For Meyer Shank Racing, Indy 500 a chance to turn the page: 'Momentum would change everything'
Helio Castroneves is certain he’s not cursed.
“I’m still going to church, so I hope that’s not the case,” he told reporters Tuesday morning with a half-hearted laugh.
Still, there’s not much yet Meyer Shank Racing hasn’t tried or considered, so you never know. Because this last chapter in Meyer Shank Racing hasn’t exactly been pretty. In the span of just a few years, the scrappy one-car team from 2020 that logged six top-10s in nine races then went and won the Indianapolis 500 in a one-off program with Castroneves, giving him his fourth victory on the IMS oval – and his first in 12 years.
At the same time, the team’s longtime driver Jack Harvey was finally fed up with a run of pitstop mistakes and mechanical issues and bolted for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. That MSR replaced him with former champ and 500-winner Simon Pagenaud, while elevating his ex-Penske teammate to full-time status, seemed like a sizable upgrade.
And in a two-month stretch between mid-May and mid-July last summer, it was. MSR logged seven top-10s in 12 starts, including 7th and 8th at the 500 and a runner-up on the IMS road course. Since, Castroneves and Pagenaud have combined for just two top-10s and only five top-15 finishes between them in 24 starts. There were pledges made going into the offseason from both Shank and Pagenaud about improving processes and executing the little things.
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At best, the team has been in a standstill in the most competitive high-level racing series in the world. But when both cars are caught up in a massive accident on Lap 1 of the season, and Castroneves is crashing himself Lap 1 of Long Beach, spinning periodically at Barber and blowing an engine during practice on the IMS road course, it feels much, much worse than that.
Given their history at the Racing Capital of the World, both drivers feel as if the 500 could be coming at a perfect time for a team in need of a boost. But it has to happen now.
“I think (momentum) would change everything,” Pagenaud said Tuesday. “It’s a good boost. We need to find a way to give a boost of morale to the mechanics and everybody, frankly. It’s easier to make decisions when you’re confident and happy about the situation, and we’re just not happy. We need to be better.
“I’m trying as hard as I can, and the team is as well, but honestly, it’s tough. We haven’t had any good luck. We’ve had crashes, mistakes. So it’s one of those where you’ve got to regroup and hope that at some point, things will turn around.”
For Castroneves, there’s a sense of calm around this month, in that he started his MSR career with a win in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, and he’s used that same car and setup ever since. This year, IndyCar has brought a variety of new aerodynamic pieces and is softening some rules to try and promote better racing with some more passing. But he says if he and the No. 06 Honda crew start to find themselves getting a little lost diving down rabbit holes, he’s confident they have a quick roadmap they could use to find their way back to ‘center.’
For Pagenaud, the self-described “grinder” who says he thrives in a mindset of trying to uncover even the tiniest things to fix and improve, it’s not so simple. Though there’s a level of confidence in the team’s baseline setup come race day, looking back at last year’s 8th-place finish, he wonders if MSR made too big a jump on race day while reacting to the conditions, where most teams piled on more downforce, and it dialed back just a bit what thought might’ve been a race-winning car.
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Wednesday, the team started with a rather bland finish on the timing charts during the initial six-hour practice for the race – Pagenaud in 17th (226.137 mph) and Castroneves in 23rd (225.154 mph).
“It’s tough, because this season, (setbacks) have been different things every time, but as a leader, you need to find a way to keep everybody motivated and figure out what the issues are, why we’re having them and why they’re different every time,” Pagenaud said. “Sometimes, it’s simple. You just need to be the leader, find a way. That’s what the best do, and there’s no giving up for me.
“It’s not enjoyable, from a winning standpoint, but from a managing standpoint, there’s a lot to take from this. My nature is to look at the little things that would make us better, but you’ve also got to look at the big picture in these moments.”
It’s not been near the journey Pagenaud was hoping for, in terms of success, after he left his seven year-tenure at Team Penske to preserve his role as a full-time IndyCar driver, but the Frenchman did confirm he’s enjoying the way in which he’s been able to be more hands on, both on the technical, mechanical, strategy and leadership sides of the operation. And, as he’s learned, when his meditation techniques are quite bringing down his stress levels, he has his longtime teammate who can liven even the darkest moods.
“Just his presene, he’s joyful. He finds a good level, even when days are tough,” Pagenaud said. “I’m a little bit more of a grinder. When days are tough, I try to grind and dig and get better as a team, which can be tough on people sometimes.”
Is he tough on his own MSR team members?
“I’m tough on myself, tough on everybody. I tend to be like that.”
It’s the ‘French way’, he joked.
It all stems from a level of appreciation and dedication to this team and his craft, and Pagenaud asserted he doesn’t have his eyes elsewhere in the paddock, longing for greener pastures. It’s understood he’s in the final season of a two-year deal with MSR, meaning before long, he and team owners Mike Shank and Jim Meyer will have to have a frank conversation on where things are headed. Pagenaud says he’s in this for the long-haul.
“I believe in this team. They have great potential, and I want to make them better, because that’s my challenge,” he said. “I want to be here. I want to help, and I believe in my potential and my knowledge to help this team get to that level and show it.”
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Castroneves, who’s believed to be under immense pressure to perform at high levels in order to hang onto his full-time ride his ’21 500 win helped secure, wants to be here too. At 48 years old and counting while sitting 20th in points, its unknown whether he’ll be welcomed back to this same role, though Shank has said ever since that ’21 500 that he’ll have a 500 ride for Castroneves for as long as he wants it.
The four-time 500 winner, though, says his eyes remain on full-time opportunities if they happen to be there. Like Pagenaud, he doesn’t want to give up on his dream either, as they sit in separate chapters of their respective successful careers.
“It’s easy to call it quits, and that’s not me, so no, I’d like to still do full seasons,” Castroneves said. “Sometimes, though, performance also dictates that, and there’s nothing you can do. For you to keep going, you also need to show performance.
“I don’t put myself in a category like, ‘Why me?’ We’ve got to continue working hard. Life is a challenge that throws you tests, but I don’t think this is a test. It’s a way to show that when you’re down, you’re able to rise and work. Instead of looking for problems, we’re looking for solutions, and that’s motivating me to keep going.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 'We're not happy': Castroneves, Pagenaud hope Indy 500 turns the tides
