After spending the bulk of the prime of his IndyCar career chasing down those red No. 9 and 10 Target cars, Takuma Sato is going to need some time to get used to sharing debriefs with the likes of Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. The spirited – sometimes controversial – on-track battles? Don’t expect those to go away.
But the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, who becomes Chip Ganassi Racing’s winningest active driver at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, holds an unyielding reverence for the team he’s about to join as an oval-only driver in 2023. “A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he called it. A chance finally, at nearly 46, to drive for one of the two teams that have dominated the sport over the last decade.
“This is a new chapter for me, and even if it’s a limited oval program, I feel so grateful, and I feel like I can try and help – even if it’s with the young driver (and his No. 11 car teammate) Marcus Armstrong,” Sato told IndyStar in an exclusive interview. “I need to get used to watching someone else race, but you still feel like you’re part of the Chip Ganassi Racing family, which is the best organization."
But, as Sato says, this wasn’t the goal this offseason. Sato’s 2022 team boss told IndyStar on Nov. 1 in no uncertain terms that Takuma Sato would be returning to Dale Coyne Racing in a part-time role in 2023 that would include being the team’s third entry at the Indy 500. As much as he wanted to remain full-time as he inches closer to 50 years old, Sato had come to terms that the finances weren’t there. No longer in the running for the title, his aims were to replicate his Year No. 2 jump at the 500 with RLL from 2018 to 2019, when he went from 32nd to 3rd.
Concurrently, after learning of Jimmie Johnson’s decision to scale back from full-time racing, Chip Ganassi and team managing director Mike Hull had maintained for months that CGR’s fourth full-time ride would be manned by a single driver. But somewhere along the line, things changed – and when they did, and CGR switched gears towards hiring the Formula 2 prodigy in Armstrong for a road-and-street role, Sato couldn’t afford not to rethink his options.
“This opportunity to join Chip Ganassi Racing was something I never expected or even dreamed about,” he told IndyStar. “You never expect to join this type of team, but when something like that is available, for me, it was a perfect opportunity. There’s such an opportunity to challenge at the highest level, working with these teammates that (recently) have won the championship and the 500 and will have another real shot to aim for another 500.
“That’s tough to deny, even if it’s a limited program. I feel really sad to break it off with the boys on my Dale Coyne Racing team, but this happens so often with teams and drivers shuffling around. It’s a chance for a new challenge.”
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While there still remains a chance CGR could see Johnson return part-time – likely only for his second 500 run – Sato completes a four-car Ganassi lineup for the 500 that’s as formidable as any across the paddock. With a combined four 500 wins across its driver lineup, only Meyer Shank Racing (propped up by four from Helio Castroneves) has more. Outside Marcus Ericsson’s win a year ago, Ganassi was the runaway strongest team in 2022 as it locked up the top two qualifying spots (with Dixon on pole) and placed its four most experienced drivers in the top-6 in qualifying. Had Dixon not suffered a late pitlane speeding penalty, he likely would been the dominant victor. One year off his runner-up finish in 2021, Alex Palou had his race-winning chances shot by an ill-timed caution, yet still fought back to finish 9th. In a one-off role, 2013 winner Tony Kanaan was right there down-the-stretch fighting for his second win and finished 3rd.
Even more than before, Sato’s arrival at Ganassi sets up a highly-anticipated battle with Arrow McLaren, whose four-car lineup features the drivers who finished 2nd (Pato O’Ward), 3rd (Kanaan), 4th (Felix Rosenqvist) and 5th (Alexander Rossi).
Without an IndyCar program of any sort for 2024 or beyond, Sato says he doesn’t know yet whether this jump to a fifth different team in eight years will mark the end of his career. As he aims to vault from a class of 20 multi-time 500 winners to a group of just 10 that have won it three or more times, the Japanese driver hopes he can end his career on his terms. Regardless of what the future holds, though, Sato says he couldn’t have picked a better next chapter of his career – even if it happens to be the end of a decade-plus IndyCar career.
“From a driver’s point of view, you always want to be the best among your teammates, but you feel pure joy if you can win as a team because you’re part of it,” he said. “We’ll work so hard to put things together and have another dominant year for Chip Ganassi Racing. IndyCar is all about (winning) the 500, the ultimate goal, and we’ll be the top competitor for sure.”