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Indy 500: Top 10 quotes after race

Sato becomes first Japanese winner of Indy 500 in thrilling finish

Winner Takuma Sato, Andretti Autosport Honda celebrates

Winner Takuma Sato, Andretti Autosport Honda celebrates

Sutton Images

Winner Takuma Sato, Andretti Autosport Honda celebrates
Helio Castroneves, Team Penske Chevrolet
Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske Chevrolet
Alexander Rossi, Herta - Andretti Autosport Honda
Alexander Rossi, Herta - Andretti Autosport Honda
Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport with Yarrow Honda
Gabby Chaves, Harding Racing Chevrolet
Conor Daly, A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet, Carlos Munoz, A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet

Cla#DriverLapsTimeGapMphPits
1 26 japan Takuma Sato 200 3:13'03.3584   155.395 7
"It was obviously a very tough race but Helio (Castroneves) really drives fair. I can trust him coming from the outside. It was a fantastic race. Until three laps to go I really didn't know. When Helio came side by side with three to go that was the moment I really had to go for it. And we did it and pulled away and it was fantastic. It is unbelievable. I really have to thank A.J. Foyt because the last four years he gave me this tremendous experience on his team and now Michael Andretti gave me a fantastic opportunity with his team. I want to thank all the 26 car guys and engineers, Honda, everyone. This is really awesome. The organization is unbelievable. I'm so proud of the whole team. It's just a great victory. I'm so proud." (On if he dreamed of winning this race) "I dreamed of something like this since I was 12. You don't just dream about it. Obviously, you prepare for the race. You want to win the race. I had huge ambition and I had to try."
2 3 brazil Helio Castroneves 200 3:13'03.5595 0.2011 155.393 9
“The Shell Fuel Rewards Chevy team almost got it done today. It was so close. We’ve got to keep going. I take my hat off to Takuma (Sato) for having a strong car today. He really seemed to getting better as the race went along. I say, ‘great job’ to my guys. They worked their tails off. We saw it all today. We were in the back and we led some laps. We avoided disaster and we almost got number four.”
3 19 united_arab_emirates Ed Jones 200 3:13'03.8862 0.5278 155.388 9
"It was a great race for us. Great car I've had the whole month really. We were running through traffic but the race was so up and down for us. Solid start. We were running in the top 10, 11, for most of the first half. Then when Dixon had his crash, thankfully those guys are OK, but I ran over some debris. It damaged the floor and also the rear wing. We had to change the rear wing. That sent me to the back of the field. We had to claw our way back up again. Then we got some luck back. The last yellow, we actually pitted right before it, so it put us near the front. But then I had some bad luck again. I actually damaged my front wing. We had a big hole in it. My legs got pretty cold, to be honest. I had wind blowing into them like crazy. Also created a lot of drag. That meant I was really good in the corners catching up to other cars, but it was difficult in the straights. I couldn't pull up to them. We lacked that straight line speed for, I'd say, the last 40 laps. It was really hard for me to defend or even attack, which was really frustrating because I think we had the car to win today. Great job to (Takuma) Sato and Helio (Castroneves). But, so frustrating. I don't know how many opportunities you get to be in that battle."
4 8 united_kingdom Max Chilton 200 3:13'04.4949 1.1365 155.380 7
"The Gallagher Honda was struggling a lot early in the race and we even went a lap down. But we kept our heads down, kept going and got a break. I don't think anyone has ever won this race without a little bit of luck. When we did end up getting out front, the car was really quick, and you can see why this place is so special and so electric in that moment. I held (Takuma) Sato off with everything I had, but when the cars gang up behind you, they get a massive run and you can only do so much as the leader. As soon as they got past, I wasn't as confident in the dirty air. To come from a lap down to lead and have a chance to win here at Indy is a massive accomplishment for the whole team."
5 10 brazil Tony Kanaan 200 3:13'05.0056 1.6472 155.373 7
"It was a survival race as you can see. A lot of cars were either involved in a crash or had a mechanical failure. I knew it was going to be a shootout in the end. That's really all we had in the No. 10 NTT Data Honda. I actually ran over debris at some point during the race and the underwing of the car was broken, so I knew toward the end that I didn't have as good of a car as I did at the beginning of the race. I have to say though that I love to see first-time winners here at the Indianapolis 500 and this guy (Takuma Sato) was huge in Japan already so I can't even imagine now."
6 22 colombia Juan Pablo Montoya 200 3:13'05.0738 1.7154 155.372 7
“Our Fitzgerald Glider Kits Chevy was good. We had a problem there in the beginning when we ran out of gas in turn three. We should have had another half-gallon in the car. It put is in a tough position because we lost a lot of positions there. From there to come back to where we finished was great. WE ran 12th or 13th most of the day and then the car was really good at the end of the race. The balance just wasn’t there. Then I told the guys on the last stop, let’s take swing and we did and the car came to life. I would have liked to have had some more laps at the end.”
7 98 united_states Alexander Rossi 200 3:13'05.7806 2.4222 155.363 7
"Two years in a row to have fuel problems is pretty tough to swallow. Obviously, it worked last year. You can't rely on not fueling the car every year and getting results; it's difficult. The NAPA Auto Parts Honda was awesome from the get-go. Then we didn't have the downforce to be that far back."
8 27 united_states Marco Andretti 200 3:13'05.8994 2.5410 155.361 7
 "I'm happy for the team. It was a huge win for Honda but not our day. We definitely missed on it. I was sort of hanging on. I had a pretty lucky day, to be honest. I got through some big wrecks. Somebody was looking over us there. This was just one of those salvage kind of days. Unfortunately, we didn't have the car, so we tried to bring home something."
9 88 colombia Gabby Chaves 200 3:13'07.1895 3.8311 155.344 8
"I think we did our job. We took the race one lap at a time. We let the track and the conditions come to us and we dialed in the No. 88 Harding Racing Chevrolet car every stop. We had a heck of a stint there. I think we were one of the only cars being able to make moves out there and got into a solid top ten for our first go as a team."
10 14 colombia Carlos Munoz 200 3:13'07.8903 4.5319 155.335 8
“A really tough race, it was a really long race for me if I’m honest. I just hung in with the car. We had no sign of this because on Friday we did long runs and it was pretty good. Today we just lost the car completely. At the start of the race it was pretty good because I was heading to the front and on each restart it was good but it seemed that after 10 laps, we just dropped like a stone. We don’t know why. We still finished 10th--I think it is the best result for the team in the 500 in a long time even though we struggled a lot. We just have to figure out what was going on.”

 

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