MILLER: Pagenaud at career crossroads

In last week's midseason report card, I said the best was yet to come for Simon Pagenaud and that didn't include being pursued by Michael Andretti's team for 2015.

As Pagenaud was celebrating with his Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports crew, following his victory and the little squad's 1-2 finish Sunday afternoon in Houston, I asked team manager Rob Edwards how they could keep the fast, friendly Frog in their stable.

"Just keep doing this," he replied. "If we do, why would he want to go anywhere else?"

Obviously, the lure of making more money at one of the Big 3 teams would be the answer but in light of what's happened these past two seasons, there's some merit to Edwards' reasoning. Pagenaud and engineer Ben Bretzman have four wins in the past 29 races – same as Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon and Andretti's Ryan Hunter-Reay, one fewer than Team Penske's Will Power and two more than Helio Castroneves.

The 2006 Formula Atlantic champion also has great chemistry with Don Oldenburg, Brendon Cleave, Justin Herring, Matt Dove, Taylor Kiel, Keith Beck, Frank Camacho, Mike Ford and Bretzman. And he's become fast friends with rapid rookie teammate Mikhail Aleshin, whose engineer Allen McDonald is one of the sharpest in the paddock and the two teams share everything under Edwards' steady hand.

This team revolves around Pagenaud and there's something to be said for that because three- and four-car operations gather more sponsors and information to share, yet don't offer the same intimacy as SPM. It's also a different world with everyone running the Dallara DW12, and with Honda and Chevrolet as close as you could hope. In 10 races so far in 2014, there have been seven different winners from five different teams – and one of them isn't Ganassi.

"It's getting tougher and tougher to win any IndyCar race just because of how balanced the teams are and the driving talent in the series is arguably the toughest it's ever been," said Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner who stands third in the point standings with eight races remaining. "There are no weak spots and everybody can challenge for a win on road course or an oval."

That may sound like a NASCAR infomercial ("Any one of these 43 drivers can win" is the standard refrain from announcers) but in IndyCar's case it's true. The Verizon IndyCar Series field is deeper than it's been since back in CART's heyday and there are no wankers getting in the way. Yeah, Carlos Huertas got to the front on Dale Coyne's strategy but he also stayed there with boyhood hero Juan Montoya in his mirrors. Yeah, Jack Hawksworth needed some timely cautions and a good call from Bryan Herta to come from last but his battle to keep third place with Charlie Kimball and Montoya was some of the best racing you will ever see on a street circuit. And Aleshin pulled away from Power and Sebastien Bourdais in the closing laps on Sunday to take second place.

The resplendent rookies Carlos Munoz, Hawksworth, Huertas and Aleshin are all Honda drivers on smaller teams (except for Munoz) but they've all performed like veterans and surprised most of us with their maturity behind the wheel. It's inevitable that the big teams go after young talent and, even though the great paydays for Indy car drivers are long gone, there's still a decent salary increase likely being dangled in front of Pagenaud, who deserves to make top dollar with his talent and résumé. You certainly can't fault a racer for trying to make as much as he or she can because it's a selfish sport and a cruel business that doesn't breed a lot of loyalty.

My compatriot at NBCSN, Kevin Lee, was saying he understands the drill but he'd hate to see Pagenaud leave SPM because it would upset the competitive balance and that's true. Right now we've got Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt, Coyne, Sam and Herta sharing the headlines with Andretti and Penske and if Sarah Fisher/Hartman could ever buy a break, Josef Newgarden could join the fun. It's never been better for a good driver/engineer combination with smart pit stops to show their stuff in IndyCar. But Pagenaud is the most coveted free agent and it's not going to be an easy decision.

"I want to focus on trying to win the championship for Sam, Ric, Davey and these guys because they gave me a chance," said the 30-year-old when asked about his future. "Of course, it's flattering to hear other teams are interested in you but I'm not thinking about that right now. I'm thinking about getting some good results at Pocono and Iowa."

Schmidt missed his team's first 1-2 sweep, but co-owner Peterson joined in the post-victory celebration and was asked if he thought they could keep Simon on board.

"Another big sponsor would help but we're sure going to try," said Peterson, the Canadian trucking man who rescued this team a few years ago. "But, you know what? We've got a pretty damn good team right here."

HOUSTON AFTERTHOUGHTS

• Shell and Pennzoil did a nice job of promoting the double-header but the rain and heat/humidity took a toll on the gate and promoter Mike Lanigan really needs to move the date but he's kinda screwed. The annual rodeo makes March out of the question and the Shell golf tourney puts an ex-nay on April. Lanigan said the best turnout they ever had at Reliant Stadium was the night Champ Car race in 2006 so, if IndyCar stays in Houston, that's one more reason to run past Labor Day.
  
  
• Marshall Pruett will probably address this in his Technical Mailbag later this week but Honda made better fuel mileage than Chevrolet last weekend. Scott Dixon, the king of saving fuel, noticed.
  
  
• Had Justin Wilson not had a temperamental radio for the crucial five laps on Saturday, he'd have pitted with teammate Huertas and Coyne would have finished 1-2.
  
  
• Other than his late-race gaffe on Saturday when he rammed Tony Kanaan on the restart, Graham Rahal drove like his old self both races in the National Guard car and could have easily had a pair of podiums. Teammate Luca Filippi was also quite impressive after being out of an Indy car for a year.
  
  
• Juan Pablo Montoya said he's starting to trust himself to make moves like his old days in CART and he keeps getting closer to Victory Lane.
  
  
• Kudos to NBCSN for cutting away from the leaders to show the Hawksworth-Kimball-Montoya battle. That probably wouldn't have happened on other networks.
  
  
• Herta says nobody has approached him about Hawksworth's contract, which is both amazing...and not surprising knowing some of these owners.
  
  
• Lou Hinchman was the pioneer of the first, good, fireproof driving suit and drivers from Indy, Monaco and Daytona wore them all through the '60s, '70s and '80s. Nancy Sullivan Chumbley, Lou's secretary who took over his company almost 16 years ago after his passing, celebrated her first IndyCar victory on Saturday when Huertas wore one of her suits.
  
  
• Just to clarify: Foyt was ticked off at Marco Andretti and the fact it took IndyCar officials too long to react (in his opinion) to Marco holding up leader Takuma Sato. He wasn't thrilled with Aleshin but he gave Sato equal blame for their crash. Some say A.J. may get fined for swearing during his interview. Hell, IndyCar needs to thank him. It was reportedly the second-trending tweet on Saturday and a big hit on YouTube. Damn Cooogan: