Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato and 'his boys' forged a bond that can never be broken

INDIANAPOLIS -- Watching Takuma Sato walk out of Andretti Autosport headquarters with the last of his things on Tuesday wasn't easy for Ziggy Harcus.

"Like a divorce," Sato's former chief strategist at Andretti Autosport said with a bittersweet chuckle. "Like he's taking that last piece of property, and that's it." 

Their marriage was brief but filled to the brim with love and loss. Sato, now with
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, joined Andretti for just one season, but he, Harcus and the rest of the No. 26 crew bonded immediately. 

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They loved Sato for his passion and good nature. Chief engineer Garrett Mothersead said working for Sato was like working for his best friend. In turn, Sato loved them because they adopted him as their own and wanted to win as badly as he did. They became his "boys." 

Without his boys, Sato said, Indianapolis 500 redemption would never have been possible. Without the No. 26 crew, his face would never have been immortalized on the most iconic trophy in racing.

But on Tuesday night at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, that’s precisely where Sato’s likeness could be found. His face, with a wide smile that will remind fans forever of his heartfelt joy, was revealed as the 104th on the Borg-Warner Trophy.

And his boys were right where they belonged: alongside him, just like they were after he won the 500.

"We’ve accomplished something together than no matter what happens, it will always be part of our lives," Mothersead said. "My favorite part of all this was Victory Lane. Just being there and having that unbelievable group of people all packed into that area. It was the most amazing thing."

Their presence Tuesday night meant more to Sato than he could express. They didn’t have to come. After all, Sato left them, opting against signing an extension with Andretti and heading to RLL in 2018. Next year, the No. 26 crew won’t be Sato’s boys. Many of them will be with Zach Veach, trying to outrun Sato week in and week out.

Sato knows that. He doesn’t care. Neither does the No. 26 crew. The future will be here soon enough, they said. Tuesday was about living in the past.  

“This is something that transcends business, beyond anything we do," Mothersead said during the celebration. "This is a lifetime accomplishment. We’ll all go our separate ways some day. It's not just him. Crew chiefs, tire changers, gear box guys, we’ll all end up in different places no matter what. But there will always be this bond between all of us. We were all there and we accomplished it together."

For more than an hour Tuesday night, Sato smiled widely, happy to celebrate the biggest victory of his racing career with the people who made it possible. Some of his former crew talked about the race itself -- Sato's brilliant pass of Helio Castroneves and later holding off the determined Brazilian hunting his fourth victory. Others reminisced about Victory Lane and the hugs and tears they shared.

Sure, Tuesday could have been awkward said Mothersead, but they woudn't allow it. When you kiss the bricks together, a bond is forged that can never be broken.

“Our relationship will never change,” Sato said. “The moment we won the 2017 Indy 500 is something very special, something I’m really proud of.”

No matter what, Sato said, they will always be his boys.

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello