Happy Pagenaud Silencing Doubters with Perfect Month of May Heading into Race Day
May 22, 2019 | By Phillip B. Wilson, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
He splashed through the rain to run down Scott Dixon and win the INDYCAR Grand Prix, then captured the pole for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday.
But Simon Pagenaud is still human, which means he heard the criticism about going winless in 2018 and subsequent speculation about his future after this NTT IndyCar Series season.
He shakes his head about the scuttlebutt, which includes the possibility of being replaced at Team Penske for 2020. He signed a one-year extension to return this season with Hall of Fame owner Roger Penske and considers his latest exploits proof that he’s still the same driver who won the 2016 series championship.
“People keep asking stuff like that,” he said of rumors. “My future is good. I’m having an awesome time with Team Penske. We’ve had so much success, I think people tend to forget really quickly, the success that I’ve had for this team has been quite phenomenal.
“Yeah, I guess there’s some chatter in the background, but it doesn’t really affect me at all. It doesn’t affect me at all. You saw it (in the INDYCAR Grand Prix). I’ve never lost it. (Laughs.) Some of those questions are kind of stupid, really. I don’t know. You get forgotten quickly. I don’t understand why.”
The 35-year-old Frenchman enters Sunday’s race fourth in the points after winning his first Indy 500 pole in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet. He’s said since winning the championship that the Indy 500 is his No. 1 goal and is convinced this could be his year. His best “500” finish in seven starts was sixth a year ago.
“The Indy 500 is my dream,” he said. “Last year, I thought we were very close. This year, I feel even stronger. Obviously there’s a lot that needs to happen for that to happen, but we’re in a very good spot.”
Although last season was an endless series of trials and tribulations in adjusting to a new car with a universal aero kit, Pagenaud was adamant at the outset of this season that 2019 would be different. He sounded supremely confident that he would return to the previous form that crowned him a champion.
Lest anyone forget, he won five races in capturing the 2016 title, then celebrated two more victories in 2017 to finish runner-up to teammate Josef Newgarden by just 13 points. He was a runner-up in two races a year ago and dropped to sixth in the points.
Pagenaud reiterates that’s in the past. How he snapped his winless streak was memorable – Pagenaud made up a six-second deficit with 10 laps remaining on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s rain-soaked road course to overtake Dixon in the INDYCAR Grand Prix on May 11.
“That was an example of what the team can do and what I can do,” he said. “I’ve thought the whole year that this was going to happen. I’ve thought all year that this could be a really, really strong season. We’ve just got to keep going, keep pushing. It’s going to be a tough championship. You want to be top five consistently and score points. I don’t think you’ll see someone win five races this year, but who knows?”
Newgarden leads the points, six ahead of five-time and reigning series champion Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing. Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, the 2018 series runner-up, is 36 points back in third.
Rossi, like Pagenaud, is in a contract year. He, too, has heard the rumors about where the 27-year-old Californian could be driving next season. The most popular gossip has him being courted by Penske.
When asked about his situation last week, Rossi sounded like Pagenaud in reiterating his focus is on the Indy 500, this season and not next year.
“Well, your guess is as good as mine, to be honest,” Rossi said about what could happen after this season. “We're just trying to get through this month and get through the year and somehow catch this guy to my left (Newgarden). He's had a hell of a start.
“I feel like any conversations and things about the future are pretty irrelevant and very distracting for the goal of what we're trying to accomplish, and that's to win a championship and to try and get some redemption on what we felt we kind of gave away last year. So that's our main focus, my main priority, and I hope that everyone else in the organization is the same way.”
Pagenaud also reiterates the outside noise doesn’t affect him.
“I don’t think about this kind of situation,” he said. “I don’t listen to rumors. A lot of the rumors are not based on facts. A lot of the rumors are fantasies that people may have. People want to put names with names or whatever. That doesn’t affect my job. That doesn’t affect my relationship with my team. We’re doing a great job, and we’re happy.
“I’ve got the car in a happy place and I’m happy with it. The 22 team is really good right now. There’s no reason to worry about all this stuff. Just focus on the job and it will sort itself out. No matter what, it will sort itself out, wins, contracts, future, whatever.”