SPEEDWAY, Ind — On a wet, rainy Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Simon Pagenaud, driver of the Menards No. 22 for Team Penske, erased a six-second deficit in the final laps to win his third career IndyCar Grand Prix.
“I love racing in the rain,” Pagenaud said after the race. “So I thought, ‘I’m just going to attack and see what happens.’”
The race began Saturday afternoon under chilly, but dry, conditions. Near the halfway-point however, the rain began to fall, and some drivers began to struggle. But that’s when Pagenaud started his impressive performance. On a restart with 17 laps to go, Pagenaud was sixth. He quickly gained ground, passing Jack Harvey for second place with six laps to go. He was still six seconds behind leader Scott Dixon. In the matter of four laps, he made up the time and was on Dixon’s bumper. With two laps to go, Pagenaud made his move in turns 8 and 9, and passed Dixon to take the lead, and eventually the win.
“I took a lot of risks,” said Pagenaud. “The car was so good. I just gave it 100{b738c8d81c72d45da79d596f76991eeb044315dc3b27bc6668899a5a04085174}. 100{b738c8d81c72d45da79d596f76991eeb044315dc3b27bc6668899a5a04085174} every lap.”
Scott Dixon, in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 9, finished second. Part-time driver Jack Harvey came home in third, his best career finish.
Action continues at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend, with qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. The 103rd Running of the Indy 500 is Sunday, May 26.
(Photo by Rob Connett, WIBC)
