SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 MENARDS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, won the Verizon P1 Award for the second consecutive week and earned the right to lead the Verizon IndyCar Series field to the green flag for Saturday’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is his fourth career pole, and the fifth pole of the season for Chevrolet.
“It’s fantastic. It’s not that simple, it’s a lot of work in the background. I just want to take my hat off to my engineer, Ben Bretzman, for giving me a monster car every time. As soon as I put those Firestone red (alternate) tires on the car, she became magical, as we imagined. It’s a lot of fun for me right now, the whole team is functioning so well. The decision process from (strategist) Kyle Moyer to do one lap each segment was all him. It’s really a team sport.
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had in racing. I’m driving the best I’ve driven ever. Little by little, you get confidence with success. Team Penske, they give me the best car. If I drive it well, you should expect to be up there. To be up there so often is certainly the best feeling in the world.”