Sato became the 20th multiple Indy 500 winner when he crossed the finish line under a yellow flag with five laps to go after Spencer Pigot fell badly. Sato had overtaken Dixon in the last stint and repeatedly defended his position before he was able to pull away in the closing stages.
But the race was neutralized when Pigot hit the end of the pit wall with five laps to go after crashing into Turn 4. Pigot brushed the wall at Turn 4, but then hit the pitwall damper, which absorbed the impact and likely saved his life.
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Despite the expectation of a red flag to clear up the incident while Pigot was on the track and receiving medical treatment, race officials decided to allow the race to take place under warning flags.
“It’s definitely hard to swallow,” Dixon told NBC. “We had such a great day, I don’t know how much fuel is used there, I really can’t see how they would do it. We pitted a lap later and the numbers we had to reach became extremely difficult. I think he hesitated in the straight once when I pulled up next to him. I think they were trying to figure out whether to save fuel or get to the end.
“I think you just decided to run it” [flat out]. I saw her for the first time [the race stewards] Let it go like this, I thought they were definitely going to throw a red flag, which would have been interesting for the last four or five rounds. “
Despite his reservations about how the last few moments had gone, Dixon was magnanimous in defeat.
He said, “Hats off to Sato, he took off his pants today, and to Rahal Letterman Lanigan – they were super fast and one on three [finish]. Big day for Honda, thank you to HPD and it’s nice to get some points.
“But it’s hard when it slips like this, we were definitely in the right place, I think we had the mindset and the fuel to get to the end, but if you hesitate, it happens.”