CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
GOPRO GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA
SONOMA RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
SEPTEMBER 17, 2017
SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 1 DXC TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET – Race Winner:
YOU SAID YOU HAD TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT. YOU WENT WITH A FOUR-STOP STRATEGY, AND YOU HAD TO WORK FOR THIS ALL DAY
“I’m exhausted. That was as hard as I could drive for 85 laps nonstop. I can barely lift my arms right now. But I want to thank everybody on the DXC Team. It was a phenomenal, I think, all weekend. I want to congratulate Josef (Newgarden, 2017 Champion) of course, and Team Penske. Our team this weekend and all season showed how strong everybody is at Team Penske. It’s been phenomenal. It’s a great testament to a great team spirit. I’m very happy for him. He deserves it. We did what we had to do. We tried. We won the race. It wasn’t enough. But it’s a whole championship. You’ve got to be strong at every race and I guess Josef was a little stronger this year. We’re going to come back. Thirteen points makes you come back for the competition again.”
THE TWO OF YOU WERE VERY CLOSE ON YOUR FINAL PITSTOP WHEN YOU EXITED. YOU WERE AHEAD ON COLD TIRES. HOW DIFFICULT? AND YOU HAD TO PROTECT BUT MAKE SURE THERE WAS NOT CONTACT
“Yes. When I was in a preferred position, I was ahead. The tires came up to temperature really quick and I was really pushing the envelope all day. It just worked out. The tires came up to temp pretty quick and I knew Josef wasn’t going to take too many risks, either. It was a little difficult with the backmarkers, because we couldn’t get up and going. But, overall, what a beautiful day.”
WHAT DO YOU PASS ON TO YOUR TEAMMATE ABOUT THE JOB YOU’VE DONE AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF A CHAMPION?
‘Well, I think obviously it’s a very competitive championship. It’s very rare to see a domination for many years. We came up short this year, but we defended really well. I’m so proud of our guys. I think we represented really well. But overall, I think it’s a team effort. But I think he’s going to be a tremendous champion. He’s American, which is great for the sport. And, he’s a kid. And I’ll tell you what, he’s very smart already.”