Race Report: 2020 Indianapolis 500

Session Notes:

• The 200-lap race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was slowed by seven cautions with the final one extending through to the checkered flag:
  • Lap 5: James Davison slowed on the backstretch with an apparent brake fire. He attempted to make it to the pits but eventually stopped on track when the front right of his race car went up in flames.
  • Lap 25: Marcus Ericsson got loose and made right-side contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 1, coming to rest on the inside of Turn 2.
  • Lap 83: Dalton Kellett made contact in Turn 3.
  • Lap 92: Conor Daly spun coming off of Turn 4 during a restart. Oliver Askew spun in reaction and made heavy contact with the inside pit wall, then went on to contact Daly.
  • Lap 122: Alex Palou made contact with the SAFER Barrier at the exit of Turn 1 and sustained heavy right-side damage.
  • Lap 144: Alexander Rossi got loose and made contact in Turn 2.
  • Lap 196: Spencer Pigot spun in Turn 4 and made contact with the SAFER Barrier, which ricocheted him across the track and into the attenuator at pit entry.
• Takuma Sato's victory over Scott Dixon was his first of 2020 and the sixth of his NTT IndyCar Series career. The win was also his second at the Indianapolis 500. HIs previous win was in 2017 with Andretti Autosport. Sato becomes the newest two-time winner of the race and first since Juan Pablo Montoya accomplished the feat in 2015. There are three drivers with four victories, seven with three victories and 10 with two victories across 104 races.
• At 43 years, six months and 26 days old, Takuma Sato became the sixth-oldest Indy 500 winner.
• Scott Dixon's second-place finish is the third in his 18 Indy 500 starts. He was also runner up in 2007 and 2012. Dixon's 111 laps led vaulted him to third on the all-time Indy 500 laps led list with 563 laps. He sits behind Al Unser with 644 laps led and Ralph DePalma with 612 laps led.
• Despite falling out of the race early, Alexander Rossi led 17 laps, extending his record of leading laps at the Indy 500 to five consecutive races dating back to his debut in 2016.
• Oliver Askew, Colton Herta and Zach Veach each led their first laps at the Indy 500.

Session Notes:

• The two-hour practice session ran without issue with only one yellow flag for a track inspection interrupting the action.
• While the drivers at the top of the speed chart showed they have pace running with other cars in race trim, those nearer the bottom of the speed chart — notably pole sitter Marco Andretti — seemed to struggle in race-like conditions.

Session Notes:

• Sunday's 2.5-hour post-qualifying practice was slowed by one incidence of contact when front-row starter Scott Dixon spun off of Turn 4, then spun again as he slid down the front stretch before making left-side contact with the inside wall. Dixon exited his race car without assistance and was later checked and released by the infield care center and cleared to drive.
• By turning the fastest lap late in practice, Marco Andretti swept both Sunday sessions he participated in.
• While Honda dominated qualifying with eight cars in the Fast Nine, the top end of the Practice 6 speed chart was more mixed with six Hondas and four Chevrolets in the top 10.

Session Notes:

• Marco Andretti's pole position is his first of 2020 and the sixth of his Indy car career. It's his first Indianapolis 500 pole. His previous best start at the Indianapolis oval was third in 2013.
• Andretti's pole is the first for the Andretti family at the Indianapolis 500 since 1987, when his grandfather Mario Andretti started from the first position.
• Scott Dixon's second-place starting position is his fifth front-row start. He sat on pole in 2008, 2015 and 2017, and started second in 2011.
• 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato's third-place starting position is his best qualifying result at Indianapolis. His previous best start was fourth in 2017.
• Rinus VeeKay, 19, will start from the fourth position — the best result for a teenage driver in Indy 500 history. The pervious record was held by Colton Herta, who started fifth as a 19-year-old in 2019.
• The field average is 229.339 mph, the second-fastest qualifying in "500" history. The record was set in 2014 when the field averaged 229.382 mph.

Session Notes:

• Except for some quick-handed saves by several drivers, there were no instances of contact during the multi-hour session that set the starting grid from positions 10 through 33 and determined which drivers advanced to the Fast Nine shootout on Aug. 16.
• Despite several attempts by drivers to either enter the top nine or improve their position within the top nine, no one was able or willing to unseat Marco Andretti's four-lap average at the top of the timesheet. Notably, Scott Dixon's final attempt — the last one of the day — was trending faster than Andretti's but was waved off after three laps.

Session Notes:

• Fast Friday lived up to its name at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Marco Andretti turning the fastest practice lap since 1996.
• Qualifying simulations occupied much of the day for most teams and drivers. The No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda topped the four-lap average speed chart.
  • Hunter-Reay: 231.263 mph
  • Ericsson: 231.233 mph
  • Rahal: 231.057 mph
  • Dixon: 230.840 mph
  • Hinchcliffe: 230.823 mph
  • Power: 230.201 mph
  • Sato: 230.057 mph
  • Andretti: 230.057 mph
  • Herta: 230.014 mph
  • VeeKay: 229.935 mph
• During a post-practice qualifying draw, the unofficial qualifying order was determined which is available in the Entrant Facts section of the Race Report.

Session Notes:

• The 6.5-hour session was the first on-track activity at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval to feature significant contact when Fernando Alonso's mangled No. 66 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet came to a rest against the inside pit wall just past pit in. The two-time Formula One World Champion dipped too low in Turn 4, unsettling his race car and sending it into the SAFER Barrier on the outside of the turn. The car then did a half spin and slid into the pits, nearly contacting the pit attenuator. Alonso was checked and released by the infield care center and is cleared to drive.
• With DragonSpeed's Ben Hanley yet to complete his refresher program, Practice 2 featured only 32 drivers. Hanley was on track in the No. 81 Chevrolet before and after the session to put in laps. INDYCAR confirmed that Hanley completed Phase 1 of his refresher.

• Practice, which began in the morning as a veterans-only session, ended the day free of incidents with no yellow flags issued for contact.
• Four Andretti Autosport drivers topped the no-tow rankings: Alexander Rossi (221.952 mph), Ryan Hunter-Reay (220.735 mph), James Hinchcliffe (220.732 mph) and Colton Herta (220.528 mph). Andretti Technologies-backed Jack Harvey completed the no-tow top five at 220.191 mph.