Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian announced Monday (Jan. 3) that Simon Pagenaud, who will drive for the team in the NTT IndyCar Series in 2022, will round out their driver lineup in this month’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. For now, it will be his only sports car race of 2022.
“I love starting the year with one of the biggest challenges of the year in the [Rolex 24 at Daytona],” Pagenaud stated. “It’s a race I came close to winning many times, just like the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the past. I am looking forward to racing with my new team MSR in endurance racing which is my roots and I have a very deep love for this series while reuniting with the Acura once again and my friends at HPD. With Oliver, Tom and Helio we will be a strong lineup and hopefully we can give AutoNation and SiriusXM a victory to start off the year.”
Pagenaud has eight previous starts in the Rolex 24, one in Grand-Am’s Rolex Sports Car Series and seven in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Seven of the starts came in prototypes, while his 2015 start came for Corvette Racing in the GT Le Mans class. His best finish was second overall last year. Pagenaud also has nine starts in the Acura ARX-05 from 2018-2020 when he was an endurance driver for Acura Team Penske. His best finish in the Acura was a second-place finish in the 2020 Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.
Pagenaud will have strong teammates at Daytona, who were all announced in the week immediately following the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. He will join full-timers Oliver Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist in the car. In addition, Pagenaud’s INDYCAR teammate and defending Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will also be present.
Pagenaud’s full-time job in 2021 was driving the No. 22 for Team Penske in the NTT IndyCar Series. There, Pagenaud finished eighth in points with third-place finishes in the Indianapolis 500 and St. Petersburg as his best finishes of the year. In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pagenaud drove a part-time schedule for Action Express Racing in their No. 48 Ally-sponsored Cadillac with Jimmie Johnson and Kamui Kobayashi. In the Cadillac, Pagenaud had his aforementioned second-place finish to start the season, but struggled later on.
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Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
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