FORT WORTH, Texas -- An 11th-place finish is consolation for a problem-filled Friday at Texas Motor Speedway for the A.J. Foyt Racing contingent.

Takuma Sato advanced 10 positions in the No. 14 ABC Supply car, which allowed him to move to fifth in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings, in the Firestone 550 on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval.

A gearbox issue in the lone practice session cut into Sato’s track time and prevented a qualifying attempt. He started 21st as the three cars behind him were subjected to 10-spot grid penalties because of unapproved engine changes.

Click it: Firestone 550 box score

“It was a hard race on the track with quite a big degradation of the tires,” said Sato, who won at Long Beach in April and was runner-up in Brazil last month. “The first seven laps were good and then gradually you’d lose the balance and grip. It was difficult to get the balance right. Our track position made it tough to get back to the top group but we did regain some positions. With the problems we had yesterday, it was a good recovery.”

Tony Kanaan and Simon Pagenaud also gained 10 positions relative to their starting spot in the 228-lap race. Kanaan finished third in the No. 11 Sunoco "Turbo" car for KV Racing Technology-SH Racing. Pagenaud, who earned his maiden IZOD IndyCar Series victory six days earlier at Detroit, moved from 23rd (one of the drivers to incur the grid spot penalty) in the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports car.

"On our strategy, we were actually counting on a yellow toward the end of the race, which would have put us in a very, very good position for the win," said Kanaan, who moved to fourth in the standings. "But I'll take third place here any day. The next stretch of races should be very good for us. We're fourth in the championship and we think we can keep up the momentum from the win at Indianapolis going forward."