Indy 500 results, standings - Takuma Sato wins the 104th running

Takuma Sato took the checkered flag under caution to win the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his second victory in the race.

For the first time since 2013, the Indy 500 ended under caution, and it was Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato who took the checkered flag behind the wheel of his #30 Honda ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in second place behind the wheel of his #9 Honda and teammate Graham Rahal in third behind the wheel of his #15 Honda.

With his victory in the 104th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” at a fanless Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sato became the 20th driver to win the race twice. He won it for the first time driving for Andretti Autosport back in 2017.

Sato, who now has six career IndyCar wins and has won at least one race in each of the last four seasons, is the first driver to become a two-time winner of the race since Juan Pablo Montoya won it back in 2015. He is the only driver to win twice in the last 10 years, as nine different drivers won the race from 2011 to 2019.

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Sato started this 200-lap race, the seventh race of the 2020 season, around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Brickyard oval in Speedway, Indiana in third place, his best ever start. His previous best start of fourth came before he won the race in 2017.

This victory is the first Indy 500 victory for a team other than Andretti Autosport or Team Penske in the Indy 500 since Chip Ganassi Racing won it in 2012 with Dario Franchitti. The win is the second for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, as Buddy Rice won it from the pole position that year. They have now won at least one race in each of the last six years.

Honda swept the top four positions in this race for the first time since 2011, when they were the lone engine manufacturer in the series. Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Santino Ferrucci finished in fourth place behind the wheel of his #18 Honda.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden led all Chevrolet drivers in fifth place behind the wheel of his #1 Chevrolet. Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward led all rookies with a sixth place finish behind the wheel of his #5 Chevrolet.

After a masterful two weeks leading up to the race, Andretti Autosport had to settle for a top finish of seventh place with James Hinchcliffe behind the wheel of his #29 Honda. Fortunately for the team, they still secured three top 10 finishes, four if you include Jack Harvey’s ninth place finish given their technical alliance with Meyer Shank Racing and the #60 team.

Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s Colton Herta finished in eighth place in his #88 Honda and Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay finished in 10th in his #28 Honda after running as high as second in the early stages of the race.

Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti started the race from the pole position behind the wheel of his #98 Honda but did not lead a single lap en route to a 13th place finish. He lost the lead from Dixon going into turn one, and he still hasn’t led a lap in the Indy 500 since 2014 when he finished in third.

A total of 11 drivers led the race, and there were 22 lead changes, the fewest since 2010. Sato led 27 laps en route to the win while Dixon led a race-high 111 laps, shooting him from ninth to third place on the all-time Indy 500 laps led list with 563. The 2008 race winner trails only four-time winner Al Unser (644) and 1915 winner Ralph DePalma (612) on that list.

The top 18 drivers finished on the lead lap, and seven of the other 15 competitors finished the race.

The race appeared to be a duel between Dixon and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, two drivers seeking their second victories in the race as well. They swapped the lead for several laps in a row on the front straightaway just beyond the race’s halfway mark.

But after Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou crashed to cause another caution flag period on lap 122, pit stops ensued, and Rossi was penalized and forced to drop to the rear of the field after a unsafe release, one that led to contact between his #27 Honda and Sato’s #30 Honda.

Rossi began to storm his way through the field, at one point passing four cars on the outside in one turn, but his race ended with a wreck in turn two on lap 144.

This was the final caution flag period until the race-ending yellow came out on lap 196. This was caused by a wreck involving Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with Citrone/Buhl Autosport’s Spencer Pigot with five laps remaining. IndyCar did not throw a red flag, and the track could not be cleaned up in time for a restart.

Here are the full race results of the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Race Results
1st – Takuma Sato
2nd – Scott Dixon
3rd – Graham Rahal
4th – Santino Ferrucci
5th – Josef Newgarden
6th – Pato O’Ward
7th – James Hinchcliffe
8th – Colton Herta
9th – Jack Harvey
10th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
11th – Helio Castroneves
12th – Felix Rosenqvist
13th – Marco Andretti
14th – Will Power
15th – Zach Veach
16th – J.R. Hildebrand
17th – Max Chilton
18th – Charlie Kimball
19th – Tony Kanaan
20th – Rinus VeeKay
21st – Fernando Alonso
22nd – Simon Pagenaud
23rd – Ben Hanley
24th – Sage Karam
25th – Spencer Pigot
26th – Ed Carpenter
27th – Alexander Rossi
28th – Alex Palou
29th – Conor Daly
30th – Oliver Askew
31st – Dalton Kellett
32nd – Marcus Ericsson
33rd – James Davison

Here are the updated IndyCar championship standings following Sato’s victory.

Rank – Driver: Points (Behind)
1st – Scott Dixon: 335 (0)
2nd – Josef Newgarden: 251 (-84)
3rd – Pato O’Ward: 218 (-117)
4th – Graham Rahal: 214 (-121)
5th – Simon Pagenaud: 212 (-123)
6th – Takuma Sato: 207 (-128)
7th – Colton Herta: 189 (-146)
8th – Santino Ferrucci: 181 (-154)
9th – Will Power: 175 (-160)
10th – Felix Rosenqvist: 157 (-178)
11th – Ryan Hunter-Reay: 149 (-186)
12th – Marcus Ericsson: 147 (-188)
13th – Jack Harvey: 145 (-190)
14th – Alexander Rossi: 130 (-205)
15th – Alex Palou: 127 (-208)
16th – Oliver Askew: 126 (-209)
16th – Zach Veach: 126 (-209)
18th – Conor Daly: 121 (-214)
18th – Charlie Kimball: 121 (-214)
18th – Rinus VeeKay: 121 (-214)
21st – Marco Andretti: 114 (-221)
22nd – James Hinchcliffe: 88 (-247)
23rd – Tony Kanaan: 73 (-262)
24th – Max Chilton: 68 (-267)
25th – Ed Carpenter: 62 (-273)
26th – Dalton Kellett: 39 (-296)
27th – Helio Castroneves: 38 (-297)
28th – J.R. Hildebrand: 28 (-307)
29th – Sage Karam: 19 (-316)
30th – Fernando Alonso: 18 (-317)
31st – Spencer Pigot: 17 (-318)
32nd – Ben Hanley: 14 (-321)
33rd – James Davison: 10 (-325)

Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark

The next two races on the 2020 IndyCar schedule are the Bommarito Automotive Group Race to MEGA Savings 250s at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. These races are scheduled to take place on Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30, and they are both set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Indy 500 results, standings – Takuma Sato wins the 104th running

By Asher Fair | Aug 23, 2020

Takuma Sato took the checkered flag under caution to win the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his second victory in the race.