CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HONDA INDY TORONTO
TEAM CHEVY RACE NOTES & QUOTES
JULY 14, 2019

SIMON PAGENAUD, NO. 22 TEAM PENSKE DXC TECHNOLOGY CHEVROLET – Race Winner

YOU SAID THE CAR WAS PERFECT ON FRIDAY AND SHOWED NO SIGNS ANYTHING DIFFERENT ALL AFTERNOON OVER THE COURSE OF 85 LAPS. SO YOU’RE CLOSE TO RUNNING OUT OF FUEL. KYLE (MOYER, RACE STRATEGIST) IS TELLING YOU THAT YOU NEED TO SAVE. WHAT WERE YOUR NERVES LIKE IN THOSE CLOSING LAPS?
“It’s never easy with the lapped traffic. The lapped traffic was really very difficult because I was trying to just pass them and that made it difficult. They’re fighting for their lap. I get it. So, I just backed myself up and tried to give myself a gap with (Scott) Dixon (finished 2nd) while saving fuel.

“Chevy did a great job of giving us an update this weekend and it really paid off and obviously on the fuel, it was tremendous. The car was plenty fast all day. We never really got in trouble with anyone. So, I am just delighted. That was perfect execution from the Penske team.”

AS GOOD AS THE CAR WAS THIS WHOLE WEEKEND, GOING INTO TODAY WAS THERE PRESSURE TO DELIVER A WIN OR WERE YOU JUST THAT CONFIDENT YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO DELIVER ONE?
“No, I was confident all weekend. I never had a doubt. I never really looked who was behind, we just focused on getting the car where we wanted to be and man, those days are the best. There are a lot of bad days in racing but those sweet days make up for it.”

ON THE RACE: “I can’t thank these guys enough. They come in the morning with big smiles on their faces and evening thing, same thing. We are really working together and that is why we are where we are today.

“For the whole race I was waiting for that yellow. I was sure we were going to have a yellow with five laps to go and we were going to have a restart. But no matter what, we had the best car today. When I had to push, we could go faster Dixon, or match anyone and save fuel. It was an amazing day. Dixon made it interesting at the end, which is great for the fans!

“It’s time to go. We are going to be aggressive. We had to win at this place and we did it. We will keep pushing!”