IndyCar: Honda Indy Toronto could be the race Simon Pagenaud needs

By Asher Fair | Jul 13, 2019

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 07: Simon Pagenaud of France, driver of the #22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, looks on during US Concrete Qualifying Day for the NTT IndyCar Series - DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 07, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

The Honda Indy Toronto could be the race that Simon Pagenaud needs to launch himself back into the 2019 IndyCar championship fight.

The 2019 IndyCar championship battle has started to develop into a two-driver battle between Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, who sit in first and second place in the championship standings with 402 points and 395 points, respectively.

But sitting in what you might call “no man’s land” is Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud in third place in the championship standings. He trails Newgarden by 61 points with 341 points but sits 33 points ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in fourth with 308.

Pagenaud is still most assuredly in the championship fight, as there are still seven races remaining on the 17-race 2019 schedule, including a double points-paying season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, but tomorrow’s Honda Indy Toronto could prove to the be the race he needs to truly get back in the fight along with Newgarden and Rossi.

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Pagenaud’s season has been highlighted by his success at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, notably his victory in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. He also won the race at the track’s road course just over two weeks before the signature victory of his racing career.

You wouldn’t know it based on the fact that he sits in third place in the championship standings, largely due to the fact that the Indy 500 is also a double points-paying race, but outside of Speedway, Indiana, the 35-year-old Frenchman hasn’t finished in the top five at all this season.

In fact, his average finishing position in the eight races outside of the “Racing Capital of the World” is only 9.88. Over the course of a full season throughout his eight-year career as a full-time IndyCar driver, only his average finishing position in the 2015 season, 10.63, is lower. He finished that season, which was his first season driving for Team Penske, in a career-low 11th place in the championship standings.

This is exactly why Pagenaud needs a big day tomorrow in the 85-lap race around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile (2.874-kilometer) temporary street circuit on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

He has gotten this weekend off to a lightning fast start, finishing in fifth place in the first practice session before going on to top the speed charts in the second and third practice sessions before taking the pole position for the race.

Now he needs to translate that success to the race itself.

Can he pull it off?

Pagenaud has not had a ton of success at Exhibition Place, leading only 10 laps in his last eight races at the track before leading 23 laps in his debut there in the 2012 season. Additionally, his average finishing position there is 9.56

However, two of his three top five finishes there have come in the last two seasons, and last year, he finished in a career-high second place. This year, he is set to start with a clean track in front of him, and there is no reason to believe that that won’t be the case when the conclusion of lap 85 rolls around.

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Can Simon Pagenaud launch himself right back up into contention for the 2019 IndyCar championship with a victory in tomorrow’s Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place? Tune in to the live broadcast of this race tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET to find out.