Longtime IndyCar racer Takuma Sato finally won his first Indianapolis 500 – claiming the 2017 version of the race by holding off three-time winner Helio Castroneves on the last lap.
The 40-year-old Sato – a former Formula One driver – had never won the Indianapolis 500 in seven previous tries and had only won one IndyCar race [at Long Beach in 2013] before Sunday’s victory.
Sato was in contention for the race lead for the entire race, dueling with an assortment of other drivers while also narrowly avoiding a five-car crash with 17 laps remaining. Sato finally took the lead for good when he passed Castroneves on lap 196 and held him off for the remainder of the race.
Rookie Ed Jones claimed third place while last year’s winner, Alexander Rossi was seventh and current Formula One driver, Fernando Alonso was knocked out of the race late with an engine failure.
Only 16 of the 33 cars starting the race finished on the lead lap.