Sato misses IndyCar season opener after crash practice

Updated Jun. 18, 2020 1:12 p.m. ET

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Takuma Sato missed the delayed season-opening IndyCar race after his team wasn't able to get the car repaired in time for the green flag Saturday night after a crash in qualifying.

Sato got high into Turn 1 on the high-banked Texas Motor Speedway on the start of his qualifying run, and slammed hard into the wall about 2 1/2 hours before the race started.

The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew worked feverishly to try to get the car ready the race, which followed practice and qualifying earlier in the all-in-one-day event.

Sato, the 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner, was the polesitter at Texas last year, when he finished 15th.