INDIANAPOLIS – Simon Pagenaud knows what he should be doing right now.
His plan for Friday would have been to climb into the Team Penske No. 22 Chevrolet for one final test session, mingle with fans and plot race strategy. On Sunday, he would chase a second straight Indianapolis 500 victory.
Instead, he is spending the Memorial Day weekend quietly at home, far away from deafening engines and roaring crowds. He talks about the future – IndyCar’s season opener at Texas Motor Speedway on June 6, the series’ first July race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the COVID-19 pandemic that caused this chaos – and his hope that the rescheduled Indy 500 weekend in August proves to be as festive and fun as he expected.
“It really hit me on qualifying weekend. It was my birthday,” Pagenaud said on a Zoom call Friday. “It was really strange: No stress, no anxiety but I was missing something that was very dear to my heart. It’s just the best feeling in racing that day, and I look forward to it every year. Also today is Carb Day, I was thinking ‘Wow, we’d be doing this or that, and pretty soon we’d be racing.’ So it’s definitely strange.”
It’s been anything but business as usual for IndyCar. From revised travel plans to virtual racing, everyone has scrambled to find their places. Fans just might park around Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend and celebrate their annual traditions anyway.