PRUETT: Pagenaud's American dream Marshall Pruett (images by Pruett, LAT)
After many years of trying, Simon Pagenaud finally became the complete package. His career-defining season was a byproduct of immense effort, and was only made possible once Pagenaud transformed himself into a genuine ass kicker.

The numbers don't lie: He earned more wins and poles, led more laps and races, and also led the standings for 15 events – from Round 2 in April through the checkered flag on Sunday in Sonoma – to secure his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship.
He also brought poise, character, humor and humility to his championship bid, and displayed an unending hunger to improve with every lap. If you're searching for an athletic role model to put in front of your kids, Pagenaud fits nicely among the Scott Dixons and Ryan Hunter-Reays.
His journey from being forgotten and exiled at the end of 2007 to a super-sub in 2011 to reaching the top of the mountain in 2016 completes an incredible nine-year journey, and it's another aspect of Pagenaud's narrative that deserves praise. Having been there for most of that wild ride, I've come to appreciate a few things about the pride of Poitiers, France.
First, he's an unapologetic throwback. Sure, when he speaks, he sounds an awful lot like the character Jean Girard from Talladega Nights (which he's aware of, and has fun with), but accents aside, the new IndyCar champ would fit perfectly in the romantic 1960s where drivers from every corner of the world met to race at Monaco, the Indianapolis 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Pikes Peak, and even the Daytona 500, to the delight of racing traditionalists.
In the finest tradition forged by the Andrettis, Foyts, Gurneys and Unsers, Pagenaud will race anyone, anywhere, at any time. He's strapped into a wider variety of racing machines than any of his contemporaries, and continues to search for new driving experiences.
Open-wheel, sports cars (in three different flavors – prototypes, GTs and sedans), rallying, hill climbs, endurance racing, sprint racing ... amateur endurance racing ... karting. Throw in a stock car race and a few jumps in a monster truck, and he'll have every base covered.
Simply put, hand Pagenaud a steering wheel and half a chance, and he's game.
Hell, after a long season that started in January at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the champ isn't headed for a month-long vacation to celebrate his title; you'll find him at Road Atlanta next week, sweating his balls off in a Corvette Daytona Prototype, to try and help the Action Express Racing team win an IMSA title.
And why would he choose roasting in a DP over tanning himself on a beach in the Caribbean? Because they asked. I'm not suggesting Pagenaud is as good as the Andrettis, Foyts, Gurneys or Unsers; he hasn't done enough to enter that conversation, but there's no question he's driven by the same tradition and all-rounder spirit that built those men into legends and icons.
It's also easy to appreciate how Pagenaud has achieved the American Dream. He doesn't come from wealth, has earned everything he's received, and lives in North-freakin-Carolina with his American girlfriend.
As far as feel-good stories go, Pagenaud has written a damn fine script since crossing the Atlantic: A skinny European kid comes to America barely out of his teens, wins the Atlantic championship, scores a ride in the Champ Car series – during what proved to be its final season – and impressed everyone, including his teammate (and future Penske star) Will Power on his debut.
His sophomore Indy car season never materialized after Champ Car collapsed (and was bought by IndyCar) in early 2008. Out of an open-wheel drive, and with his career all but stalled, he held onto the dream by accepting a lesser one as a sports car pilot in the American Le Mans Series.

Gutted by the lack of interest shown by teams in the blended IndyCar Series, he used that anger to elevate his name. It happened far away from IndyCar's bright lights, but Pagenaud's stock began to rise as a fierce competitor within the Honda/Acura factory LMP2 system. He'd go on a three-year prototype campaign that regularly delivered shock and awe, and in his final ALMS season, it produced the 2010 LMP championship with Highcroft Racing.
Undeterred by the IndyCar snub, Pagenaud actually benefitted from being sent down to the minors at just 24 years old. Champ Car was a good introduction to top-tier open-wheel racing, but his blade was properly sharpened behind the wheel of scary-fast prototypes. Thrust into LMP2 against Penske Racing's factory Porsche RS Spyders and the sister Acura programs from Andretti-Green and Fernandez Racing, Pagenaud was pitted against absolute animals that surpassed whatever Champ Car offered in 2007.

 

INDYCAR: Pagenaud awarded $1m and Astor Cup

IndyCar / Image by IMS Photo
Simon Pagenaud was officially honored this evening at the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Championship Celebration.

Pagenaud, 32, was saluted at Hilbert Circle Theatre on Indianapolis' Monument Circle for capturing the season championship on the strength of a series-best five race wins and seven Verizon P1 Award pole positions over the course of the 16-race campaign.
The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet was awarded the $1 million champion's prize and the Astor Challenge Cup, the trophy presented annually to the series champion since 2011, by Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Co., the parent of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, before a capacity crowd.
Pagenaud clinched his first career title with a dominant win in the Sept. 18 season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. With two weeks to take in the significance of his accomplishment, the Frenchman is savoring the moment.

"It's obviously a milestone in my career, my lifetime dream come true," said Pagenaud, who just completed his sixth fulltime season and seventh overall racing Indy cars. "There's obviously more in the future, other goals to reach, but I've reached one of the biggest ones I wanted."
The celebration of Pagenaud as the champion climaxed an evening of recognizing superlative performances throughout the Verizon IndyCar Series season that included the 100th Indianapolis 500, won in most memorable fashion by rookie Alexander Rossi, who coasted across the finish line after his Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda ran out of fuel on the final lap.
"This has been a phenomenal season," said Miles. "Historic in a very real sense with the epic 100th Running of the Indy 500 – which I think exceeded everybody's expectations as a monumental event. But then the whole year was great. I think back to all the races, every one of them was a dynamite event - great racing, great crowds.
"All of our fan metrics are up meaningfully this year," Miles added. "In fact, we're at like a 55 percent increase in our television audience over the last three years, which very few sports can claim, and all of our other metrics are great. IndyCar is on a roll, we've got the schedule out for next year and people are looking forward to 2017."
In addition to the championship bonus, Pagenaud was awarded the Jostens Champions Award, a ring to commemorate his championship. He also won the Sunoco Diamond Performance Award for winning the most races this season and the Verizon P1 Award for scoring the most points among pole winners.
Billy Vincent, chief mechanic for Pagenaud's No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet, accepted the Verizon IndyCar Series Chief Mechanic of the Year Award. Jon Bouslog was honored as the Team Manager of the Year as Team Penske collected its record 14th Indy car championship in the same year that owner Roger Penske's organization is celebrating 50 years in racing.
"Obviously Team Penske is one of the most historic race teams in the world," Pagenaud said. "I'm so proud to be part of this team, so proud that I could bring this championship to Roger. The 50-year anniversary is huge and this is going to go into history. I'm very glad that I could leave a little bit of my legacy, but I'm a very small part in a very big thing."
Rossi earned the Verizon IndyCar Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award after also being named in May as the Sunoco Rookie of the Year for the Indianapolis 500. Another Verizon IndyCar Series rookie, Conor Daly, claimed the TAG Heuer "Don't Crack Under Pressure" Award for advancing the most cumulative places from the start of races to their finish during the season.
Mike Hull, managing director of Chip Ganassi Racing accepted the Firestone "Drive to the Finish" Award on behalf of Charlie Kimball, who completed the most laps of any driver this season (2,066 of a possible 2,070, 99.8 percent). The family of Bryan Clauson, who was voted INDYCAR Nation Fan Favorite Driver, accepted the award for the three-time Indianapolis 500 starter fatally injured in a midget racing accident in August.
Jim Campbell, Chevrolet's vice president of performance vehicles and motorsports, accepted the manufacturers award on behalf of Chevrolet, which won 14 of the 16 races, 13 pole positions and led 71 percent of the race laps (1,467 of 2,070). Chevrolet has won the manufacturers award every year since Verizon IndyCar Series engine competition resumed in 2012.
Will Power of Team Penske was honored as the second-place finisher in the championship while teammate Helio Castroneves was recognized for finishing third. It gave Team Penske a sweep of the top three positions in the point standings.
"Tonight is really a tour de force for Team Penske," Miles said. "You can't finish 1-2-3 if you don't beat 4-5-6 through 21 or 22. It was a great year of racing for Simon and for Roger Penske in his 50th year in racing. It's just an amazing accomplishment."

 

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