Simon Pagenaud places the pole position emblem on his car after qualifying first Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500.INDIANAPOLIS – Simon Pagenaud keeps finding new ways to impress his team owner.
At the IndyCar Grand Prix on May 11, he rallied in the rain on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to end a 21-race drought without a victory. On Sunday, he put Roger Penske back in pole position for the Indianapolis 500 – and he may not be finished.
Pagenaud traded high-fives and pumped his fist along pit row after becoming the first French driver in a century to earn the pole for the Indy 500. He had a four-lap qualifying average of 229.992 mph to edge Ed Carpenter and Spencer Pigot and give Chevrolet a clean sweep of the front row for next Sunday’s edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
“Watching him run in that road race, in the water, I’ve never seen a run like that in my life,” Penske said after the team captured its 266th pole in IndyCar Series competition. “And then to come out here and win the pole? We’ve got great momentum.”
The timing couldn’t be better for Pagenaud, either. With his contract expiring at the end of this season and questions lingering about his future, the 2016 series champion has thrived this month on IndyCar’s biggest stage, with Sunday’s pole his first since July 2017.