IndyCar: Takuma Sato dominates 2019 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Takuma Sato dominated the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama to earn his first victory of the 2019 IndyCar season and the fourth victory of his IndyCar career.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato started the 17-race 2019 IndyCar season’s third race, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, from the pole position in his #30 Honda, and he only ever relinquished the lead when making his pit stops.

He even managed to stay ahead of Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Jones, who jumped the start — okay, even that’s an understatement — to advance from 21st to fourth place heading into the first turn of the first lap before naturally receiving a drive-through penalty.

Sato dominated the 90-lap race around the 17-turn, 2.38-mile (3.830-kilometer) Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama and won it by 2.3874 seconds over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who finished in second place at the track in his #9 Honda for the sixth time in 10 races.

Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais, whose two-stop pit strategy allowed him to lead several laps of the race and remain at the front of the field, finished in third place in his #18 Honda to give Honda drivers a clean sweep of the podium at the Honda-sponsored race.

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Team Penske’s Josef Negwarden was the only Chevrolet driver who finished the race in the top eight. He finished in fourth place in his #2 Chevrolet.

Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports teammates James Hinchcliffe and rookie Marcus Ericsson, and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top eight by finishing in fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth place in their #27 Honda, #5 Honda, #7 Honda and #28 Honda, respectively, giving Honda drivers seven of the top eight positions.

Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud finished in ninth place in his #22 Chevrolet ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist, who finished in 10th in his #10 Honda.

The only time Sato’s victory was ever in doubt throughout the race was went he went off the track with only a handful of laps to go, slightly damaging his car and allowing Dixon to reel him in.

But he did not put a wheel wrong throughout the rest of the race en route to earning the fourth victory of his IndyCar career, his third victory in the last three seasons and his first victory of the 2019 season.

The race featured a season-high total 11 lead changes among six drivers. Aside of Sato, who led more laps than anybody else in the field with 74 laps led, and Bourdais, who led eight laps, four other drivers led at least one lap of the race. Those drivers were Rossi, Dixon, Hinchcliffe and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal.

Rahal ended up being forced to retire from the race on lap 56 after starting in second place and enduring several mechanical issues. The race’s only caution flag period began when Rahal stopped on the track on lap 57 and Carlin’s Max Chilton crashed while trying to avoid A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Tony Kanaan coming into the pits right around the same time. This caution flag period lasted for seven laps.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta was the only other driver aside of Rahal who dropped out of the race, as he also endured mechanical issues and completed only 51 laps, although he technically finished the race since he was running at the end. Of the 24 drivers who started the race, 23 finished it and 17 finished it on the lead lap.

Here are the full race results of the 2019 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

Race Results
1st – Takuma Sato
2nd – Scott Dixon
3rd – Sebastien Bourdais
4th – Josef Newgarden
5th – Alexander Rossi
6th – James Hinchcliffe
7th – Marcus Ericsson
8th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
9th – Simon Pagenaud
10th – Felix Rosenqvist
11th – Will Power
12th – Zach Veach
13th – Jack Harvey
14th – Marco Andretti
15th – Santino Ferrucci
16th – Patricio O’Ward
17th – Spencer Pigot
18th – Tony Kanaan
19th – Ed Jones
20th – Matheus Leist
21st – Ben Hanley
22nd – Max Chilton
23rd – Graham Rahal
24th – Colton Herta

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The next race on the 2019 IndyCar schedule is the season’s fourth race, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. This race is scheduled to take place next Sunday, April 14, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET from the streets of Long Beach, California.