Takuma Sato returns for a one-race NTT INDYCAR SERIES appearance as a competitor at an event he is widely familiar with: the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
When it comes to breaking down Sato’s story with the Indianapolis 500 event, the story commences in 2010, the year in which he made his first start in IndyCar’s prestigious, crown-jewel event on the calendar. Two years later, the Tokyo, Japan, racing veteran was in a prime position to win it until he and eventual winner Dario Franchitti made contact on the final lap, which resulted in Sato wrecking out of contention.
Sato redeemed himself and fulfilled his dream in 2017 when he fended off Helio Castroneves to become the first Japanese competitor to win the Indianapolis 500 while driving for Andretti Global. Another three years later, he doubled down amid a late fuel mileage battle with Scott Dixon, and he did so in an event where Indianapolis Motor Speedway was restricted from allowing fans to participate in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During Sato’s latest ’500′ victory, he became the 20th competitor to repeat as a champion of the event. He also achieved it with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL), a team with which he previously competed on a full-time basis in the IndyCar competition from 2018 to 2021.
After Sato campaigned in what would be his latest full-time IndyCar season with Dale Coyne Racing in 2022, he made five oval starts with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023, including the year’s Indianapolis 500, before he landed one-race deals with RLL and drove the No. 75 Dallara-Honda entry for the ‘Indianapolis ‘500’ over the previous two seasons (2024-25). This past season, he narrowly missed the pole position and had an opportunity to win his third Indianapolis 500 slip out of grasp due to a pit road error, where he slid through his pit stall during a caution period and lost both a bevy of track position and time. Ultimately, Sato, who led a race-high 51 of 200 laps, settled in ninth place.
Even a year later, Sato admits that the use of overachieving on the track can lead to misfortunes, either on or off the track, and/or even both simultaneously, and can result in a dominant run to victory evaporating, per his experience from the 2025 Indianapolis 500 event.
“We’re all focusing that we try to improve ourselves,” Sato said in the DEX Imaging Media Center. “As a consequence, it’s just sometimes out of control that you can’t [win it]. You need to be there to grab [the victory] when you have a chance. To be able to do so, you have to be competitive, and you have to be strong, fast all the time, and stay out of trouble. That is certainly the key.”
Since then, Sato coined the phrase ‘unfinished business’ as he worked with RLL to return for another one-race campaign for the 2026 Indianapolis 500, a deal that was officially revealed on March 17. Having not competed as a full-time INDYCAR competitor since the 2022 season, he described the challenges of navigating through an entire racing season on preparing for a single prestigious event, with months-long absences from competing and on-track testing sessions being key factors to the preparation challenges.
“Short program is not an easy program,” Sato said. “I was out of the car for half a year, and then I jump in the car for the fall testing, which was very fortunate back in the car and another five months, off and did nothing. Eleven months out of the competition, and now it’s going 230 mph, going toe-to-toe with 33 most-competitive drivers, it is not easy.”
Amid the challenges of a one-race appearance, Sato, who is scheduled to make his 17th consecutive start in the Indianapolis 500 this Sunday (May 24), praises the RLL No. 75 team’s efforts in making the No. 75 entry competitive for the Japanese veteran striving to become the 11th competitor to reach at least three victories in the Indianapolis 500. To achieve this feat, Sato will have to work from starting on the fourth row (12th place) and preserve his entry through the event’s 200-lap distance. Despite failing to reach the top-12 mark to contend for pole position qualifying this past week, Sato was the second-fastest competitor during this past Monday’s post-qualifying practice session.
“The preparation is all about dynamic of the teams and all about the details,” Sato said. “I’m fully proud of my No. 75 boys as entirely on the racing team that’s fully supportive on what we try to do. We’re here to correct something we did not finish the job, but I think, as everybody does, that’s what makes this sport so competitive.”
Takuma Sato’s 2026 Indianapolis 500 event is scheduled to occur this Sunday, May 24. The event’s pre-race coverage is slated to air at 10 a.m. ET before the drop of the green flag is scheduled to follow suit at 12:45 p.m. ET, both airing on FOX.
