From The Front Of The Field To The Rear: The 2023 Indy 500 Grid With Katherine Legge And Takuma Sato

The Indianapolis 500 can make or break a driver’s career; everyone is seeking a life-changing prize purse, a coveted top-10 finish to secure a ride for the following year, a breakout onto the big stage, or a history-making win, but not everyone’s path to the Greatest Spectacle in Racing is the same. That was never more apparent than the contrasting mindsets I saw in back-to-back round-table interviews with drivers at two different ends of the grid: Takuma Sato and Katherine Legge.

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In 2023, there are a lot of similarities between the two drivers. Both were tackling the Indy 500 as part of a massively limited schedule; for Legge, it would be her only race, while Sato’s 500 run was paired with one other outing at Texas Motor Speedway. Both were using the 2023 Indy 500 as an opportunity to gain some attention and hopefully return to the IndyCar paddock in the future.

But after Carb Day practice had finished and as the race approached, Sato and Legge couldn’t have approached the race more differently.

Our round-table with Sato was immediately followed by the one with Legge, which only served to highlight the differences. Sato arrived fresh from the car, still wearing his race overalls, and spoke to the amassed journalists with a charming relaxation and clarity of mind. He presented the group with a full strategy for how he’d win the race, how he expected to take on strategy, where he wanted to be position-wise during several different points of the race. As part of the four-car Chip Ganassi Racing team, Sato was well placed. Teammate Alex Palou had qualified on pole, while the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing car of Marcus Ericsson had won the year before. Paired with Scott Dixon’s expertise, Sato had a great opportunity to compete for a win.

Sato’s confidence shone through right away, as he told us that he had “completed almost 90 percent of what we wanted” in Carb Day practice.

“For me, the more difficult and challenging conditions means more of a chance for us at Chip Ganassi Racing,” he said. “We had a debrief, and I think all four of us are getting good data, and I’m confident we can manage better [than the competition].”

Sato then went on to outline his plan for the race. He identified tire wear as a significant factor for the 2023 event, meaning that rubber management would be critical in proper pit stop timings and battles through the field. He noted the strengths of his teammates and what he had learned from them during practice because, in Sato’s words, “I wasn’t necessarily strong; it takes time to become confident and know what to do.” He described his strategy in single car traffic, then noted that after 20 laps on a set of tires, it would take at least two laps for a car to set up a competent pass. Even if he didn’t start out confident at the beginning of the Month of May, Sato conveyed a massive amount of assurance in himself and the capabilities of his team. I got the impression that he could have got right back behind the wheel and taken the green flag as soon as the interview ended.

From the moment she walked through the door, Legge carried a much different demeanor. After a car failure in qualifying, she arrived dressed in a pair of leggings and a team-branded jersey, having already had time to change. She didn’t quite have a strategy for the race so much as she had a plan for survival and a desperate wish that the Month of May’s practice gremlins would leave her alone on race day. While she had out-qualified her teammates, the three other Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entries were forced to battle for the final three places on the grid — and her teammate Graham Rahal had been bumped. With so much pressure on the struggling team’s shoulders, Legge answered questions slowly, after a few long seconds of deliberation, and with a fair amount of self-deprecation.

“I don’t really remember what happened 10 years ago,” she said, referring to the last time she had started the Indy 500. “Do you remember 10 years ago, what car you were driving and how it felt? Unless you’re driving the same car now, in which case, I’m sorry, you definitely shouldn’t be.”

Legge pointed out that, in 2023, it felt like she was racing for a Formula 1 team, not an IndyCar team, thanks to the rapid increases in technology.

But when asked about her prep for Sunday, Legge hesitated.

“We keep having things thrown at us, which means we’re not really getting any practice,” she admitted. She noted that she hadn’t been able to run in traffic or simulate a full race-ready tire cycle, and the lack of track time had impacted the team’s prep.

“We’re struggling with speed,” she admitted. “We’re getting drag from somewhere, and we don’t know where. We’re all perplexed, because we have some smart people and good drivers, and we’ve all been working well together, but we’re just not sure why we are where we are. We can’t fathom it, and we’re out of time.”

Legge turned to the journalists then, joking, “If anybody knows, please tell me.”

As both round-table interviews wrapped up, I couldn’t stop thinking about just how different each driver had been. With the might of a top-tier team at his back, Sato felt able to complete his pre-race rundown of the car in order to have it prepared for Sunday. Instead of worrying about speed, he could focus on the minutiae of securing a successful run to the finish. Legge, on the other hand, was about to start an event with no true understanding of what her car could do. She couldn’t plan for the finish; she could only hope for the best.

When the checkered flag flew on the 2023 Indy 500, Legge had long since retired. She made it 41 laps before the car was brought back to the garages, making her the first non-finisher of the day — and also classifying her in dead last. Sato, who had qualified eighth, finished just one place higher. Whether or not that’s enough to secure either driver a shot in the 2024 running of the event remains to be seen, but surely their mindsets heading into this year’s race will help them begin preparing for next year.