Simon Pagenaud will sit out qualifying for this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Mid-Ohio following his huge crash in practice on Saturday morning. The 2016 series champion and 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner suffered a suspected brake failure at …
Simon Pagenaud will sit out qualifying for this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Mid-Ohio following his huge crash in practice on Saturday morning.
The 2016 series champion and 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner suffered a suspected brake failure at the end of the back straight, pitching the No. 60 Meyer Shank Honda into a series of high-velocity barrel-rolls through the gravel before finally coming to rest against the tire barriers.
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Pagenaud was quickly checked and released by IndyCar’s medical team, but has not been cleared to return to the cockpit today. A further evaluation on Sunday morning will determine whether he will be able to play any further part in the weekend.
“Following this morning’s incident at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the driver of the No. 60, Simon Pagenaud, was evaluated and released by the IndyCar medical team,” read a statement issued by the series. “As per IndyCar protocol, Pagenaud has not been cleared to return to racing today. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow morning.’
Pagenaud is a previous winner at Mid-Ohio, claiming victory from pole en route to winning the title in 2016, and also finished on the podium in 2012 and 2015.
Will Power led the field in second practice for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200, but the talking point of the session was Simon Pagenaud’s escape from a shunt that involved multiple high-speed barrel rolls. Eight minutes into the session, Peacock’s cameras …
Will Power led the field in second practice for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200, but the talking point of the session was Simon Pagenaud’s escape from a shunt that involved multiple high-speed barrel rolls.
Eight minutes into the session, Peacock’s cameras captured Pagenaud’s Meyer Shank Racing-Honda broadside but still at high velocity at the end of the back straight. The car launched over the strip of grass, before the right-side wheels dug into the sandtrap, and the car went through six-and-a-half rolls before the belly of the car hit the tire wall with ending up coming to rest on its rollhoop.
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The 2016 champion and 2019 Indy 500 winner radioed to the MSR team to inform them he was OK and that he had suffered brake failure. The AMR Safety Team stabilized the car on its side while Pagenaud slithered out, paused a couple of times to capture his breath, and then walked to the safety vehicle unassisted.
He later told NBC’s Dillon Welch, “It was a hell of a ride, for sure. Something broke and I couldn’t slow down. I tried to make the corner anyway. I know that gravel is deadly. Michael Andretti’s done it, so I’m joining another legend, so that’s cool! But I was just trying to bail out.
“It’s downhill, which is nuts: the car took off, it hit the gravel and I just rolled. I’m just glad I didn’t go over the tire wall. I’m so glad we have the aeroscreen. I’m really thankful for IndyCar and the aeroscreen safety.”
Asked if that was as bad a ride as he’s suffered in his career, Pagenaud said: “Definitely the wildest. Funnily enough, my first crash was exactly the same circumstance. So… yeah, interesting.”
Regarding his return to action for qualifying at 2.45pm ET, Pagenaud declared he was “ready, it’s not a problem” but admitted it would be the doctor’s decision.
When the session restarted, the lap times remained as incredibly tight as in first practice, with Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport-Honda, Friday pacesetter Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet and Scott Dixon covered by just half a tenth with 15 minutes to go.
Team Penske-Chevrolet’s Will Power then jumped to the top with his 14th lap, and clipped 0.28sec from that time on his 15th. That kept him a quarter-second clear of runaway points leader and 2021 champion Alex Palou of Ganassi, who also jumped up the order to second.
Santino Ferrucci brought out the second red flag with an off at Turn 12, although the AJ Foyt Racing machine looked fairly undamaged. That wasn’t the end of his drama as he spun over the hill at Turn 9, but managed to continue without stalling.
Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist also had a spin toward the end of the session, while Scott McLaughlin of Penske was a late improver, jumping to sixth behind compatriot Dixon.
Graham Rahal, Christian Lundgaard and Jack Harvey confirmed the improved Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda form hinted at by Lundgaard’s pace at Road America two weeks ago and on Friday here at Mid-Ohio. The trio finished the session in seventh, 11th and 14th.
Another happy surprise was David Malukas, who slotted his Dale Coyne Racing-Honda into eighth, ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Rosenqvist.
Simon Pagenaud gave Meyer Shank Racing-Honda a fillip by topping the final practice session ahead of this afternoon’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. The 2016 champion used alternate tires to lap the new downtown Motown course in 1m02.3615s, an …
Simon Pagenaud gave Meyer Shank Racing-Honda a fillip by topping the final practice session ahead of this afternoon’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
The 2016 champion used alternate tires to lap the new downtown Motown course in 1m02.3615s, an average of 94.962mph around the 1.645-mile layout, on his 16th of 19 laps. It justified the positive outlook that Pagenaud displayed on Saturday after qualifying eighth, believing that not only does the track suit his driving style, but that the MSR team had made a breakthrough in learning what shock and damper combo best suits this bumpy track.
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His fastest effort was 0.1203s faster than Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Callum Ilott, who outpaced his pal at Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda, Marcus Armstrong.
But it was Armstrong’s teammate and compatriot Scott Dixon who turned heads with a 1m02.7192s effort on Firestone’s primary tires. He used this harder compound in the Firestone Fast Six session yesterday, and while he was half a second off pole-winning teammate Alex Palou, Dixon was still quick enough to ensure he will roll off from the second row this afternoon.
Josef Newgarden, who will start fifth, was fastest of the Penske-Chevrolets this morning again with fifth best time (also using primaries) ahead of Arrow McLaren-Chevy’s Pato O’Ward, Palou, David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing w/HMD_Honda and the fastest Andretti Autosport-Honda of Colton Herta. Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing rounded out the Top 10.
UP NEXT: Race coverage begins at 3:00pm local (Eastern) time.
Team building or team destruction? The most dangerous part of Peugeot’s former factory 908 HDi FAP factory LMP1 program wasn’t the driving; it was the pre-season team building events where bruises and broken bones were the norm, as Sebastien …
Team building or team destruction? The most dangerous part of Peugeot’s former factory 908 HDi FAP factory LMP1 program wasn’t the driving; it was the pre-season team building events where bruises and broken bones were the norm, as Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud share in Part 2 of our look back on the great French endurance racing program that ran from 2007-2011.
“It’s OK, you’re not going to die alone,” Bourdais said of one harrowing team exercise. The on-track action was also no picnic.
To start, factory driver Franck Montagny, frequently mentioned as the center of Peugeot-related mayhem, hit a cat at 205mph while testing and the results weren’t pleasant…
They loved the original 908 model which ran through 2010: “It was just a perfect car,” Pagenaud said. The all-new car for 2011? “It was difficult,” he continued. “It was very pointy to drive. Man, the V8 diesel was a lot more vibration than the V12.”
And how about another Montagny tale of “Days of Thunder” rental car racing on the highway to get to the airport after testing at Monza? Then there was the time Pagenaud threw up in the morning at Le Mans… And how much money did(n’t) Peugeot pay Bourdais, its big national star?
Take a listen to the conversation, and below, we have Part 1 with Bourdais, Anthony Davidson, and Pedro Lamy.
The Indy 500 winner will be handed a bottle milk afterward. Here’s the story of why — and how it gets there.
The instant Simon Pagenaud felt the ice-cold bottle of milk hit his hand, he raised it high in the air and poured.
As the whole milk flowed over his bright red Firestone hat, Pagenaud lifted his head, allowing the quart to spill over his face. Mouth opened and eyes closed, he enjoyed a few drops as he emptied the bottle on himself. He couldn’t help it; he wanted to soak up every bit of this famous Indianapolis 500 tradition.
“You usually get to spray the champagne when you win a race, and Indy is the only place you get to drink milk,” Pagenaud told For The Win, reflecting back on his 2019 Indy 500 victory. “So I just sprayed the milk all over my face because I just wanted to embrace the moment.
“That’s really when I thought, OK, I’ve joined the club. I can enjoy this just like they did before, but I’m gonna go even further. I’m gonna pour it all over my face just to show how happy I was.”
But while the Indy 500 and its iconic venue, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, can elicit magical feelings, the bottle didn’t just appear in Pagenaud’s hand. It was delivered to him by one of the “milk people.”
Editors note: Clicking this video will not replay the entire race. It begins with the post-race celebration.
Meet the milk man
When the Indy 500-winning driver’s car is ushered into Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Victory Lane, a myriad of people are there eagerly waiting. But, perhaps, the most important person is holding a bottle of ice-cold milk.
The Veteran Milk Person. Yes, that’s an official title.
For the 2022 Indy 500 on Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET, NBC), the Veteran Milk Man is Tim Haynes, a 62-year-old dairy farmer from Garrett, Indiana who runs his family-owned Superior Dairy. As the veteran, he’ll be charged with the all-important task of delivering the celebratory 32-ounce glass bottle to Sunday’s winning driver.
His most crucial responsibility?
“The thing they joke about, dare I say, is ‘Don’t drop the milk,’ ” Haynes said.
Tim Haynes, the 2022 Indy 500 Veteran Milk Man. (American Dairy Association Indiana)
The American Dairy Association Indiana (ADAI) runs the show when it comes to the milk celebration, and their designated “milk people” are dairy farmers who make a three-year commitment to be part of Indy 500 history. After being the Rookie-elect for the first year, the chosen farmer becomes the Rookie Milk Person and inherits the duty of handing a bottle each to the winning team owner and chief mechanic. The following year, they become the Veteran Milk Person.
However, just because Haynes’ top responsibilities are at the end of the 500-mile race doesn’t mean he’ll have a casual and relaxing day. And after being the Rookie Milk Man for Hélio Castroneves’ 2021 Indy 500-winning squad, he knows what to expect.
He and the team of milk people will arrive at the track with the cooler around 6 a.m., surrounded by security — mostly to gain publicity around the milk, an ADAI spokesperson said. One year, the milk arrived in an armored car. Another time, the ADAI hired actors to play bodyguards for the cooler. This year, the milk and milk people will arrive with a police escort, where they’ll likely be greeted by fans wanting to take photos.
The milk people will then take the cooler to a secure location, and when the green flag flies, they’ll get a chance to watch the race. Or, at least, most of it.
“Usually about 15 laps before the end,” Haynes explained, “we head down to the presentation area where we wait for them to bring the winner. … It’s a maze of people. Everybody wants to be there.”
Before the Indy 500, the ADAI polls all the drivers for their milk preferences, should they win. They have three choices: whole milk, two-percent milk or fat-free milk. (Lactose-free milk is a secret fourth option, should any drivers request it.) The majority in recent milk polls requested whole.
Takuma Sato after winning the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2020. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
So when the winner takes the checkered flag, the milk people consult the poll, see the winner’s preference and pull the correct type of milk from the cooler.
“The taste was amazing,” said Takuma Sato, the 2017 and 2020 Indy 500 champion. “It was the best milk I had ever! Of course. It was 2 percent, chilled and felt amazing.”
Nine decades in the making
Although the celebratory bottle of milk is the Indy 500’s most famous long-standing tradition, going back to the 1930s, it’s undeniably a peculiar one. If you’re grossed out by it, take it up with Louis Meyer.
“It’s one of those great Americana events and traditions that really came out of no real pomp and circumstance [or] from some sort of directive,” said Jason Vansickle, vice president of curation and education for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Meyer was the first three-time Indy 500 champion, and he regularly drank buttermilk throughout his life, as his mother emphasized it when he was growing up. Though Meyer won the 1928 and 1933 Indy 500s, the first documented photo of him downing buttermilk after an Indy 500 win was in 1936, Vansickle explained.
The photo caught the attention of a milk industry executive, who vowed to have milk return to Victory Lane the following year. Little did that person know — with the exception of 1947 to 1955 — the tradition would continue for the next 87 years and counting.
However, every year the milk poll comes around, there are always a few drivers — this year, it’s Ed Carpenter and Felix Rosenqvist — who’d like to keep the milk tradition extra traditional and write in buttermilk, which isn’t an option.
“We just tried to educate them on the buttermilk,” Haynes said. “Buttermilk nowadays is totally different from buttermilk back when they drank it. Buttermilk nowadays is more for baking and stuff. If you ever drank it, it doesn’t taste very good.”
‘Magic’ milk
Ask just about any Indy 500 winner, and they’ll probably tell you how special the milk tradition is. But they’re not necessarily craving the bottle on what’s often a scorching Indiana day after racing at 200 miles an hour all afternoon.
“The milk thing is weird, I’m gonna be honest with you,” said Alexander Rossi, who won the 2016 Indy 500 as a rookie. “But so much of the 500 is about tradition, and it’s about the legacy of that race and what the people did before us. … I think just the sheer magnitude of the event is what’s kept all of these traditions alive for so many years.”
Alexander Rossi after winning the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2016. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Even if drivers aren’t big fans of milk or dairy in general, Vansickle said they still appreciate the history behind the milk tradition. It’s akin to another Indy 500 accolade.
Several drivers said they treat their bottles like trophies and have them on display at their homes or offices, some next to their Baby Borgs — the miniature version of the Borg-Warner Trophy the drivers actually get to keep.
One driver, now-four-time Indy 500 winner Castroneves, amended the celebratory milk tradition slightly — and it stuck. After his first victory in 2001, Castroneves became the first driver to take some sips and then dump the bottle on his head, Vansickle said. Not every driver has done this since, he added, but certainly most of them.
“I didn’t know what to do anymore,” Castroneves said looking back. “I took the milk, I chugged it and I’m like, ‘Ahhh, I wanted this so bad and finally got it!’ And then I started pouring [it] down my head.”
Hélio Castroneves after winning the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2021. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
Of course, the only issue with adding milk to an already sweaty fire suit is the subsequent smell — exacerbated by the drivers often keeping their suits on while they do media for several hours after the checkered flag.
Rossi said he felt “disgusting” after keeping his suit on for more than four hours after the race. Castroneves said the stench is also part of the tradition.
But Pagenaud and Sato, who called it “magic” milk, insist they didn’t smell.
“It was sweet, it was cold and it didn’t smell bad,” Pagenaud said. “The weirdest thing is it didn’t have a big effect on my suit. I didn’t smell bad after. I don’t know. They have special milk, I can tell you that.”
“You always appreciate, in a humble way, that this place is is magical,” Hélio Castroneves told For The Win.
For many race car drivers, the Indianapolis 500 is the most monumental and life-changing event they could win. It’s one of the biggest races in the world, and some spend their entire careers chasing that elusive checkered flag.
More emphasis, more pressure, more preparation and more practice are involved, along with an intensified risk factor from the dangers of racing around Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval at 200-plus miles per hour. And even if a driver and their team have a near-perfect race, a competitor could be an inch closer to perfection. So, of course, the winner needs a little luck too.
Ahead of Sunday’s 106th running of the Indy 500, we’re looking back at the most recent races through the eyes of the last five winners — five of the eight champions competing in the 2022 race.
Alexander Rossi, 2016 Indy 500 champion: By the final few laps of the 200-lap race, Rossi, then a rookie, was out front and in a great position to win. He and his team gambled on fuel, and his car coasted on fumes across the finish line ahead of Carlos Muñoz.
Takuma Sato, 2017, 2020 Indy 500 champion: After trading the lead with Hélio Castroneves in the final laps, Sato put up some brilliant defense the final time he took the lead and won in 2017. He won the 2020 Indy 500 — held in August with empty grandstands because of COVID-19 – under caution ahead of Scott Dixon.
Will Power, 2018 Indy 500 champion: Power had a huge, 40-car length lead over Ed Carpenter going into the final lap, and he just had to hold on and not crash in the suspenseful final two miles to take the checkered flag.
Simon Pagenaud, 2019 Indy 500 champion: In one of the most thrilling Indy 500 finishes, Pagenaud battled with Rossi, trading the lead in the final laps. Pagenaud stole the lead from Rossi with a little more than a lap to go, and his masterful defense kept him out front for the win.
Hélio Castroneves, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2021 Indy 500 champion: Now in a four-way tie for most Indy 500 wins ever, Castroneves relied on his ample experience to get the best of Alex Palou in the 2021 race while working through traffic on the final lap. He was 26 years old when he won his first and 46 when he won his fourth.
