'No attack, no chance': Plug-and-play Takuma Sato goes for third Indy 500 win
Print Close Published May 19, 2025 Bruce Martin Special to INDIANAPOLIS — Takuma Sato is the ultimate plug-and-play driver in the 109th Indianapolis 500. Just put him in the cockpit and watch him go fast. His motto is no attack, no chance. The 48-year-old driver from Tokyo competes in one race a year — the Indianapolis 500 — and he continues to be one of the fastest drivers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The two-time Indianapolis 500-winning driver has an excellent chance to become a three-time Indy winner on Sunday. He drove the No. 75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda to the second starting position, the middle of Row 1, with a four-lap average speed of 232.478 miles per hour. "I know one thing, I know Takuma is fast," one of the team's three owners, Michael Lanigan, told FOX Sports. "He's brave, and he's smart. It gives me a big comforting feeling knowing that whenever he's in the car, there's a chance for him to win." Sato is making his 16th start in the Indianapolis 500 and his seventh in the 500-Mile Race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. His first Indy 500 start was in 2010 with KV Racing Technology. He started 31st and finished 20th. Two years later, he was in the Indy 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and it's a day that changed his career path. He battled Dario Franchitti of Chip Ganassi Racing to the end. Franchitti was attempting to win the Indy 500 for the third time in his career. Sato was trying to score his first INDYCAR win. As the two drivers went into Turn 1 on the final lap, Sato dove to the low side of the turn to pass Franchitti on the inside. Franchitti pinched off the lane, Sato's car dipped across the painted white line that separates the race track from the apron and lost control. Sato's Honda spun and slammed hard into the outside wall in Turn 1. Franchitti went on to take the checkered flag, but from that point forward, Sato became a fan favorite for his daring racing style. "I think I've said it many times, but Takuma is a pro," primary owner and winning driver of the 1986 Indianapolis 500 Bobby Rahal told FOX Sports. "The guy, he's a hell of a race car driver. I've watched him race when he was in Formula 3, when I was at Jaguar Formula One, and he was always at the front. "When he came to us in 2012, we damn near won this race, and I didn't think we had a chance in hell. "It wasn't because we had the best car. It was because he took it there." Sato had gained the respect, love and friendship of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Unfortunately, the team did not have enough sponsorship to retain Sato for the 2013 season, and he signed a contract with AJ Foyt Racing. Sato drove to his first INDYCAR win with Foyt in the 2013 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. It was the last time AJ Foyt Racing has won a race in INDYCAR. He nearly won a second-straight race in the next contest on the schedule in Sao Paulo, Brazil and entered the month of May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway leading the INDYCAR Series points. Sato remained with Foyt through the 2016 season before joining what is now known as Andretti Global. It was a combination that made tremendous sense because Sato was the hero of Japan and Andretti was the top Honda team in IndyCar. With Sato behind the wheel of the Andretti Honda, he became the first driver from Japan to win the Indianapolis 500 in its long history when he drove to the victory in 2017. It was a popular victory internationally, and the famed Borg-Warner Trophy went on the road for an international trip for the first time ever. Fans in Japan turned out by the thousands during the many personal appearances Palou made with the Borg-Warner Trophy in Tokyo and at Twin Ring Motegi, a race course about three hours away from the world's largest city. They also made a stop in Mount Fuji. Sato returned home to Rahal Letterman Lanigan in 2018 and won at Portland. In 2019 he won from the pole at Barber Motorsports Park and won on the oval at Gateway Motorsports Park later that season, finishing ninth in the championship. Sato was on a roll entering 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the world. The INDYCAR Series season was delayed until June 6 of that year, and most of the races were held with severe limitations for spectators. That included the Indianapolis 500, the only time in the history of the race it was moved off its traditional Memorial Day Weekend race date because of COVID. It was held on August 23, 2020, at an empty Indianapolis Motor Speedway because fans were not allowed to attend. Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing led 111 laps in the 200-lap contest, but he couldn't shake Sato, who led 27 laps. Late in the race, Sato was stretching his tank of fuel and if the race remained green, he was going to have to pit in the closing laps. But fate intervened as Spencer Pigot slammed into the pit road attenuators in a massive crash with five laps to go. The caution came out and Dixon was convinced Sato couldn't make it to the finish. But Sato was good to the last drop and made it to the checkered flag, winning his second Indianapolis 500. "I think Scott Dixon still hasn't gotten over the fact that he was going to make it on fuel," Rahal said. "He's just a pro. I just love having him with us. I think he brings great value to us as a driver, as a person. And also, let's face it, he's a great representative for the country of Japan. "That's pretty cool to have somebody like that in your car." Sato had full-time rides in 2021 and 2022 before a limited schedule with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023. He finished seventh in that year's Indy 500. Sato came back home, once again, to Rahal Letterman Racing for one race in 2024. He started 10th and finished 14th in the 108th Indianapolis 500. He is back again this May and with one of the fastest rides in the field, Sato could join the likes of Louis Meyer, Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Bobby Unser, Johnny Rutherford and Dario Franchitti as three-time winners of the Indianapolis 500. Sato is plugged in, and now he is ready to hit play. "There is no secret, I just simply enjoy it," Sato told FOX Sports in an exclusive interview. "The moment in the cockpit with the steering wheel, pedals I love it. And the sensation of going fast, the age hasn't slowed me down so far. "I enjoy the environment and like the challenge." Sato admitted being out of the cockpit for 11 months before returning for the month of May is not an ideal situation, but he remains sharp because of experience. "I have a lot of adrenaline and feel good," Sato said. "I have enough experience, even being out of the car for a long time, that I can get back in the car and immediately get back to where I was. "I can't express the reason I jump into a car immediately and do well. I just simply like it." Sato helps young drivers in Japan with a driver development program. He also uses the Honda simulator for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, but that doesn't replace real-life racing. Sato is confident he has a "great chance" of winning his third Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. "We have narrowed with the top teams, the Ganassi boys and Penskes are strong in traffic, but hopefully we will be as competitive as they are," Sato said. He backed up his qualifying pace from Sunday with the third-fastest speed in Monday's full-field practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Sato's top speed was 226.087 mph in race setup. INDYCAR points leader Alex Palou was the fastest at 226.765 mph in the No. 10 DHL Honda followed by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves at 226.441 mph in the No. 06 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing followed by Sato. Castroneves is the oldest driver in the field at 50 and he is going for a record fifth Indy 500 win. Sato is the second oldest and the two are proving that the old guys can still drive a fast race car. "Takuma sometimes can really go for it," Castroneves told FOX Sports. "No wonder he's a two-time Indy 500 champ. He likes the style of this race. He has experience. He takes risks and it pays off sometimes. "With the experience he has, it shows they are doing a great job. It's good to see him up there. "It will be good to get up to him and race him during the Indianapolis 500." For the plug-and-play driver of the Indianapolis 500, Sato is determined to hit the winning note on Sunday. Bruce Martin is a veteran motorsports writer and contributor to Follow him on X at @BruceMartin_500 . BEST OF FOX SPORTS' INDY 500 COVERAGE: Print Close URL
Forbes
23-03-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
IndyCar Team Owner Mike Lanigan Returns After Surviving Health Scare
IndyCar team owners Michael Lanigan (left) and Bobby Rahal (right) Michael Lanigan returned to the IndyCar paddock Sunday at The Thermal Club after surviving a major health scare five weeks ago that left him with a broken neck. Lanigan is one of the three owners of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing along with 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner and three-time CART Champion Bobby Rahal and television icon David Letterman. Lanigan continues to wear a neck brace to stabilize his fractured neck and explained what happened while sitting on a golf cart a few hours before The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix on March 23. Five weeks ago, Lanigan couldn't sleep and got up at 3 a.m. to make some coffee. According to Lanigan, he walked down the stairs when his heart stopped. Lanigan fell, fracturing his neck and sustained a gash on his head. Somehow, the impact helped to restart his heart and the industrialist from the South Suburbs of Chicago was transported to the hospital. Lanigan explained that doctors installed a pacemaker that triggers his heart whenever it stops. It is something he will likely have to utilize from now on. Lanigan has been involved in IndyCar racing for decades after he started Mi-Jack, a heavy construction company, in 1973. In 1989, Lanigan returned to the family headquarters in south suburban Chicago in 1989 to take over the business, to become the company's president. Mi-Jack produces rubber-tire gantry cranes. In 1992, began sponsoring cars in CART and the Indianapolis 500. In 1993, Lanigan co-founded Walter Payton Power Equipment, a crane and heavy equipment distributor. He currently leads the Lanco Group, a conglomerate involved in cranes, industrial equipment, entertainment, motorsport interests, and a joint venture that operates the Panama Canal Railway. Lanigan was co-executor of Walter Payton's estate along with Matt Suhey after the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back of the Chicago Bears passed away from a rare liver disease in 1995. Lanigan became a racing team owner in 2001 when he was a partner with driver Eric Bachelart at Conquest Racing. That team competed in the IndyCar Series in 2001 and 2002, and in the Champ Car World Series from 2003 to 2006. After the 2007 season, he sold his interest in Conquest and joined Newman/Haas Racing, which was renamed Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. The team transitioned to the IndyCar Series following the unification of Champ Car and IndyCar in 2008. Lanigan became close friends with one of the team's owners, actor Paul Newman, and was among the last to see him before he passed away son September 26, 2008. In 2007, Lanigan also held partial ownership of Carl A. Haas Motorsports in NASCAR. Lanigan left Newman/Haas in 2010 and, in December of that year, joined Rahal Letterman Racing, which was subsequently renamed Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team competes in both IndyCar and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Lanigan was one of the winning team owners of the 104th Indianapolis on August 23, 2020, when Takuma Sato was the winning driver in the only Indy 500 held outside of the month of May. That was because of the COVID pandemic that forced Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials from allowing spectators at the race.
