Pagenaud joins rare club of drivers to leave Penske
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Simon Pagenaud shared a quiet moment with his wife and infant son before his final ride of the season to reflect on his time with Team Penske.
An IndyCar championship. The Indianapolis 500 among his 11 wins. Seven seasons driving for Roger Penske.
And yet Pagenaud was climbing into his car for the last time. He finished fifth in the IndyCar finale, said goodbye to his crew and walked through the garage with his arm wrapped around his wife’s waist as she carried their headphone-wearing newborn, Marley.
He was the second driver this season to walk away from Team Penske.
Pagenaud on Monday was named driver of the No. 60 for Meyer Shank Racing, where he will reunite with former Penske teammate Helio Castroneves to drive for this year’s Indy 500 winning organization. He joins Brad Keselowski from the NASCAR team in the rare club of Penske drivers who leave of their own accord.
Keselowski wanted an ownership stake, something Penske couldn’t offer so he looked elsewhere despite the option to extend his contract. Pagenaud also could have stayed, and maybe he would have if Penske wasn’t in the process of returning to IMSA sports car racing in 2023.
The last time Penske rebuilt its sports car program it cost Castroneves his job in IndyCar. Penske moved the Brazilian in 2018 to IMSA as a key part of that program, and although he still ran the Indy 500, when the sports car team closed three seasons later he had no ride at all. That came just after Castroneves had won his first series championship after two decades driving for The Captain.
Pagenaud was likely headed toward that same path if he returned to Penske. But like Castroneves, he wants to be in IndyCar. Castroneves returned this season in a sixrace deal with Meyer Shank that catapulted him to his record-tying fourth Indy 500 victory and an expanded fulltime second car next season.
Ironically, Pagenaud will probably still end up driving a sports car. Shank has one of the top teams in IMSA and Pagenaud would be the obvious choice for an expanded Rolex 24 lineup, but more important, the chance to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans.