Photo Credit: IndyCar
Simon Pagenaud, driver of the No. 22 PPG Automotive Finish Chevrolet, came into the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend with the points lead in the IndyCar Championship. He had two great weekends at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as well as the Diamond Desert West Valley Grand Prix of Phoenix, where he finished both races in second place.
After a controversial pit stop where he took the lead from Scott Dixon, Pagenaud raced on to the win. This is his fifth win in the series, but notably his first win with Team Penske and first win since Houston 2014. With the win, it also extended his points lead in the championship.
“Yeah, it was a great day, fantastic team effort, once again, on the 22 side,” Pagenaud said. “Obviously we made a pretty interesting call on the aerodynamic setup of the car before the race, thanks to Ben Bretzman, my engineer, for pushing me to it, and it worked. We were able to be really aggressive and managed to get some passes done. And then at the end there, it was the last pit sequence, we managed to make two more laps than Helio and Scott, ran some big laps, and my crew did once again a fantastic pit stop and put me in a position to win the race.
“Hats off to my whole crew, to Kyle Moyer, my strategist, as well. I mean, the 22 team is just on it this year, compared to last year. We’ve just gone a big step forward. I believe there’s some more to come, so it feels great, and everybody is just having a good time, too. Great day. First win for Roger, so you guys can’t ask me anymore when I’m going to win, so that feels great, too. I can just focus on the job now, so thank you.”
Before Pagenaud got his ride in IndyCar, he always said if he could get into the series he could win.
“Yeah, it’s great, a great feeling to know it, obviously,” he said. “That’s what I work for. That’s what all drivers work for is to get to the top step every race. When it happens, it’s a really sweet feeling. Most importantly, yeah, it’s really nice to win for Roger and have that one checked off the list, so I’m glad that’s done.
“I always believed I could do it. It’s just a matter of being with the right equipment, being in the right situation. Sam Schmidt really helped me to get on the front scene and get recognized by Roger, and then now I’ve got the car to do it, so I’ve got the car, I’ve got the team, I’ve got everything. So no more excuses, I guess.”
Pagenaud attributes his success in the last three races to believing in himself and his team. He noted that the win took longer to come than some thought it would as he had to find his way with his new team. This year marks Pagenaud’s second year with Team Penske.
“The 22 car was brand new last year, new people coming on board,” Pagenaud said. ” Some people from the other cars came with us. It was a matter of having everybody work together, just kind of love each other, and things now are going really smoothly. I’d like to just look at it like any job. When you change jobs, you change cities, you go somewhere, it takes a little bit of time to understand the people you work with, and that’s what we did, and I think right now we’re on a really good path, just understanding each other really well, and being on the same spirit.”
Pagenaud wasn’t relieved after finally getting a win for Team Penske, however, as he knew the win was coming because they have been so competive and had good race cars. He also knew he could win races because this isn’t his first win. It was a matter of when the win was going to come for him with Penske, and when him and his crew were going to put themselves in the position to get the win. Consistency is the key to winning not just races, but the championship as well.
“But I’ve been saying it, consistency is key for me in this championship, and for the way I drive,” Pagenaud said. “It might not be exciting to watch. It might not be the most fun to watch, but it works. I’m just going to stick to what I believe in, and when it’s time to win, we’ll win.”
During the Race at Long Beach drivers were saying it was hard to pass, however Pagenaud was able to make some moves along the way.
“Yeah, I had a bad start, but I was able to out-brake Tony at the start of the race, so I got third back, and then we managed to get Dixon on the second lap,” Pagenaud said. “We had a lot of straight-line speed in the car, which made it difficult the rest of the track, but I was able to — with a great setup on the PPG car I was able to stay with them on the infield, and then on the straight I was so fast that I had a run on people. Even when I was behind Helio they just asked me to save fuel, otherwise if I tried, I probably could get the lead back actually at the start of the race because the car was that fast on the straight.
“But yeah, and what happened is, like I said, those two laps that I had in clear traffic when Helio and Scott pitted because of traffic was key, and we put some big, big laps in on black tires that worked really well on the car. Then we put the reds on because we wanted the big out lap to protect whatever was going to happen next, and the car stayed really well together to the end of the race.”
As the laps were wound down and drivers were making their final pit stops of the race, Pagenaud came in and on his way off pit road back out onto the racetrack he cut across the yellow line sooner than the rules state, taking the lead from Dixon. IndyCar put it under review, eventually coming back with just a warning for Pagenaud.
“No, I actually didn’t know. Nobody mentioned it,” Pagenaud said. “(Strategist) Kyle (Moyer) didn’t tell me on the radio. I just focused on the job. I really honestly didn’t know it was that close. I wouldn’t have changed anything honestly. We’re talking — to make it like an easy call to say it’s no penalty or no warning, it would have been that much more. So it just made it great for TV and for you to understand, but actually INDYCAR has made it really clear this year what you can and cannot do, and it was certainly on the verge of being a stronger penalty, but I did get a warning. I only did it once in the race. Same for Munoz. Munoz did the same thing, so I guess it was a clear understanding for race control.”
IndyCar makes it very clear during race weekend what the drivers and can’t do. They always go over the rules and regulations during the drivers meeting.
“I mean, no, I thought it was — they’ve done this manual,” Pagenaud said. “They’ve done a manual that they actually sent to all the drivers, and the drivers’ association and IndyCar and the teams actually worked with IndyCar to understand what was going to be a warning, what was going to be a minimum penalty, so a warning, mid-penalty and higher penalty. Each one of those levels has a different consequence.
“You know, going into the race, I know the rule book, so I know that that line, I know you can take risks. I know you can get on the limit. It’s just racing at the end of the day, and quite frankly, like I said, another inch to the right wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the race.”
There was no cautions during the race, which is the first time a race has gone caution free in a long time. While some drivers had comments afterwards about possibility making the race longer, or finding a way to make passing easier, Pagenaud says that he’s happy with how things won.
“No, I don’t have any (complaints) — it was very quick. I mean, it was like — after 50 laps, I was like, wow, we’re almost done here,” he said. “The pace of the cars are really fast nowadays compared to 10 years ago. The pace is really, really strong. We brake really late. We carry a lot of speed through the corners and pretty fast on the straights, too. We go up to 190 on the straight now. So yeah, there’s a lot of speed. I don’t know, personally it was fun for me as a driver because it was pure racing. It was about doing a perfect out lap, being on the limit every lap, so it’s certainly not as exciting from outside, but I thought the pit sequence made it exciting. I’m a happy person. I thought our strategy worked out well, so personally I think the job is done.”
