By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
For the second straight day, Simon Pagenaud led the way on the speed charts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Following a pole run of 229.992 mph on Sunday afternoon, Pagenaud topped Monday practice for next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500. His No. 22 Team Penske Chevrolet is off to a “good start” said Pagenaud.
“We’ve got a really good balance so far,” Pagenaud said. “I think we still need to find a little more front grip alone and in traffic, and I think we’ll be in really good shape.
“Then the tricky part is going to be to find the right level of downforce for the race. Obviously, like I said, with the temperature changing, that’s a very relevant point that is very important to work on with the engineers.”
More than just single-car speed like in qualifying, Pagenaud led a session that was filled with pack drafting. Here, the Frenchman got a feel of where he could go.
“It was really good to be able to run with a lot of people on track,” he said. “I thought at the end it was almost like a race. Everybody was on track. So that was entertaining. It was a good way to see how the car was reacting.”
Along with getting a feel of his own car, Pagenaud took notice of other competitors on track, including his Penske teammates.
“They all are a threat,” he said of his teammates. “Helio [Castroneves] looked really strong this morning. He could follow the closest I thought. I didn’t get to run much with Will [Power]. I was looking for him everywhere, but with the black car it’s hard to find him.
“Josef [Newgarden] looked really strong. I think all four of us have a really good chance no matter what. [Alexander] Rossi was impressive at the end, also, probably the best of what I’ve seen on
Additionally, Ed Carpenter Racing’s quick trio (Ed Carpenter, Spencer Pigot and Ed Jones) got the attention of pole-sitter Pagenaud, who will lead the threesome in the top four on Sunday.
“They’re very fast,” he said. “Ed [Carpenter] is very solid out there. Typical Ed, he’s got a really fast car. He’s got his own game, which I think as I’m starting to read his cards now.
“Spencer looks strong and reads traffic really well, so he’s going to be also up there. That’s what I saw really. I could go through the whole session with you, but you’d probably get bored. So no, it was an interesting session. But again, the temperature makes everybody look pretty good.”