Racing
John Oreovicz, Autos, Open-Wheel 9y

Pagenaud to Penske 'perfect timing'

AutoRacing, IndyCar

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Verizon IndyCar Series still hasn't confirmed its 2015 calendar of races, but the key dominoes are starting to fall in the race for drivers to land a spot in the field when the season is scheduled to start in Brazil in March.

Simon Pagenaud's move to an expanded four-car Team Penske opened the way for James Hinchcliffe to slide into Pagenaud's former seat in the No. 77 car for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. That leaves the car that Hinchcliffe vacated -- Andretti Autosport's fourth entry -- as one of the few remaining available rides.

Penske Performance president Tim Cindric has kept an eye on Pagenaud since 2008, when the Penske organization's Porsches competed against Acura sports cars driven by the Frenchman in the now-defunct American Le Mans Series.

Cindric reportedly tried to sign the 30-year-old to Penske immediately after Pagenaud finished sixth in his first IndyCar Series-sanctioned race, at St. Petersburg in early 2012. Pagenaud honored his three-year contract with team owner Sam Schmidt, but once he was a free agent, signing for the most successful team in the history of American open-wheel racing was a no-brainer.

With 2013 IndyCar Series champion Will Power returning to the team, along with three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya, it marks the first time in the 45-year history of Penske Racing's Indy car program that it will run four cars.

"It's a tremendous opportunity," Pagenaud said in his first media appearance as a Penske driver. "It's really going to be an interesting season next year, and feeding off of each other is going to be an important task. We all work for Team Penske, and that's how it works here.

"I'm really excited about it, and I think it's perfect timing in my career."

Pagenaud arrived in America in 2006 and won the Formula Atlantic championship in a thrilling two-man battle with Graham Rahal. Graduating to the Champ Car-sanctioned Indy car series in 2007 as Power's teammate at Walker Racing, Pagenaud put together an impressive rookie campaign, claiming six top-5 finishes and eighth place in the standings.

Left without a ride in early 2008 when Champ Car was absorbed by the IndyCar Series, Pagenaud raced sports cars in America and internationally for four years, enhancing his reputation with a series of strong performances for Acura and Peugeot. The connections Pagenaud built with Honda Performance Development during this era helped him finally land in the IndyCar Series with Schmidt in 2012.

Despite driving for what is perceived as one of IndyCar's smaller teams, Pagenaud made his mark with a sixth-place finish in his St. Pete debut, again drawing the attention of Cindric and Roger Penske. Pagenaud landed on the podium four times and finished fifth in the 2012 IndyCar Series standings, scored his first race win at Detroit in 2013 and contended for the 2014 championship against Power and Castroneves to the bitter end.

Not wanting to miss out on another chance to lock up Pagenaud's services, Cindric expanded the Penske Indy car operation.

"It's the first time we've run four cars with Team Penske, so it will certainly be a challenge," Cindric said. "But this has been the first opportunity that we've had to bring him on board. If that meant changing to a four-car program, that's what we were prepared to do.

"Certainly it's satisfying to know that we can continue to add to the Team Penske heritage, and bringing Simon on board was an added plus to that."

It's a homecoming of sorts for Hinchcliffe, who drove for Schmidt's dominant Indy Lights team in 2009. The personable Canadian ran most of the 2011 IndyCar Series schedule with Newman-Haas Racing before starting a three-year association with Andretti Autosport that netted three race wins.

Hinchcliffe ran his first two seasons at AA with sponsorship from GoDaddy.com, and in 2014 his car was backed by United Fiber & Data. But when team owner Michael Andretti was unable to guarantee Hinchcliffe there would be enough money for a paid seat in the future, Hinchcliffe took his talents back to Schmidt.

"Despite being around in Indy Lights for years, SPM is a relatively young team in the IndyCar paddock," Hinchcliffe said. "To see what they have accomplished in the last few seasons has been incredible.

"Winning races, being competitive at all tracks and finishing in the top five in the championship against more experienced teams at this level is impressive," he added. "Because they are young, there is still room for them to grow and improve, and that's an exciting thought for me."

Hinchcliffe's move to the Schmidt Peterson team allows him to maintain his association with Honda. He is particularly coveted as a spokesman for Honda of Canada.

"We've now won races and contended for championships, and we believe he's going to be the person we need to keep moving forward as a team," said Schmidt. "It's a very big compliment to the team that James wants to come drive for us and that he thinks that he can win and contend for championships with us."

Where that 2015 championship will wrap up is the biggest unanswered question in the IndyCar Series. Dead set on ending the season by Labor Day, Hulman Motorsports CEO Mark Miles has had a difficult time finding a track that is willing to host the IndyCar Series finale on a tricky weekend for race promoters.

Auto Club Speedway, which has hosted the final race the past two years (in mid-October and late August), looks set for a late June date, leaving IndyCar scrambling for a suitable venue.

The schedule looks set through early June, including the addition of new events in Brasilia, Brazil (March 8), and New Orleans Motorsport Park (April 12). The month of May remains the same, with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis (featuring a new title sponsor in Angie's List) and the Indianapolis 500. Early June also looks status quo, with the Detroit Belle Isle doubleheader and the 600-kilometer event at Texas Motor Speedway holding their traditional places on the schedule.

Beyond that it's anyone's guess, with the long-running Toronto event requesting a one-off date change to June to avoid a conflict with the Pan Am Games.

Miles insists the 2015 schedule will be released by the end of October, but dates have yet to be confirmed for Toronto, Pocono Raceway, Iowa Speedway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the Milwaukee Mile and Sonoma Raceway. Sonoma has emerged as the favorite to host the finale, likely on Aug. 30.

IndyCar Series officials believe the introduction of aerodynamic components (including wings and sidepods) designed and branded by engine suppliers Chevrolet and Honda will create visual differences between cars and rekindle the interest in the technical side of the sport that has been lacking in the spec-car era. On-track testing is scheduled to start in the next few weeks, though it is unlikely that the Honda and Chevrolet bodywork will be officially revealed until after the first of the year.

Miles says this is the last year that IndyCar will be the final racing series out of the gates and the first to end its season. Committed to a Labor Day finish to avoid going up against the National Football League on television in the fall, IndyCar hopes to increase its presence in the early months of the year and eventually start by mid-February, a week or two ahead of NASCAR and a full month before Formula One.

But for now, Indy car fans are left to imagine what those Chevy and Honda aero kits will look like -- while counting the 150-odd days until the likes of Pagenaud and Hinchcliffe are back on track.

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