Simon Pagenaud’s primary No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda chassis which protected the Frenchman during the wicked barrel roll caused by brake failure at Mid-Ohio will live to race on in the NTT IndyCar Series.
Although Pagenaud was ruled out from driving for the rest of the event after experiencing concussion-like symptoms and Conor Daly stepped in to take his place using a spare car, team co-owner Mike Shank says the battered Dallara DW12 from the Turn 4 crash is destined to make a return later in the season.
“The first thing I thought of was how lucky we are to have the aeroscreen and all the safety stuff IndyCar’s built into these cars over the last however many years,” Shank told RACER. “They’ve just saved so many lives at this point. Once we knew that Simon was going to be OK, and the crash was not his fault whatsoever, we went into race mode to get through the weekend.
“Then, after we got Conor sorted out — and I thought he did a great job for us and he gave us some good feedback on our car in the race — we went into repair mode with Simon’s car. The tub has some cosmetic damage, but it survived and will race again.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]
Most of the components that bolt directly to the DW12’s tub and its drivetrain were destroyed in the crash, but the majority of those items — from suspension to bodywork — can be replaced with relative ease. Readying the tub to receive the new components is where added time is required.
“We won’t have the tub done before we go to Toronto; trucks have to leave on Tuesday, so we’ll use the same car we used with Conor, and then go from there on when it will go back into rotation, but it will return,” Shank said.
“We’re still figuring out if we need to send it out for fixing, or if we can do it ourselves in our composite shop. But more than anything, we have Conor’s race car from Mid-Ohio that’s ready to go again, so I’m trying to get the crew to have the weekend off to rest up after how crazy things were last weekend.”
Shank and fellow co-owner Jim Meyer will learn early next week if Pagenaud will receive clearance from IndyCar’s medical team to drive at Toronto, and like the plans to repair his broken car, the team is also working through its driver options for the series’ lone visit to Canada.
“Next, we’re having to look at if Simon gets cleared or if he isn’t, because we have to keep the car running,” Shank said. “And if he can’t, who are we gonna put in it, and how are going to do that? We’re going through that cycle right now, looking at people that have done IndyCar before, people we’re maybe planning on doing something with and stuff like that.
“We’re really just waiting to know when we can have Simon back, and I think on Monday, he gets evaluated again, so then we’ll see how he’s doing. Right now, he’s got a headache, and these things can take time, so we’re not gonna rush him at all, but he’ll have a car waiting for him as soon as he can go again.”