'No attack, no chance': Plug-and-play Takuma Sato goes for third Indy 500 win

Bruce Martin
Special to FOXSports.com

INDIANAPOLIS — Takuma Sato is the ultimate plug-and-play driver in the 109th Indianapolis 500.

Just put him in the cockpit and watch him go fast.

His motto is no attack, no chance.

The 48-year-old driver from Tokyo competes in one race a year — the Indianapolis 500 — and he continues to be one of the fastest drivers at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The two-time Indianapolis 500-winning driver has an excellent chance to become a three-time Indy winner on Sunday. He drove the No. 75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda to the second starting position, the middle of Row 1, with a four-lap average speed of 232.478 miles per hour.

"I know one thing, I know Takuma is fast," one of the team’s three owners, Michael Lanigan, told FOX Sports. "He's brave, and he's smart. It gives me a big comforting feeling knowing that whenever he's in the car, there's a chance for him to win."

Sato is making his 16th start in the Indianapolis 500 and his seventh in the 500-Mile Race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

His first Indy 500 start was in 2010 with KV Racing Technology. He started 31st and finished 20th.

Two years later, he was in the Indy 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and it’s a day that changed his career path. 

He battled Dario Franchitti of Chip Ganassi Racing to the end. Franchitti was attempting to win the Indy 500 for the third time in his career. Sato was trying to score his first INDYCAR win.

As the two drivers went into Turn 1 on the final lap, Sato dove to the low side of the turn to pass Franchitti on the inside. Franchitti pinched off the lane, Sato’s car dipped across the painted white line that separates the race track from the apron and lost control.

Sato’s