simon pagenaud Tag

By INDYCAR LONG POND, Pa. — The leading candidates for this year’s NTT IndyCar Series championship will be easy to spot at the start of Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. They all will be at the front. With heavy rain falling mid-morning Saturday, INDYCAR officials opted to cancel NTT P1 Award qualifying in favor of a two-hour practice that would be more relevant to race conditions. When qualifying sessions aren’t held, starting grids are set by entrant points and that provided Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and his No.Read More

By INDYCAR LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, July 28, 2019) – Five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon made sure his name remains in consideration for the 2019 season title by winning Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. But career victory No. 46 required a dramatic last-lap battle with his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate. Dixon had rookie Felix Rosenqvist charging in the closing laps and in the final pass through Turn 2 they had wheel contact. Both cars bobbled, but they kept them straight, which led to aRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Will Power finally has something to smile about. After abysmal luck in the previous two races, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner put his No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet on pole position for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Power’s lap of 1 minute, 5.1569 seconds around the 2.258 mile road course averaged 124.757 mph and was .3748 seconds faster than second place qualifier Alexander Rossi. Power is now 10 poles behind Mario Andretti’s all-time record of 67 poles and the timingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Josef Newgarden pushed a little too hard at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and that aggression bit the NTT IndyCar Series points leader during Friday’s afternoon practice session. The 2017 Mid-Ohio winner was trying to get a fast lap in the last few minutes of the session when he spun the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet through the Turn 9 gravel and hit the tire barrier with the rear of his car. Newgarden ended the session in 11th place. “I just lost the car andRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer LEXINGTON, Ohio — Five-time Mid-Ohio Indy car winner Scott Dixon put the rest of the field on notice that he is ready to get his sixth win at the 2.258 mile track in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. The No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda turned in a fastest lap of 1 minute, 6.0973 seconds to average 122.982 mph. Dixon was happy to be first but knew there was a lot more track time ahead. “It’s okay, like it’s first session right, so you’ve gotRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The rest of 2019 NTT IndyCar Series is a numbers game. Five races left with four drivers realistically in the title hunt contesting races over three time zones for two manufacturers with one champion to be crowned. The first of those five races is this weekend with the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Since Long Beach in April, every race has been won by one of the top four drivers in the championship standings and all four have wonRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer NEWTON, Iowa — Simon Pagenaud’s pole position at Iowa Speedway is the fruit of what he believes is a better working relationship with his team than when he won the NTT IndyCar Series championship in 2016. The Frenchman won the pole for Saturday’s Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway with a two-lap average speed of 180.073 mph around the .875 mile oval ahead of teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden in a Team Penske 1-2-3 sweep of qualifying. “Definitely happy to be ahead of my teammates,” saidRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Simon Pagenaud can no longer be overlooked in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series title hunt. The Frenchman brought the smack down in Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto by winning the pole, leading 80 of 85 laps and winning the race. But more so than that, Pagenaud reminded everybody that he was still someone to pay attention to as the season’s middle portion winds down. Pagenaud’s diversity is his strength, having won at 11 different tracks since his first IndyCar win at Detroit in 2013. What’s more impressiveRead More

BY INDYCAR TORONTO (July 14, 2019) – French driver Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske showed the NTT IndyCar Series how to celebrate Bastille Day. Pagenaud capped a near-perfect weekend in Canada by dominating the Honda Indy Toronto, scoring his third victory of the season – the 14th of his career – on France’s national day. The pole sitter led 80 of the 85 laps at Exhibition Place and held back five-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing in the late going to score his first victory on theRead More

By INDYCAR TORONTO (Saturday, July 13, 2019) – As Team Penske driver Simon Pagenaud completed what proved to be a pole-winning lap in Saturday’s Honda Indy Toronto qualifying session at Exhibition Place, NTT IndyCar Series rivals were sliding off pace. Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport bounced off the outside wall in Turn 6, and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon spun early in his final timed lap. Neither probably had the speed to match Pagenaud, but it made for an adventurous watch in the Firestone Fast Six qualifying session. “Yeah, thatRead More