{"id":317087,"date":"2023-07-18T23:05:40","date_gmt":"2023-07-18T23:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=317087"},"modified":"2023-07-19T00:00:08","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T00:00:08","slug":"brutal-wait-continues-for-besieged-indy-500-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=317087","title":{"rendered":"Brutal wait continues for besieged Indy 500 champ"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the third race weekend in a row, Simon Pagenaud has been ruled out of competing by IndyCar Series<\/a> medical officials.<\/p>\n

The 2016 champion and 2019 Indianapolis 500<\/a> winner suffered the biggest crash of his career at Mid-Ohio when his car suffered a brake failure and spun before rolling.<\/p>\n

Since then, the Frenchman has not been medically cleared to race with reports the veteran is recovering from a concussion.<\/p>\n

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Pagenaud was replaced at Mid-Ohio by Conor Daly before Tom Blomqvist stood in on the streets of Toronto.<\/p>\n

\"Conor<\/p>\n

Now, Daly is back for the double-header at Iowa Speedway as Pagenaud continues his recovery.<\/p>\n

"I'm thankful to Mike (Shank) and Jim (Meyer) for calling me up to fill in for Simon again this weekend in Iowa. Obviously I'm wishing him the best and hope that he gets well soon," said Daly.<\/p>\n

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"Iowa has definitely become one of my favourite tracks in the last couple of years. Obviously, I have qualified really well there \u2013 qualified on the pole and started in the top three the last two years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"Hopefully we can replicate that qualifying performance, but also deliver in the race. The team does an incredible job to prepare the car, so we're going to do our best for Simon again."<\/p>\n

\"Conor<\/p>\n

In a brief statement, Pagenaud said he hopes to return to the IndyCar Series soon.<\/p>\n

Speaking with the Indianapolis Star, team owner Mike Shank said bringing back Pagenaud for Iowa wasn't worth the risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

"(Simon) is definitely progressing, but (Dr Vaizer) just isn't ready to sign off on him quite yet," said Shank.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/simonpagenaud\/status\/1678845462445539331<\/a><\/p>\n

"The good news is he is progressing. Everyone reacts to concussions differently, so he's just not totally out of it yet, but on this little blender bowl we're going to be on this weekend, he's just not ready in her eyes.<\/p>\n

"I have a feeling he probably could've done it, but there's no reason to risk it at this point. I don't want any more harm to happen. We need him to heal properly before he's ready to come back.<\/p>\n

"I'm hoping he keeps progressing so we can have him back in the car in Nashville, and that's our goal, but only when he and the doctors say it's time. I'm not pressing beyond when they think is correct."<\/p>\n

\"Simon<\/p>\n

Pagenaud's absence isn't good news for his hopes of returning to the grid in 2024.<\/p>\n

A veteran of the sport, the 39-year-old could be axed unless Meyer Shank Racing expands to a three-car operation, which looks unlikely.<\/p>\n

The team is seriously considering switching Blomqvist from its IMSA SportsCar Championship program to IndyCar at the expense of Pagenaud or teammate Helio Castroneves.<\/p>\n

Both are legends in their own right but in the autumnal phase of their career. Castroneves is the oldest active driver on the grid at 48 years old.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/ConorDaly22\/status\/1681305317441929218<\/a><\/p>\n

Fresh out of Team Penske, with whom he spent 20 years racing for, Castroneves won his fourth Indianapolis 500 title in 2021 as a wildcard for Meyer Shank Racing. That ultimately propelled him into a full-time return the following year.<\/p>\n

Castroneves and Pagenaud find themselves pegged to the bottom of the drivers' championship in 20th and 25th respectively.<\/p>\n

In any case, if either drive is deposed, they could easily switch to the team's IMSA SportsCar Championship set-up.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the third race weekend in a row, Simon Pagenaud has been ruled out of competing by IndyCar Series medical officials. The 2016 champion and […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":317090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317087"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=317087"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":317096,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317087\/revisions\/317096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/317090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=317087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=317087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=317087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}