Cast of Power Breakfast Club Interview Power 105.1 (7/15/2016)
Will Power celebrates his victoryin Toronto. (Chris Young , The Canadian Press via AP)
TORONTO Simon Pagenaud was extremely merry for a driver just befallen by a maddening bit of racing randomness, whod lost a huge chunk of his advantage in the IndyCar points standings in the process.
Striding anonymously through the crowd departing pit road on Sunday at the Honda Indy GP, the Team Penske driver smiled and reflected on the sheer grace of his race car. He might as well have been walking to victory lane if not for the detour up the loading dock and into the paddock of the Enercare Centre. He chatted with passersby, noted how much fun hed had driving through the field late in the race, and he very much emanated the feeling that everything was still going to be all right even after teammate Will Power had won his third race in the last four, blazed into second place and reduced his points deficit from 75 to 47 with five races remaining.
Im really happy with my driving, with the car. Its just fate sometimes, you know? Pagenaud smiled. Sometimes its just not the way its going to be for you. We did everything to make it work. Pretty happy with everything, its just wow.
Probably one of my best races, but it doesnt show.
TORONTO:Power takes advantage of late caution to seize victory
What showed clearly on Sunday is that Power, the 2016 version, has matured into the type of driver who can miss the first race of the season with a misdiagnosed concussion relinquishing as much as 50 points for a possible victory at a St. Petersburg track where he has won twice and make a championship race out of it. At least. Power saw Pagenaud win three times in the first five races, but instead of succumbing to the tendencies that had scarred attempts to close out championships from 2010-2012 and remained when he finally captured a title in 2014 he managed and maintained. And that means now is no time forrunning scenarios in his head.
You dont do it. Its impossible, he said. How do you know where hes going to finish and where youre going to finish? You just have to execute week in and week out.
Yeah, you can look at the points at the end of each weekend, but its absolutely the wrong focus to be looking at points. You know your limits. You know your risks. You know what is a 50/50 move. You know when to take those risks. If youre taking them all the time, youre going to get caught out half the time or more. If you do it at a time when its necessary to take that risk, you have a good chance of pulling it off. Thats how you got to do it.
Powers win gave Team Penske seven wins in 11 races only Helio Castroneves has failed to reach victory lane and helped it claim the top three spots in the standings. Just as an ill-timed caution on Lap 58 of 85 cost Pagenaud a likely top-five spot and dropped the victory into Powers mitted hands, it also went far in preventing defending series champion and reputed late-season closer Scott Dixon from making inroads. Dixon was superior on Sunday, starting from the pole and leading 56 of the first 58 laps. But he, Pagenaud and Juan Pablo Montoya hadnt made their last necessary stop under green like most of the field when Josef Newgarden crashed out of a Turn 5 curb to impose a caution. Forced to pit under yellow, Dixon restarted 13th and raced back to eighth, but lost 23 points in the parlay. Pagenaud recouped ninth. Power, who had entered pit road a matter of seconds before the caution and was therefore able to make his service, restarted at the front of the field and held on through one final restart to beat Castroneves by 1.5 seconds. He led ten laps.
Power knows that Pagenaud will be no easy quarry.
I had that so many times where youre leading with a big lead. I mean, hes doing the right thing, Power said. Hes not being conservative. Hes there week in, week out.But just sometimes it flows your way. Like it just goes in cycles. You have good and bad runs. Its the bad days you make the most of that really wins you a championship.
EXCLUSIVE: IndyCar CEO discussesschedule, ratings and aero kits
An interesting aspect of this final segment of the title hunt is that Pagenaud and Power will utilize the same equipment and have the resources to maximize them. Now its a straight-up fight as Power vies for a second title and Pagenaud his first. Power spotted his teammate a race but has a series of tracks ahead where he has performed well. h**l restart the postponed race at Texas in fourth position, Pagenaud 15th. Pagenaud still holds the lead and feels like his luck account has been settled.
And it took this sort of run by Power to get this close.
I havent been lucky, Pagenaud said. There were talks from competitors saying it was time for me to have bad luck. Ive had my fair share. What I am really proud of is how competitive we are no matter where. So well be there.
Well give them a tough time so we can show weve been the strongest this year.
And see who gets to be happy last.
Source: http://sports.usatoday.com/2016/07/17/will-power-toronto-win-mad-dash-indycar-championship-simon-pagenaud/
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