Pagenaud Holds Off Rahal For Thrilling Win At Barber

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Sunday, April 24, 2016) – Simon Pagenaud’s dominance in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama was interrupted briefly by a late charge from Graham Rahal, but it didn’t last long.

Rahal stole the lead from Pagenaud with a pass on Lap 82 of the 90-lap event that involved contact between the two Verizon IndyCar Series drivers’ cars, only to see Pagenaud return the favor four laps later and drive on to victory.

It gave the Team Penske driver his second straight win of 2016 and sixth of his Indy car career, continuing the impressive start to the season that has seen the Frenchman finish in the top two at all four races and extend the championship lead.

Driving the No. 22 PPG Automotive Refinish Chevrolet, Pagenaud led all but six laps around Barber Motorsports Park’s 2.3-mile permanent road course and accepted the checkered flag 13.747 seconds ahead of Rahal in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.

“We are just on a roll,” Pagenaud said. “The car is amazing and I am so comfortable driving that PPG car.

“We made it exciting at the end for the fans, which is great. I am happy there was some action.”

With the win, Pagenaud has accumulated 188 points in the first quarter of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season and holds a 48-point advantage over Scott Dixon. The series turns its attention now to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the historic month of May that includes the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the IMS road course on May 14, followed by the much-awaited 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on the legendary 2.5-mile oval May 29.

The Verizon P1 Award pole winner Saturday, Pagenaud started first and had little issue maintaining a gap until coming upon lapped traffic. Slower cars in front allowed the charging Rahal to close late, similar to what he did a year ago at Barber when he finished second to Josef Newgarden.

On Lap 82, Rahal dove inside Pagenaud in Turn 8, Rahal’s left-front tire making contact with Pagenaud’s right rear. Pagenaud drifted wide and Rahal took the lead.

Three laps later, while trying to lap Jack Hawksworth in the No. 41 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda, Rahal ran into the rear of Hawksworth’s car, causing significant damage to Rahal’s front wing. Pagenaud seized the opportunity on the next lap, passing Rahal in Turn 16 of the 17-turn circuit.

“In the end, Graham really caught up and he gave me a good piece of driving that was amazing from him,” Pagenaud said. “I put my hat off to him for that. He got me really excited … after I went off track. I said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to get that one back no matter what.’ We had so much pace in the car that I could get back to him, and then it was about being aggressive.”

As Rahal struggled without the aerodynamic benefits of the front wing, Pagenaud pulled away to the 180th Indy cars victory for Team Penske.

“I thought I was the best on the long run all day, and quite simply we just let this one slip today,” Rahal said. “This one I feel like should have been ours. I let the guys down.

“Definitely felt like at the end we had the car to beat and just kind of took my eye off the ball there for a second when Jack was in front of us and (I) looked down, pressed push-to-pass and by the time I looked up and got my reaction, it was a little too late. … Just had a brain lapse there for a second and I got into the back of Jack.”

Newgarden finished third in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, the same place he started the race. Will Power, a two-time Barber race winner, was fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevy.

Juan Pablo Montoya mounted the strongest charge of the day, starting last in the 21-car field and moving all the way to fifth in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevy, just ahead of James Hinchcliffe in the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda.

“At the start of the race, if you would have told me I would have finished fifth, I wouldn’t have believed it. I’m pretty happy where we finished and now we look ahead to Indy,” said Montoya, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner.

Dixon, the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series champion in the No. 9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet from Chip Ganassi Racing, was turned around on Lap 3 by Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 11 Team Europa – KVSH Racing Chevrolet and fell to 20th position. Dixon rebounded to finish 10th, setting a race lap record of 1 minute, 8.4533 seconds (120.958 mph) along the way.

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Race Results
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Results Sunday of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, aero kit-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 90, Running
2. (6) Graham Rahal, Honda, 90, Running
3. (3) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 90, Running
4. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 90, Running
5. (21) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 90, Running
6. (8) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 90, Running
7. (7) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 90, Running
8. (9) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 90, Running
9. (10) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 90, Running
10. (4) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 90, Running
11. (18) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 90, Running
12. (19) Marco Andretti, Honda, 90, Running
13. (16) Takuma Sato, Honda, 90, Running
14. (15) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 90, Running
15. (20) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 90, Running
16. (5) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 89, Running
17. (13) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 89, Running
18. (12) Luca Filippi, Honda, 89, Running
19. (14) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 89, Running
20. (17) Conor Daly, Honda, 89, Running
21. (11) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 89, Running

Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 114.254
Time of Race: 01:48:42.3334
Margin of victory: 13.7476
Cautions: 1 for 1 lap
Lead changes: 4 among 2 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Pagenaud 1 – 19
Rahal 20 – 21
Pagenaud 22 – 81
Rahal 82 – 85
Pagenaud 86 – 90

Verizon IndyCar Series point standings: Pagenaud 188, Dixon 140, Montoya 136, Castroneves 118, Kanaan 106, Rahal 100, Power 94, Newgarden 91, Sato 90, Hunter-Reay 87.