Pagenaud to drive fourth entry for Team Penske in 2015

Mooresville, NC (SportsNetwork.com) – Team Penske announced on Monday that Simon Pagenaud will drive a new fourth car for the racing organization in the IndyCar Series, beginning with the 2015 season.

Pagenaud, a 30-year-old Frenchman, finished fifth in the IndyCar point standings this season. He has spent the past three seasons with Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports. Pagenaud placed fifth in points in 2012 and third last year.

At Penske, Pagenaud will team with Will Power, the reigning IndyCar champion, Helio Castroneves, who finished second in points, and Juan Pablo Montoya, who placed fourth in the standings in his first year with the team.

“Simon Pagenaud is a very talented, focused and determined driver,” team owner Roger Penske said in a statement. “We know how tough he has been to compete with over the last few seasons and we are very happy to welcome him to Team Penske starting in 2015. With Simon coming on board to join Will, Helio and Juan, we feel we have four drivers very capable of winning on any given weekend and four guys who are legitimate championship contenders.”

Pagenaud has four career victories in IndyCar, including two this year. He won the May 10 inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the second race in the weekend doubleheader in Houston on June 29.

“Getting a chance to race for Team Penske is almost like a dream to me,” Pagenaud said. “I have always admired the team and everything that Roger Penske has accomplished in racing. I am so excited to become a part of Team Penske, and I can’t wait for the 2015 season to start.”

During the first half of the 2014 season, Pagenaud and Power were at odds with each other, having run-ins on the street circuits in Long Beach, California and Detroit (race 1 of the weekend doubleheader there).

Categorized in: Indy Racing