By Summer Bedgood, Managing Editor
It’s hard to use a word other than “dominant” to describe Takuma Sato’s day in Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
After starting from the pole position, Sato drove away from the field for most of the race, leading 74 of 90 laps en route to the victory, claiming his fourth career NTT IndyCar Series victory and first at Barber Motorsports Park.
The 42-year-old Japanese driver finished 2.3874 seconds ahead of reigning champion Scott Dixon, followed in third by Sebastien Bourdais.
Points leader Josef Newgarden finished fourth followed by Alexander Rossi in fifth to round out the top five.
The caution flew only once on lap 57 when Graham Rahal stopped on track due to mechanical issues while Max Chilton — in an unrelated incident — crashed into a tire barrier near the entrance of pit road.
Following the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Newgarden remains the points leader with a 27-point gap over Dixon with 14 races remaining in the season.