By Peter M. DeLorenzo
Detroit. Scott Dixon dominated the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, but Takuma Sato was there at the end when it counted. While Dixon was leading at will, Sato was staying close, running in the top five most of the race. Did Sato have enough fuel to get to the end? Based on his post-race comments, probably not. There were several very bad crashes during the race, none worse than Spencer Pigot's massive impact into the end of the pit wall right at the end of the race. And the resulting caution sealed the win for Sato.
Should the race officials have thrown the red flag? Given the circumstances, no. There would have been a delay of at least an hour, probably more, and this Indy 500 was already reeling with no fans and a three-month delay. Did I want to see the race end on a caution? No, but I think the right call was made. At any rate, it doesn't matter. It was Takuma's day, and he is the 2020 Indianapolis 500 champion, becoming the 20th driver to have two Indy 500 wins on his resume.
Congratulations to Takuma and the entire Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing organization.
And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.
(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
Takuma Sato, winner of the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500.
(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
We bet Takuma's second win was sweeter.
(Photo by Chris Jones/INDYCAR)
The Victory Wreath, the Borg-Warner Trophy, the bottles of milk and Takuma's still-grimy Honda-powered Dallara.
(Photo by Chris Owens/INDYCAR)
(Photo by Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR)