IndyCar: How does Simon Pagenaud’s history at remaining tracks compare to rivals?

By Asher Fair | Jul 17, 2019

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 06: Simon Pagenaud of France, driver of the #22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

How does Simon Pagenaud’s history at the remaining tracks on the 2019 IndyCar schedule compare to the histories of championship rivals Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi?

Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud shot himself right back up into 2019 IndyCar championship contention with his dominant victory in this past Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place.

Pagenaud led 80 of this race’s 85 laps around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile (2.874-kilometer) temporary street circuit on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada en route to winning the race and taking 22 points out of the lead of teammate Josef Newgarden in the championship standings.

Pagenaud entered this race in third place in the championship standings with 341 points, 61 points behind Newgarden. Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi sat in second with 395 points, seven behind Newgarden.

With this race, the 11th of 17 on the 2019 schedule, in the books, Newgarden still leads the championship standings, but by only four points over Rossi (434 to 430) and by only 39 points over Pagenaud (434 to 395).

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A lot has been made about the extraordinary amount of success that Newgarden and Rossi have had in the past at the remaining tracks on this year’s schedule.

But with the 35-year-old Frenchman having worked his way back into championship contention after what was somewhat of a struggle for him following his dominant month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, most notably his Indianapolis 500 victory, how does his history at the remaining tracks on this year’s schedule compare to theirs?

Of the six remaining tracks on the 2019 schedule, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca is the only track at which Pagenaud has never competed in an IndyCar races, and neither have Newgarden or Rossi. The other five tracks, however, he has.

Pagenaud’s average finish in seven races at Iowa Speedway is 7.86 while Newgarden’s in seven races there is 7.00 and Rossi’s in three races there is 8.67. Pagenaud’s average finish in seven races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is 4.29 while Newgarden’s in seven races there is 10.71 and Rossi’s in three races there is 7.00.

Meanwhile, Pagenaud’s average finish in seven races at Pocono Raceway is 8.17 while Newgarden’s in six races there is 4.33 and Rossi’s in three races there is 8.00. Pagenaud’s average finish in two races at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is 3.50 while Newgarden’s and Rossi’s in two races there are both 4.00.

In one IndyCar race at Portland International Raceway, Pagenaud finished in sixth place while Rossi finished in eighth and Newgarden finished in 10th. Pagenaud also finished in eighth at the track in the 2007 Champ Car race there.

Looking at these numbers alone, track history really doesn’t give any one of these drivers an advantage moving forward, but as a whole, it is Pagenaud who has actually been the best of these three drivers at these five tracks collectively.

This championship fight is poised to be a good one.

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