Conor Daly will drive Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda in today’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio after regular driver Simon Pagenaud was ruled out following his accident during Saturday practice.
After a brake failure, Pagenaud took quick action to initiate a spin to reduce his speed, leaving the track sideways, but going airborne as the car was caught by the run-off gravel outside Turn 4. The No. 60 entry made a series of rolls at high speed before coming to a stop against the tire wall.
Pagenaud was evaluated and released by the NTT IndyCar Series medical team, but required to be signed off per protocol to return to action. A follow-up test did not provide the clearance for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner to race, although the team says Pagenaud is feeling OK and is in good spirits and will be on hand to support the team on Sunday.
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“First and foremost, I have to speak to the safety of these cars,” said MSR team owner Mike Shank. “To walk away from an accident like that is incredible and we cannot thank everyone at IndyCar, the AMR IndyCar Safety Team and the IndyCar medical team for everything they did to get Simon out and evaluated as quickly as possible.
“This is obviously not a scenario that we had planned for, but everyone at MSR has pitched in to get our backup car ready for Sunday. It’s actually Helio (Castroneves)’s Indy 500 car and the one he won the 500 with in 2021. We have to thank Conor for being here and stepping into this, he’s been super great through all of the chaos. Now we will get back on our feet and see what we can do in the race.”
For Daly, who was released by Ed Carpenter Racing following the Detroit Grand Prix, it will be his eighth IndyCar start at Mid-Ohio. He’ll start 27th in Sunday’s race.
“Obviously I have to think about Simon — you hate to see someone wreck like that,” said Daly. “The most important thing is to get him as healthy as possible, as soon as possible. This is his car and his group of folks and I am here to do the best job that I can for this team. I’ve known Mike (Shank) for a long time and I’ve tested for his sports car team many years ago. I’ve always had a lot of respect for this organization. It’s an honor to be a part of this group and fill in – we will just do the best job that we can.”
