Takuma Sato, the 43-year-old IndyCar Series veteran from Tokyo, Japan, cruised to his second career Indy 500 victory after a terrifying Spencer Pigot crash brought out the caution with five laps to go. Sato had been battling race favorite Scott Dixon for the lead.
Sato’s win was a bit controversial in that some thought IndyCar should have thrown a red flag to stop the race after Pigot’s crash. That likely would have given Dixon and others a chance to race for the win. Instead, IndyCar kept the race under the yellow flag for the last five laps.
MORE: Complete results, highlights from the Indy 500
Below are more details on Sato’s win, plus the complete results of the 2020 Indy 500.
Who won the Indy 500 in 2020?
Sato’s win in the 2020 Indy 500 marked his sixth IndyCar victory in 11 1/2 years in the series. He is now a two-time Indy 500 winner, having won the race in 2017 for what was then his second career IndyCar victory.
“This is unbelievable,” Sato told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider in victory lane. “Obviously, we pitted (a lap) short from Dixie. We knew in terms of the fuel strategy it was a little tight. I saw Scott coming right through out of Turn 4, and he was screaming coming at me, and I just held him off. Thank you so much.
“This was the entire Rahal Letterman Lanigan team. HPD and Honda gave us a lot of power, a lot of fuel mileage, and my boys. They sacrifice a lot. I can’t thank all of the people.”
Indy 500 finish highlights
The finish of the 2020 Indy 500 wasn’t much of a highlight since the race ended under caution. But the crash that caused that yellow flag certainly was.
With five laps to go, Pigot spun coming out of Turn 4. His car then drifted toward the bottom of the track in the most unfortunate direction possible. Pigot’s car slammed into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pit road entry wall and shot back up the track. Thankfully, Pigot was OK.
The Associated Press reported Pigot was transported to an area hospital for further evaluation, but he was awake and alert.
Just for kicks, here is video of Sato crossing the finish line under caution to win the 2020 Indy 500:
Indy 500 results
Sato and Dixon were battling for the lead when the late-race caution came out, but Graham Rahal was right behind them, lurking for a possible Indy 500 victory.
Sato became the 20th driver to win multiple Indy 500s in a career.
Below are the complete results from Sunday’s Indy 500: