Sato joins Ganassi as Japanese driver to race ovals only

By The Associated Press

FILE - Takuma Sato, of Japan, gets ready for qualifying for an IndyCar Series auto race, Saturday, July 23, 2022, at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato will drive for Chip Ganassi Racing this season as the Japanese driver winds down his career to an oval-only schedule. Sato will share the No. 11 Honda with rookie Marcus Armstrong, who was hired to drive the IndyCar street and road course races. There are five oval races on this year’s IndyCar schedule and Tuesday’s Jan. 17, 2023, announcement said only that Sato will "pilot the No. 11 Honda in oval competition.”(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Charlie Neibergall]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato will drive for Chip Ganassi Racing this season as the Japanese driver winds down his career to an oval-only schedule. Sato will share the No. 11 Honda with rookie Marcus Armstrong. Armstrong was hired to drive the IndyCar street and road course races. There are five oval races on this year’s IndyCar schedule and the announcement says only that Sato will “pilot the No. 11 Honda in oval competition.”