By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
Takuma Sato won the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois. This is Sato’s second win of the season.
He previously won at Birmingham in the third race of the season. The Japanese driver needed two hours and 15 minutes to complete the race.
IndyCar driver Takuma Sato wins the Bommarito Automotive Group 500
Takuma Sato wins the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (Photo by IndyCar/Chris Jones)
“Yes, I’m sure,” Sato said this was his most gratifying win besides the 2017 Indianapolis 500. “Winning (from) pole at Barber was very significant — just the domination of the weekend is always great credit for the team and satisfaction. But this win is so special — beside Indy 500, obviously nothing like (that). This is just so emotional. Gave me unbelievable boost.
“(It’s) a great story.”
With this win, it is his fifth NTT IndyCar Series win. For the first-time in his career, he had more than one win in a season.
He also had one win in 2013, 2017, and 2018.
Sato won by 0.0399 seconds over Ed Carpenter, who finished second. This was the closest race in IndyCar history at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The second place finish was Carpenter’s best this season in his fifth race. Prior to Saturday night, he had two sixth place finishes.
“It could have been (a different winner) if we had a little longer straightaway or another lap,” Carpenter said.
It is also his best finish since he was second during the 2018 Indianapolis 500. He started on the pole for that race.
Tony Kanaan finished third. This was his best finish of the season.
Before the third-place finish, his best finish of the season was eighth in the IndyCar race at the ABC Supply 500 race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Santino Ferrucci led 97 laps, while Sato also led 61 laps. Josef Newgarden led 50 laps.
James Hinchcliffe led 20 laps and Colton Herta led 10 laps. Marco Andretti had four laps led.
Marcus Ericsson led two laps. Conor Daly, Felix Rosenqvist, Sebastien Bourdais, and Will Power led one lap each.
Five drivers did not complete the race. Graham Rahal departed the race on lap 226 with a mechanical problem.
Bourdais crashed on lap 189. Scott Dixon also had a mechican problem and left the race on lap 136.
Spencer Pigot crashed his ride on lap 131. Power also crashed his vehicle on lap 52.
