After mistake in 2012, Sato learns lesson to win Indy 500

Sato dedicated his victory to the people of northeastern Japan still recovering from the deadly tsunami of 2011 which killed more than 18,000 people. He won 42 IndyCar races in his career, third-most in series history, but never at The Brickyard.

Sato’s win marked Andretti’s second consecutive win as Alexander Rossi made it first to the finish line a year ago.

On Lap 75, he was penalized for jumping a restart, a call Castroneves contended might have been wrong.

The team’s Honda engines showed superior speed throughout practice and qualifying, but they also showed a maddening propensity to fail.

“I knew I could do it”, he said.

After all, it’s been some year already for the young driver following his step-up from IndyLights and his championship title last year. Alonso followed Rossi to take second place and later drafted Rossi to take first. The two swapped the lead, and Castroneves made one last attempt at a pass for the win that he couldn’t make stick. Dixon and Howard both climbed from their cars.

Despite a huge impact with the inside barrier, Dixon emerged unscathed.

Going into Sunday’s race, No. 20 and No. 21 were Johnny Rutherford and Helio Castroneves, a pair of three-time winners.

Buddy Lazier was involved in a single-car incident on Lap 122. He walked to a waiting ambulance while the race was placed under red flag and crews began to clean up debris scattered over hundreds of feet. Early on, Alonso’s Andretti Autosport vehicle seemed to provide the escape from his Formula One woes that he had hoped. Hunter-Reay had led 28 laps and was a strong contender late. Castroneves was soon part of the scrap and was able to take the top spot before the next wave of pit stops.

In addition to passing underneath Dixon in the race, Castroneves passed Dixon for the Verizon IndyCar Series points lead after the sixth of 17 races.

The final 11-lap shootout came about following a four-car crash involving the cars of James Hinchcliffe, James Davison, Will Power and Oriol Servia. Dixon’s auto landed on the inside retaining wall and exploded into pieces, but the 2008 race victor was able to walk away with only a limp. Their names replace street signs, their faces plaster grocery stories and even Dale Earnhardt Jr. would envy the crowds numerous drivers receive the weeks leading up to the event. It went on for another ten laps until Hunter-Raey’s engine expired.

Kimball’s run for the lead would be short-lived when his engine gave up, giving the lead to back to Chilton.

Alonso also caught his share of luck on an afternoon that saw nearly a third of the pack crash out of contention.

Castroneves finished second, rookie Ed Jones was third and Chilton finished fourth.

For the engine manufacturer, that made up for all the other trouble. It would be the last yellow flag period of the race.

Buddy Lazier, the ’96 victor and the oldest driver in the field, crashed in Turn 2 on Lap 122.

When he hit the front of the field for the first time, Alonso said, he got a thrill seeing his number 29 flash atop the circuit’s distinctive pagoda tower.

Castroneves, looking for that elusive fourth Indianapolis 500 win, drove his Chevy-powered vehicle past Sato and Chilton to take the lead on Lap 194 to thunderous applause from the crowd estimated at 250,000. The company whose power surpassed that of rival Chevrolet throughout May not only ushered Sato past Helio Castroneves and across the finish line, but counted four of the top five finishers and six of the top eight.