INDYCAR 2016 Driver Review: Simon Pagenaud

Just when you thought that the Verizon IndyCar Series had run out of ways to surprise, 2016 came along. The championship was won by a guy who looked all at sea 12 months earlier, his closest rival didn't even participate in the first race, and the winner of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 was a recent F1 refugee who apparently figured out how to make a car work without fuel.

Twenty-four drivers made at least three starts during the 2016 season, and each one is a story. Join RACER each day as we retrace their journeys.

SIMON PAGENAUD

NO. 22 TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET

Preseason hopes: "The definition of a good season is when everything clicks, and you don’t really have much to do because it’s just rolling. Last year, for us [on the No.22 team], there was a lot of that learning how to communicate to each other. [A new program] is not easy, not just as a driver but for the whole team, the crew … a lot of people were pulled from other places. Penske a big place and there is a lot of responsibility for everybody. So you need time to realize that you are in your position because you are good, and that we’re all going to do well together. It’s like a soccer team. I’ve seen such a difference in people over the winter. It’s incredible how much they’ve been working and the motivation they’ve carried on has been great. So I think we’re in good shape."

2016 Best result: 1st (Long Beach, Barber, IMS road course, Mid-Ohio, Sonoma)
2016 Championship position: 1st (659 points)

Most expected Pagenaud to be better in 2016 than he was in 2015. But did you imagine he'd be that much better?

MILLER: Yep. I picked him to the win the title both years, just because of what we'd witnessed at SPM and his previous bodies of work. And because he and engineer Ben Bretzman are such a good match. And because he's on the most experienced, well-oiled, successful team in open-wheel racing.

PRUETT: I knew it was coming, but would be lying if I said 2016 was the obvious time it would take place. I reckoned 2017 was the year where he’d win the first of two or three championships, but he did what we’ve come to expect: Following a crappy debut season with Penske, Simon applied his immense focus and critical thinking abilities to define and overcome any weaknesses.

Where did he make the biggest gains?

MILLER: He finished as strong as he started. People seem to think that he was chopped liver in 2015 because he didn't win and only scored two podiums, but he qualified in the Fast Six everywhere, and was also quick on his supposed nemesis (the ovals at Indy, Texas and Pocono) where he led 124 laps and got the pole at Fontana. He had a few bad breaks in 2015 but also seemed to fade near the end, and that all changed this past season. He stayed strong throughout the championship race, as his five wins would indicate.

When you're leading the championship for so long, there can be a couple of potential traps: you can become too aggressive in trying to increase your advantage, or too conservative while trying to preserve your points lead. How well did Pagenaud manage his campaign?

MILLER: The litmus test came after Pocono. He'd crashed (his only mistake of the season), finished 18th and Will Power had chopped his lead to 20 points with three races to go. The smart money said he was going to fold up, but Pagenaud responded with the smartest drive of the year and finished fourth in the wild west show at Texas. Then he kicked everybody's ass in the season finale at Sonoma after winning the pole.

PRUETT: He finished second in the season opener at St. Pete, second at Detroit 2 – the official midpoint of the season, and earned pole, fastest lap and demolished the field to win the season finale at Sonoma.

From 16 races, Pagenaud stood on the podium 50 percent of the time and finished inside the top 10 at 75 percent of the events. His earned pole position in 44 percent of his starts, and minimized the number of bad days with only four finishes outside the top 10. Manage his campaign? It was more like a massacre.

Where is the most scope for improvement over the winter?

MILLER: Just win his first oval race in 2017, and then people will stop saying that's his liability.

PRUETT: Pagenaud’s final frontier is to start piling up oval wins. He’s been close, and it’s only a matter of time before Simon starts adding oval victories to his arsenal.

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