Simon Pagenaud finished third in the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at the Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday evening, although he was hoping for the race to finish under green flag conditions.
The Team Penske driver, and reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion, felt he had the car to attack for the victory only for the caution flags to fly when Scott Dixon and Takuma Sato crashed out, leaving the Frenchman unable to better third.
Pagenaud admitted it was a crazy race of pack racing under the lights at the 1.5-mile Texas oval, although he and team-mate and eventual winner Will Power worked well early in the race to distance themselves from the chasing pack.
“It was very much pack racing, so we were trying to get away from the pack, which we did for quite a while,” said Pagenaud. “It was a way also to save some fuel and stay behind (Will Power).
“I was trying to protect him so that we could just go as fast as we could, and it worked out really well. At the end there, I was hoping we were going to go a little longer because I had a really good car.
“It was a lot of fun. It got a little crazy at the end. I tell you, it is just incredible how close we can race against each other. Good fun, good night, awesome working with Will. That is Team Penske, we all work together, you guys don’t believe us, but we do and we showed it tonight.”