Simon Pagenaud

Simon Pagenaud is a French professional Indycar driver and former professional NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series Racer in the number 12 and 33 Team Penske Ford for V-Power part-time in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Then subbing for injured Jamie McMurray at Roush Racing for 3 races in 2020. In Xfinity, he raced the 39 Penske Haulers, then Pennzoil car part-time from 2017-2019 and full-time in 2020.

### NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series Career

In 2015, Simon was hooked up in the number 12 car to race the two road course races of Sonoma and Watkins Glen. In Sonoma he qualified 24th and finished 15th. In the Watkins Glen race, Simon was fastest in practices and got 4th in qualifying. He took the lead of lap 4 and led the next 10 laps before Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick passed him. Simon spent the rest of the race in third besides green flag pit-stops. On the final lap, Simon pasted Kevin Harvick who ran out of fuel to finish second to Joey Logano.

In 2016, Simon raced the first three races of the season in the new number 33 car as Kurt Busch took over the 12 car. Simon qualified 19th at Daytona and finished 21st 1 lap down. At Atlanta he qualified 28th but was able to get a fuel strategy plan which finished him 12th. At Las Vegas he qualified 40th which was last but rallied his way through the field using the high line the first laps when no one else did and got 10th. Later on after Indycar ended, Simon came back to race New Hampshire, Dover, Charlotte, Kansas, and Talladega. His finishes are in the order of the races here: 21st, 19th, 12th, and 9th. At Talladega he crashed on the final lap and slammed the outside wall and went on his side which injured his leg. The remaining four races of the season, he was replaced by fellow Indycar teammate Will Power but Will only finished Martinsville and was injured as well at Homestead Miami after his car caught on fire and burnt his left hand.

In 2020, Simon made 3 starts replacing Jamie McMurray for Roush Racing and got 29th, 12th, and 34th. He got 44th in the standings that year.

### NASCAR Xfinity Series Career

In 2017, Simon came back to Penske's Xfinity team in the number 39 car returning after Ryan Newman only raced for the team in 2005 in this series. Simon raced at Watkins Glen and was able to finish second.

In 2018, Simon raced in the number 39 again, this time powered by Pennzoil and raced the last 7 races of the season after Indycar ended. He got 2 top 10s and 1 top 5.

In 2019, Simon raced Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, and Road America for the number 39 team. His finishes in order were: 4th, 9th, and 7th.

In 2020, which was the covid-19 year, Simon decided to race the first four races of the season before Indycar and got 1 top 10 at Daytona. He was 15th in standings after the four races when the pandemic hit. When Indycar released their schedule for the rest of the year, Simon decided to race Xfinity full time. Jamie McMurray was injured in a Daytona 500 crash before covid and the three races Simon replaced him and got, 29th, 12th, and 34th. He would get 44th in the Cup standings that year. In Xfinity he won all three road course races at Road America, Daytona Road Course, and Charlotte Roval. He got 5 top 5s and 9 top 10s. He made the playoffs but got out after the Round Of 8. He finished 8th in the season standings.

Into 2021, Simon lost all connections with Penske in Indycar as they got separated after Simon's choice to go full-time with them in NASCAR. Simon decided to race full-time again in Xfinity for 2021 as that was his only option in the number 39 Pennzoil Ford. But in season testing, he got injured at Watkins Glen. Simon was out for the whole season and year for any racing event he was told by his doctors. In the 39, was Todd Gilliland. He left his FRM Truck contract and went Xfinity full-time getting 4 top 5s and 9 top 10s. He won a Talladega race and got into the playoffs but lost after the first round of 12 round.

Simon returned to Indycar in 2022 for Meyer Shank Racing.