Simon Pagenaud in the legend of Indy!
What a race and what a finish to the 2019 Indy 500! Simon Pagenaud, in his bright yellow Dallara Penske Chevrolet had dominated most of the race from pole leading most of the laps, except for the pitstops of course, but never held a lead bigger than two seconds.
Controlling the pace early on, the Frenchman was on a mission. Never a winner of the most prestigious race of the calendar, the 2016 champion looked in control: fast, determined and smooth.
On the last restart, after the crash involving Bourdais and Rahal, that required a red flag to clean the debris from the track, he jumped passed the then leader Alexander Rossi in the Andretti Dallara Honda car, a very strong challenger all day, but the race was not over. Strong challengers like Sato, Carpenter and team-mate Newgarden were within 2 sec of the two leaders, all ready to catch any opportunity.
3 laps before the checkered flag, Rossi very competitive indeed all day, found a way past Pagenaud, but the likeable and super determined French driver did not surrender. With only 2 laps and 8 corners to go, he pulled a fantastic move on the outside of Turn 3 to regain the lead. The last lap was nerve wrecking, but Simon Pagenaud held off all the challengers and claimed his first Indy 500 win and a place in history.
