2019 Indy 500 Post-Race Press Conference

Pagenaud takes the checkered flag

Participants
Roger Penske, Owner, Team Penske
John Menard, Owner, Menards (Sponsor)
Kyle Moyer, Race Strategist, Team Penske
2nd – Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
3rd – Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
7th – Santino Ferrucci, Dale Coyne Racing (Rookie of Year)

THE MODERATOR: Forever an Indianapolis 500 champion. How does that sound.

SIMON PAGENAUD: It's amazing. It's another dream come true, and the biggest dream of my life come true. It's hard to fathom really. It's really hard to process it right now, but I'm just filled with a lot of joy. I drove really spirited today, but it's just incredible. I can't take all the credit because I think I definitely — and I think it showed I had the best car out there. What a day. Wow, incredible.

THE MODERATOR: You used the word spirited. You were a madman out there at times going for it. You drove this one full throttle, didn't you?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, yeah, we've had so many times we thought we could have won the race, especially since 2015 when I joined Team Penske. I think '15 was one of those years, I think last year was one of those years for sure. In '16 we had a mechanical issue that took us out, but we were running second. You know, there's been a lot of races we were strong, but we never really executed to the end.

Today was about attacking. We had our strategy meeting this morning, and we decided we were going to attack, we were going to control the day, and we were going to take our fate in our own hands. Destiny is what we decided to control. It was pretty cool. Obviously everything played for us really well. The stars, like I've been saying, have aligned this month, incredibly, but especially today.

THE MODERATOR: (Alexander) Rossi passed you late in the race. Did you have concerns that might be it?

SIMON PAGENAUD: No, because actually I was concerned — obviously I led most of the race, so I didn't have — except when I was passing back markers, I didn't have a big knowledge of my car in traffic. So what I did was obviously at one point we ran so much up front we didn't save enough fuel. When I let Josef (Newgarden) by and I ran behind Josef for the entire stint and the car was phenomenal. It was really easy to follow for me. So we adjusted the car really well during the race. Obviously Kyle Moyer and Ben Bretzman, my engineer, were giving me the perfect information. I think we had the perfect amount of downforce on the car, all the right decisions were made. The car was just fantastic, and I realized that I could run second as long as I wanted and pass people when I wanted.

As you saw before one of the pit stops, I regained the lead on Josef just to make sure I wasn't losing too much time in the sequence. But then when Rossi — Rossi I knew was going to be the biggest threat for a while because he looked really strong. He came back from the back and he's always really strong in these races, so he was a bit of a concern.

But yeah, I let him by to save fuel again just before the yellow came out, so that was a bit of a bummer. But we were able to get him back. Quite frankly I wasn't really worried about getting back, I was just worried about the rhythm, when to get him back to finish first. There was a lot of planning, a lot of brake drafting, as well. It was a lot of fun, and obviously my teammates, I think about Juan Montoya, I think about Helio Castroneves, I think about Josef and Will (Power), and I think about Gil de Ferran, especially Rick Mears, as well, they've been teaching me so well the intricacy of driving on an oval, and I applied it today, and it worked.

Q. You're a fierce competitor in every race, but is this as fierce a drive as you've ever had in your career?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes, yes. I was never going to give up on that one, I'll tell you. But the same with the Grand Prix. That's pretty much my trait, that's my character is I can never give up until it's over, even if I'm eighth, I'm ninth, you never see me give up. That's what saved me, saved my career at one point. That's what always helped me, and I always believed. I've been saying it, but kids, if you're looking, if you're watching, always believe in your dreams, and if you really believe it, believe it hard, and if you work hard enough, anything can happen.

Q. Will's record of a May sweep only lasted a year. You're now the only other driver that's swept the big events here at the Speedway. What is it about this May that just kind of flipped the switch with you?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, I think it's fate, quite frankly. Obviously in racing you need a little bit of luck on your side. You need everything to go your way. So it did today. I could do nothing wrong, quite frankly. And sometimes I can't do anything right. That doesn't mean I lost my talent, that doesn't mean my team is not doing a good job. It's just you have to accept that there's a little bit of mystery out there that you can't control. All you can do is the best you can and extract the best out of yourself in every situation. The rest, it sorts itself out really.

Simon Pagenaud

Q. What do you think the impact will be back in France about this win? And number two, those last 13 laps, can you explain your mindset? Was it hell-bent? How would you explain what was going through your mind as far as win or else?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, I've got 330-something texts, so I think the impact — in a little bit, and I'm sure it's going to keep coming. Actually people in France are sleeping right now, so I'm sure tomorrow morning will be pretty crazy. I'm just so, so proud. Obviously flying the French flag like this, obviously there hasn't been a winner in a long, long time, almost a century, being the next one is just phenomenal. I'm so proud. Proud of myself, proud of my country, and I'm happy that I'm giving smiles after obviously the burning of Notre Dame was a catastrophe. It's good for the country to just give back, give some smiles and make people happy. That's what sports are all about. It's about transporting joy and adrenaline and fun. That's what we did today. I'm so proud that I think France is going to be very excited. Obviously the numbers talk for themselves. I'm sure we'll do a media tour there, as well.

But I also want to thank America. I've always been so welcome here, and that's a trait of character that you guys have is incredible to me. I want to thank you all for welcoming me so well in the country, treating me as anyone else really, not as a Frenchman but treating me like a friend of yours, and that means a lot to anyone, I think especially me. So I want to thank America for welcoming me here and making me feel like I'm home.

Q. Did you already think that you had won something here, the guy who wore this hat never won? Is that a reflection, like Senna never won anything like the Indy 500?
SIMON PAGENAUD: I would never think that, no, because I don't think of myself as bigger than him, but I actually wore him today.

Q. I have another. (Gives hat to Simon)
SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, thank you so much. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I won my bet. He said — so Ayrton Senna is my hero and that was Ayrton Senna's hat and he said, if you win it, I'll give you my hat. I've never had the Nacional hat. So super proud of this, too, because when you have a hero and you accomplish your dream and you emulate your hero, it's very special, so thank you very much. I have to keep my sponsor hat, though. (Laughter.)

Q. Simon, the win in the Indy 500, it essentially checks — it checks off the last box in your career. You've won an INDYCAR championship, you've won an American Le Mans championship, now an Indy 500. What's the next box that you want to check off?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, I want many Indy 500s and more championships. You know, my goal, I'm already leading the championship this year, so it's fantastic. I told Ben Bretzman before the month, knowing our momentum, I said, we can win the next two and be in the championship, and it happened. So we're going to go into Detroit with a really good street car. We've done a lot of work on that car, and I think we're going to be strong there. So I'm excited. I love that track. That's the place where I won my first Indy car race in 2013, so we'll try to make it happen again. But that's my next box, obviously, is to win another championship. I got to close in '17. It would be awesome to add some numbers.

But some day I want to go back to Le Mans and win it, but some day. I'm not in any rush. I've got more to accomplish here. I want to keep driving for Team Penske forever and keep winning races. Le Mans would be one of my dreams, and another dream is to win the Monte Carlo in rally, but that's for a long time ahead. Probably when I'm 45, 48 years old.

Q. After the race last year, I caught you out in Gasoline Alley, and you said that the race rewarded the best drivers, and I said, did that include your teammate, and you said, yes, he was the best driver, which I thought was one hell of a compliment for a teammate. Today did the race reward the best drivers, and today are you the best driver?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, I don't know, you guys watched the race. I didn't see what happened in the back. Certainly Will — I think I led 116 laps, so I didn't see many people quite frankly. I mean, the car was just so far. They kept coming at me, and I was like trying to defend. Will, I saw him — I check the TV when I'm on track. There's like a big screen and you can check the pylon, so you know a little bit what's going on, but you have to focus on your own race. But certainly Will, if he didn't have that problem in pit lane, I think would have been a big contender. He was very fast. He came back second right at the beginning of the race. I think he would have been a big threat, and Josef was a big threat, too. Obviously the Penske cars did really well. But I personally feel like, yeah, it was the best car that won. And best driver, you guys have to decide on that, I guess. I wouldn't have the pretension to say that.

Q. Rossi said that the red flag at the end kind of punished him and helped you a little bit. Do you agree on that?
SIMON PAGENAUD: No, not at all.

Q. So you would have gone until the end because your last pit stop was on lap 169, I think.
SIMON PAGENAUD: No, I mean, the thing is with — it actually helped him. The crash happened, it was such a big crash, they needed to clean the track. So if they didn't go red flag, we would have had an eight-lap shootout, so I had plenty of fuel for that, no problem. And when I went by I was planning on saving fuel to attack him at the end, and as you could see, no problem re-passing him. No, I don't think so. I think he — obviously it was a position race. You had to be assertive when you needed, and we just had a better package today.

Q. Simon, just a minute ago I was a little bit surprised about your answer that you would like to go to the rally Monte Carlo. Would it not be something special to have Roger as a navigator? He raced himself a long time ago.
SIMON PAGENAUD: I don't know if he would like that. That's kind of — it's kind of a dangerous sport for sure. But I'm sure he would trust me enough for it. But I would probably want a French navigator. It would be an honor, though.

Q. Roger has got a few of these Indy 500s, but John Menard has been trying for four decades. You delivered the first one for him. How special is that to you?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, I mean, obviously bringing another win to Roger is very special. You want to see him happy like that. He gives us so much. He treats us like his children, really. When you drive for Team Penske, you represent his brand that he's been building for 60 years, and he trusts you to represent him at this level of the sport, the sport that he loves, and it's a dream for him to win the Indy 500. Making his dream become true, big part of it really is sensational. Super proud of that. And John Menard, he's been trying so hard. I felt so bad that we didn't get one for him already, so finally getting one for him is very special. Having that livery is very cool because people notice the car so easily. It's so great for all that he's done for the sport. He's done so much. He deserves to get a Borg-Warner, so I'm very proud, very proud to be the driver driving that car.

Q. Explain the emotions on the front straightaway. Generally drivers drive straight to Victory Lane and do it there, but you got out of the car. Was it just overcome with emotion? What was that time like?
SIMON PAGENAUD: It wasn't planned. We didn't discuss it on the radio. When I got to pit entry, I'm like, oops. I think I should have went to pit lane. I was crying a little bit on the decel (cool down) lap and the fans were going so crazy, I thought I have to share this with the fans. There's no racing without fans. Obviously I wanted to go to Victory Lane and we did. I didn't think it was going to be that complicated. But I wanted to share with the fans — they filled this place up. It's incredible. It's incredible to be part of this sport as a driver, and it wouldn't be the same if we didn't have 300,000 people in the grandstands. It was my way of saying thank you for your support and please come back, we'll give you more of this, and that's what I did.

Q. The last five winners of the Indy 500 came from five different continents, which has never happened in this sport. I'm just wondering, do you think this legitimizes that any driver who can't expand his career in the Formula 1 —
SIMON PAGENAUD: Can or cannot?

Q. Cannot. This sport is currently the highest and the most competitive racing sport?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Well, I mean, I don't know about Formula 1, quite frankly. I'm not there to judge it. And I would never judge it. But I certainly know what's going on here, and you see all the drivers come in, you see the level of competition on road course, street course, we're fighting for tenths of seconds, hundredths. You saw here it was the smallest margin in history in qualifying between first and last. I think it shows the level of the teams, the level of the drivers, the sponsors that we have, obviously it's a growing field. We had 36 cars. It's a testament to IMS and INDYCAR for doing such a great job promoting the race, and we see our numbers are going up. It's an exciting sport. You know, you saw it today with all the fans that we have. It's the biggest race in the world. Yeah, I think it is very competitive, yes.

Now, driving on an oval is not easy, let me tell you. It took me years to get to this level. I remember we were just talking about it with my engineer, my first Indy 500 start was definitely not like that. It's just you've got to work. You've got to work really hard.

Q. It was fun seeing Norman down there with you on Victory Lane. I'm surprised he's not here with you right now, but he's been around a lot this month. Do you think he kind of contributed to the magic this month for you?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, all my family, Hailey is the same, she contributes so much to my balance, you know, in my life. My best friend is here, Thomas, and my mom is here, my dad was on the phone because he's too scared to watch this race. You know, he was the first person I called. Family, friends are everything to me. It's what brings balance into life, and you can't live a lonely life and be happy. So to me, it's happiness for sure.

Q. During the weekend of the Grand Prix you had mentioned that in 2018 you and your team kind of struggled with the new aero kit. I think it's safe to say you're not struggling with it anymore.
SIMON PAGENAUD: No, we're not.

Q. Between the Grand Prix qualifying and the race, those are three very different scenarios. What does this mean for the rest of 2019 and how scared should your competitors be about this resurgent 22 car?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Thank you, appreciate that. Well, you know, let's not — in French we say let's not put the car in front of the cart. They still have work to do for the championship. There's been a lot of very competitive teams. It's not going to be easy. We're going to have to work really hard at this. But certainly I think we've hit our stride. I think we've understood what I need from this car and how to get it. That was the biggest thing. We knew what I needed. It was how to get it. We did get that. Very comfortable on the oval now. I love the package. The racing is awesome. And on road course and street course, I think Team Penske has done a phenomenal job now, and I think our team is going to be very strong.

Yes, the goal is to win the championship this year. There's a lot to achieve still, and we're going to get back to work tomorrow. But I hope everybody is scared.

Q. You mentioned earlier that resilience has been a key trait for your entire career. I was wondering if you could — if you'd thought about — I think it was 10 years ago when you talked to your dad about getting a loan to try to keep this thing going. Have you thought about that yet today since you've won?
SIMON PAGENAUD: Not yet, no. That will be one of the things that will make me understand what just happened for sure. But yes, it's been tough to get to the top level of racing. Especially when you come from a non-racing family. You know, I had nobody in racing. I had to learn it all on my own. But actually I think it's an advantage because I had no choice, it was either going to work or I was done.

So I put all my guts in it, and I tried as hard as I could, and I learned quickly. But I had great mentors, as well. It's all about the people that you meet in your life really. Obviously I was lucky enough that my dad could help at the time, but with all the sponsors actually I found, at the time I found 350 sponsors back in 2004 to keep going racing. 350. So I used to drive my car and go meet with potential sponsors and sell them a driving school. I had my own driving school. And that's how I financed my career. So yeah, those moments are very special when you think about it, when you think back on that. After that when I became professional it was about perfecting my craft and using everybody that I met, and I did.

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THE MODERATOR: For those of us that have followed the Indianapolis 500 for several decades, it is a welcome sight to welcome John Menard to Victory Lane at Indianapolis for the 500. Welcome, John.

Pagenaud with John Menard on yard of bricks

JOHN MENARD: Thank you very much. It was 40 years ago when I first came down here in 1979, and I didn't get all the way in, and I had a big sign that we used to put up over the garages. So I'm dragging the sign on Georgetown road, and I'm walking — I didn't know where the entrance was. I didn't know enough to go there on 16th and drive under. So this guy at the gate in a yellow shirt was standing there, and he goes, where are you going with that sign and I said I want to get in the garage area. So he said, "I'll open the gate for you." So he unlocked the gate and let me in. I didn't have a credential. I didn't know where I was going. I said which was is the garage area? I think he thought I was crazy, but we had a good time. But that was the first time I was here, 40 years ago. Been trying ever since. I see some stubborn, stupid guy. Here you go. Great fun.

THE MODERATOR: You won here in a NASCAR race with your son, and that's family —

JOHN MENARD: That's family.

THE MODERATOR: But this is a different race.

JOHN MENARD: Yeah, that was a NASCAR race, which is pretty distinct from this race. That was probably the highlight of my personal racing career just because it was my son that won. But this ranks right in there. I'll tell you what, this is a good deal, and I can't thank Team Penske, I can't thank the Indianapolis Motor Speedway enough for all the great memories and times and over the years that we've had here. It's amazing.

THE MODERATOR: Does Simon know he now has to make an appearance at every Menard's store across the country?

JOHN MENARD: I think he already has. Most of them anyway. Roger is going to cut the ribbon, though, on our new store in Michigan, right near his office. He goes, I will cut the ribbon for the opening. I thought, great. I don't know how much he's going to charge me, but we're going to have to talk about that.

Q. Maybe he’ll open a store, too.
JOHN MENARD: Yeah, we've got to get him started small, though. One store, and then we'll ask him about the second one.

Q. John, you opened by talking about your history here and your love of this place, so how do you feel now to see Menard's in Victory Lane? It's the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
JOHN MENARD: You ever watch that movie called "The Candidate" when that guy works and works and works and finally gets elected, after the election, he won, and he gazed into the mirror and says, what the hell do I do now? That's the way I feel. We'll go try to win another one.

Q. Are you going to go to Charlotte now?
JOHN MENARD: Yeah, I'll go if I can. We'll see how all this plays out.

Q. What's your take on Simon Pagenaud? What makes him special from your vantage point?
JOHN MENARD: Wow, well, first, Simon is just one wonderful human being. If you get to know him, you'll love him. Second of all, if you watched the last few laps of this race, as a race car driver, Simon is really, really good. I mean, he was — Rossi is really, really good, and that could have ended kind of badly in Turn 1 or 2 or 3 or 4, a lot of other places, and yeah, that was just plain good racing. Two really talented guys, and they were just going after each other, back and forth, back and forth, but Simon doesn't give up. He's the real deal.

Team boss Roger Penske congratulates Simon Pagenaud

THE MODERATOR: We have Roger Penske who's joined us, along with Kyle Moyer, the strategist. Congratulations, Captain. As I think you said, he won that one.

ROGER PENSKE: Well, I'd have to say, I've been here many years and the last couple of years, somebody pass you and it would be over. Happened to Helio a couple times, but that flight at the end you knew we were building up to something with 15 laps and they take the cars that are not on the lead lap and put them in the back. It really sets up for an amazing run and good clean racing. You see how close it was. One more lap, it could have gone the other way. To Kyle Moyer, Kyle is the man that ran that pit and Ben (Bretzman) the engineer, they're the ones that deserve the credit. We come here with four cars, we're all on a particular car and these guys were the winners today. I tell you, Simon arrived here this month, I don't know if it was May 1st or May 10th and he never left until today, so it's a tremendous situation.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]I got a call from the President as we were in the winner's circle, we had been down there with Joey, and he congratulated me, he said, I must have been your good-luck charm. He was in Japan and got — Simon had a chance to talk to him, so hopefully he'll be invited to the White House.

THE MODERATOR: Can you talk about John Menard winning his first Indianapolis 500 and how much that must mean to you, too?

ROGER PENSKE: Well, John and I have been around here a long time, haven't we. I've watched him and he watched me and a couple years ago, we said, look, maybe we'd do better together. Finally it took a couple years, but John, to see the Menard's logo and certainly your excitement and commitment to the sport for so many years is terrific, and we could bring home a winner with you and you with our guys. Just tremendous. You've got a great brand. You're a great person, your family, and obviously Paul is a key guy on our team down in the south, so we can't say enough. You've got Indy, you've got the Brickyard, and now you've got the 500. And also you've got the road race, a triple header. Think about that, all three, so pretty good.

THE MODERATOR: Kyle, you look a little stunned. Are you surprised how this came to be?

KYLE MOYER: Yeah, it was a weird day because, I mean, we had a really good car, and then we put him out front, and I thought there for a little bit maybe we were not going to do the fuel mileage right, we were just going to get the most laps led and that was it for a while. But then the yellow came out wrong, then it came out right and stuff. It was sort of like the Grand Prix, we just kept fighting at it and the car came really good toward the end there. But all day, I mean, Simon drove brilliant. We had sort of planned on not trying to drop back, but when you're out front it's a lot of fuel you're using.

Q. Mr. Menard, you've sponsored so many different things in racing, just countless sponsorships, countless commitments, spending money. Does this feel like something you've kind of been rewarded back now?
JOHN MENARD: Oh, it should sure. This was really, really special. I mean, been trying to win this thing for 40 years, win it with Roger. Kyle, I remember Kyle when he was working for Gary Bettenhausen. That was a good 40 years ago. There's a lot of history here, a lot of memories. So yeah, it's a journey, not a destination sometimes. But this is a good destination.

Q. John, with your sponsorship logo, your company logo on the race car with a French driver, is there any intention you will expand your business to Europe, maybe to France?
JOHN MENARD: Well, if you examine our name, Menard is a very French name. Menard is a French name, and we live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, which is clear water, and my family was from Quebec. Whereas Quebec is a bit closer than France, we'll certainly consider any offers in France when time permits, which I don't think will get done in this lifetime. (Laughs.) There's a possibility, sure, you bet, we love France!

Q. The scuttlebutt going into this month was that Simon might be in a little bit of trouble as far as hanging on to his job and stuff. Number one, was that true? And then number two, just talk about his rebound this month as you've pointed out a while ago?
ROGER PENSKE: I don't think that I said anything to the media about Simon. He's on our team. He's one of our drivers. You've seen that. That was scuttlebutt. I think that's a good word for it. But what he did this month, certainly he achieved records in his own personal life and certainly what he had expected to, and the run today, it's a history book run for me when we think about some of the races — an opportunity to be in the winner's circle, so he did a great job.

Q. Following up on that, Roger, can you say with certainty that Simon will be back with your team next year?
ROGER PENSKE: What do you think? Do you want to answer that question for me? Absolutely.

Q. Can you kind of describe your secret to the dominance these last 50 years at the Indy 500?
ROGER PENSKE: It's just one word: It's our people.

Q. Roger and Kyle, what is it that — Kyle at the shop, the first week of May, he said, we've got to win. Simon has got to win. The other guys have won. It's like you flipped a switch on the guy. What was it about this month that has changed the whole dynamic with Simon Pagenaud?
KYLE MOYER: It's an easy answer. He's on your back looking at you, and you're on this team for a reason, and the reason is to win. Team Penske has always been winners, that's why I came here. That's why Simon is here. That's why all of our drivers, everybody that works here is for a reason, and that is to win, because that's our brand we're putting out there, you know. Penske, Team Penske, all of them are winners. So you're expected to win.

So when you're not, you've got to figure out a way to do it. Simon has done that. I think in this month he's actually forced it on you to show you that he can win. Like I told you a month ago, I said, if he wins one, there's no reason he can't win five in a row, because he's that type of driver, once he gets the confidence built, the GP really gave him confidence, and then the pole did, and so now you've got the race.

ROGER PENSKE: Well, I think that from my perspective, he came with us the first year, won the championship, had one down year, but again, our guys are with us. You think most of the drivers spend a lot of time, and obviously we thought a lot of him, or we wouldn't have had him in our sports car. Remember he runs the sports car in the longer races. No, I think Kyle is right. We've got a great group of people, and it really is a combination of all four drivers, and it's amazing if you've got numbers, they seem to work here, and there's no question. With Helio in the pits, Davidson didn't have a good speed limiter and I'm not sure about Will's call, but we put ourselves out of the race.

Again, with Josef and Simon — and Simon wasn't going to be beat today. He raced clean, and that's what I have to say about Rossi, also, the two of them for the laps that they ran side by side was as good a racing as you've ever seen here.

Q. There was a famous quite attributed to you, I can't remember if it was late 60s or early 70s when you were having tremendous success in the Trans-Am, and you said we can't just take our press clippings, throw them on the track and expect the other teams to give us the race win, we have to earn it. There's been a lot more press clippings since then. Has there ever been anything not written to explain the success of your organization that you think you wish would have been written?
ROGER PENSKE: No. You know, we're racers. I've heard it too many times, I came here in '51 with my dad, and we put teams together. We got commitments to sponsors like John, and we've become almost a family, everyone, and we work together because when you walk out of that garage this morning, only one guy can win. But we won as a team today, and I think that's — when I saw Helio and all, they all said the same thing.

Look, the success here is amazing, but you can't do it without the best people. And again, year after year, and I said it here a couple weeks ago, that we had over 700 years of experience in our pit this weekend and this month. So that's what makes the difference, not the clippings. I hope I didn't say that, but maybe I did. I'm sorry.

Q. Roger, the fierceness of that battle, have you ever seen something like that here at the speedway? Those last five laps, ten laps were epic.
ROGER PENSKE: You know, you've seen that at Phoenix, I think, on the miles we've seen that kind of racing. You pass, get back and get yourself back in position. But not here. The last couple years, the car would get out front and they'd go, but you couldn't get away here, and I think it's a credit, by the way, didn't say much about this to IndyCar and the rule package we had today. It's safe. You could see that when the guys got sideways, upside down almost, we could race each other and draft, and I think that's what the fans want, and again, it was a fuel-mileage race for a while there, and Dixon was in a great position there, probably nine or 10, 11 laps better than anybody, and that yellow came out. You never know here until it's the end here, and you saw that here today.

Q. Kyle, was there a point towards the end when they were going that hard and you can't really see everything from pit lane sometimes? Are you kind of glad you couldn't watch the car go all the way around the track?
KYLE MOYER: We were watching.

Q. How nervous were you about that then?
KYLE MOYER: I wouldn't say nervously. I've been on the wrong end of that before, so you know, where I come in second. It was good today with him. I think he did a really good job on covering the base. I think he knew exactly what he had 15 laps to go when the yellow came out, we told him. We were fast all day, so I think Simon drove brilliant there. And I think, you're looking at a former winner already that you beat. Rossi came to the pack pretty heavy, especially when he had the fuel he had a good car, too. So a little bit of Chevy power there sure helped.

Q. Roger, you have won three in the last five, and five in 14. Is this the best you've been since the split do you think?
ROGER PENSKE: I didn't understand, I'm sorry.

Q. You've won three Indy 500s in the last five years and five in 14 years. Is this the best Team Penske has been here since the split, since prior to the split?
ROGER PENSKE: I'd have to say — we came back, you remember, in I think we won '01, '02 and '03 there, three in a row, which would have been equal to winning five, but that's pretty special. I was talking to Michael Andretti before the race, and I said, hey, it's going to be one of us I hope. I meant that because he's a tough, tough competitor. Kyle knows, he worked with him, and they've done a great job fielding as many cars — he was certainly disappointed I'm sure to see Herta go out early. This place just gets you, and either it comes true or you go home, come back next year. That's the problem. You've got to wait 12 months.

Q. You've won this 18 times; what does it feel like for you watching those final five lead changes in the final 13 laps? What is that like for you?
ROGER PENSKE: Well, can I tell you, I didn't know if we were going to win. I didn't know until the car came off the fourth corner. I was watching it on a monitor just like everybody else was. But I felt the fact that he couldn't get by with about two laps to go down into 1. It seemed like he pulled out a little bit there in the draft, and I think the tires were getting — after getting in the dirty air, and I think then I saw that we had it. But going down the back straightaway, he came up on him, and the good news is that the start-finish line isn't down in Turn 1, or it might have been a different story.

Q. And now will you go to Charlotte?
ROGER PENSKE: No, I'm going to watch Charlotte. John is going to Charlotte.

Q. Roger, can you compare your feelings today from your first victory a half a century ago?
ROGER PENSKE: Well, you know, Mark Donohue was special. We came here in '69, 50 years ago, and our goal was to win the race. Mark was an engineer. I think we brought a lot of different thoughts to the speedway as far as technology and aerodynamics. We won it in '72 and then Mears in '79 and that kind of started us. But it's hard — the only thing I remember about '72 is I lost Mark Donohue. That's a big difference in winning the race here. I guess you'd have to say I'd rather him back than win a race. So to me, this is tough.

But this win here today for Simon and our 50th, it goes down in the record book. But as I say, it's not me, it's all the people that we work with day in and day out that make it so good.

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THE MODERATOR: Alexander Rossi joins us now. Maybe there's no other way to say it. It's disappointing.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yep.

THE MODERATOR: Can you talk us through the battle? He obviously knew you wanted the inside lane and just seemed like you couldn't get it.

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Yeah. I mean, there's not much to say. I think you all saw it. We just didn't have the straight-line speed. There's not much we can do about that from my side inside the car. Obviously the 22 guys fully deserve it. They were on pole. He led probably 70 percent of the laps. Yeah, I mean, he was a deserving winner for sure. But that last yellow really hurt us because we were doing a lot better on fuel mileage than he was, so that was the first kind of nail in the proverbial coffin, and yeah, the second one was just — we didn't have the speed out front. I mean, I was flat for the last 15 laps, and there's not much more you can do.

THE MODERATOR: You had the slow pit stop, obviously the fuel issues. That was as animated as we've seen you probably in your time here. How long did it take you to recover from that mentally?

ALEXANDER ROSSI: Not long. I mean, when you come here four times and three of the times you can't get fuel in the car, I think you can understand why I was upset. It can't happen. I mean, it wasn't a human error, it was a mechanical problem, but still, it's not something that we can have here. It's the biggest race in the world, and 75 percent of the time we can't get fuel in the race car.

We need to address that for sure, but I think the whole 27 NAPA Andretti Honda boys did a great job of recovering. Rob Edwards, as always, is exceptional at being the kind of steady voice and very, very helpful for me in terms of kind of getting back to center and just focusing on getting back to where we needed to be. So ultimately it didn't affect the end result. I think we're lucky that it didn't, but yeah, at the end of the day, they recovered nicely. Our last pit stop was mega, got us back into the lead before that final yellow came out, which, as I said before, was probably the thing that ultimately cost us the race.

Rossi was disappointed not to win

Q. You did get by Simon (Pagenaud) once in those last several laps and stuff. As you went by, were you just saying to yourself, can this thing stick? What were your thoughts, or did you think the finish was going to be inevitable?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: I mean, it was pretty inevitable. I mean, I think you saw on the last restart, like he just drove by us. There was the opportunity there to get the lead. I had been working on it for 12, 13 laps, and it finally came, and I didn't have a choice, I just had to hope that maybe he would lose so much behind me and that Takuma (Sato) or Josef (newgarden) or whatever would get him, and I would be able to have enough of a cushion for the final two laps. But I passed him in 1 and he was straight back by me into Turn 1, so there was nothing I could do.

Q. How badly do you want to get right back in the car and go 10 more laps right now?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: I mean, it would be the same result, so not that badly, to be honest.

Q. Can you take any solace knowing you gave it everything you had? That was 100 percent.
ALEXANDER ROSSI: Maybe in time. Ultimately it was a good day for the team. You know, I think that we put a huge focus all month as we always do on the race car. The car was by far the best in the field in terms of what we could do and pass at will when I needed to. I didn't see anyone else doing that. So a huge testament to the whole Andretti Autosport organization for really my fourth year here giving me a car that was capable of winning.

So that's a great thing, and I'm very, very thankful for that.

But as I said, leading up to this many times, once you've won this thing once, the desire to win just ramps up exponentially every year, so it sucks to come this close and really have nothing that we as a team could have done differently. I'm proud of them. I'm proud of the effort that they always put in, and yeah, when we get No. 2, it's going to be probably a huge explosion of emotions because we all want it really bad.

Q. Did you consider protesting what appeared to be blocking by the leader on the last lap?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: I mean, yeah, he was moving in reaction for sure, but the last lap of the Indy 500, they're not going to do anything about it. It's kind of irrelevant.

Q. Another issue like the fueling that probably wasn't a factor ultimately, but Oriol Servia, can you talk about the skirmish you had?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: I think it was one of the most disrespectful things I've ever seen in a race car, to be honest. He's a lap down and defending, putting me to the wall at 230 miles an hour. It's unacceptable. It's unacceptable for him, and it's unacceptable that INDYCAR allowed it to happen as long as they did.

Q. What is your role with the engine problem you had today that could possibly see it fixed moving forward? Can you go to Honda? Is it something we could see changed by year end?
ALEXANDER ROSSI: What engine problem?

Q. The horsepower deficit you mentioned.
ALEXANDER ROSSI: No, man, things ebb and flow. We've been a strong team for a couple of years, and then it goes in cycles. Honda is doing a great job, and working their butts off to continue pushing this engine that's been around for the better part of a decade to continually bring updates. I think the step that they took this year compared to last year was good. It got us a lot closer. Ultimately it wasn't enough, but no, I think they're doing everything they can, and until there's a change in the regulations, it's just everyone is kind of at their maximum. We are definitely, I think, stronger on some tracks, they're stronger on others, and that's apparently — the parity is kind of what makes this series what it is. You're never going to have it completely go your way as much as you'd like to, but no, I don't think there's any fix necessary. They're working hard every day to try and make it happen.

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THE MODERATOR: It may have only been third, but there for a minute, it looked like it might be a second Indy 500 win. Did it feel like that to you?

TAKUMA SATO: Well, of course it's always possible. But before we get started, I wanted to say huge congratulations to Simon Pagenaud. What a strong run, and obviously got a pole position in the month of May and obviously started from Indy GP winning. But it's unbelievable for Penske and Simon. It's great to see. He's pulling such a strong race. It was fun.

My race, one stage it looked really tough. We got some little issues after the first pit stop, so we had to come back, and then I think it got a lap down in 31st place.

But I think we had to do head down the job and recalculate. Our team did a great job to stretch the field and then get back to the pack. I think it took more than 100 laps. But I think it was brilliant, and after the restart, it was very exciting. Pato, P6, P5, P4 and finally got P3, and then I got everything I had. Obviously I have on board Alex, but we were just flying all over the place with the temperature, and it was a great battle. It is a little bit of a pity that we couldn't challenge for the win, but we got third under some very difficult circumstances, I think. It's a huge credit to the team. So a big thank you to the team for getting me back.

Q. Did you go to the grass on the restart, go low to get to one of those positions?
TAKUMA SATO: I don't know if I was running on the grass. Perhaps maybe, but yeah, I was overtaking from outside. I think Josef and Ed, and I was clean, but obviously hard battle up there. But I think everybody did a great job in terms of the making Indy 500 what a great spectacle.

Q. You praise your team and everything, but how surprised were you to be there at the end like that, and what was your attitude the last 10 laps?
TAKUMA SATO: I think, as I said, it's a huge credit to the team, engineering side, and the boys worked so hard. Honestly, let's get down to the qualifying speed of 14th and 17th me and Graham, and that was a showing — unfortunately that was pure speed we had. And we might not be the first person on the grid, but I think, as I said in the morning in a couple interviews, that I feel we were one of the strongest in traffic, and I think Graham and I were happy with our balance. That's how it showed, too, the performance in the last 10 laps.

I think the team did a great job. We're still not quite there to get the win by ourselves, but I think it showed a tremendous performance and tremendous potential to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, so huge credit to the engineers.

Q. Did you feel like the top two were that much better than you, or did you feel like you just ran out of laps?
TAKUMA SATO: I think honestly Simon looked something in the pocket. He had definitely — showing a great speed and skill. I think Alex and I could possibly battle each other at the end of the day, but honestly, last eight laps I tried and tried and tried and I couldn't get to Alex, so that means I think physically we were third today, which is — I think it's still great result to the team, especially considering we were a lap down in 31st. I think it was a great — it's just a little unfortunate for Graham, had an accident. But I think the entire team lifted a huge potential again, and really looking forward to competing at the highest level in the second third of the season.

Q. Takuma, how confident were you that the car was going to stick on the outside passes there? That was supposedly not something you want to do, a two wide, which you are not really supposed to do here.
TAKUMA SATO: Yeah, no, probably not. Under normal circumstances, I think you wouldn't be able to pass people. So I figured out while I was a lap down, I had to battle through the field, and then I just gradually learning something over there, and then just in case, when I have an opportunity to go by Pato, I had to use it. And then mostly really, honestly, the whole idea of concept come from Helio Castroneves from 2017. He over took me outside, and he overtook Max outside in Turn 3, and it was amazing move, and I just tried a little bit similar, and it worked out.

But I think IMS the resealed new tarmac as well as the Firestone, the new construction of the front tire, the new compound worked extremely well with the package we had. Very similar downforce to last year, I think the race looked a lot more exciting, and then I think INDYCAR – all of INDYCAR did a brilliant job for that.

Q. You're sitting there third and you're watching that battle in front of you. Did you have any kind of like feeling these two guys might do a little tango and there you could be? What were your thoughts as you watched that battle?
TAKUMA SATO: Well, there's always a scenario. Always a scenario. If something happened between two — of course I was thinking, just make sure you're not involved. You always want to have extra caution. But then of course if you have a little cushion then end of story, you're not in there. So you have to grab every single opportunity, just never give up, and just try to challenge all the time, and I know in my years of counting down lap 5, lap 4, lap 3, and we're just not quite there yet, but it was an exciting race. But I think it was a great race for the Indy 500, and I'm sure fans really enjoyed it.

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Ferrucci happy to be rookie of the year

THE MODERATOR: Santino Ferrucci as the top finishing rookie in seventh place.

SANTINO FERRUCCI: There's a lot of people here. I saw when they did the driver introductions, there was actually 300,000 people there.

THE MODERATOR: Did you doubt the count?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Probably not.

THE MODERATOR: Well, you made one lasting impression on this Indianapolis 500 with a run through the grass in the middle of the trouble in Turn 3. Talk about that.

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I mean, I saw a little bit of the grass stick up getting towards the corner and the spotter comes on the radio and says, all right, just don't go high. Don't go high. Then I see everybody starting to wreck, and I'm just like, middle of the track, and then I floored it because I thought that was the smart thing to do, then I saw the grass, which to me was the only hole, and that looked like the most intelligent place to go. So we mowed the lawn in retrospect, and we came out just fine.

THE MODERATOR: Was your first Indianapolis 500 experience everything you thought it would be?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I'd say that's an understatement. Coming here and racing in front of these fans, in front of everybody, having a solid team behind you, mowing he lawn, finishing in the top 10. That's an experience of a lifetime that you just can't beat, especially at 20 years old.

Q. Santino, how confident are you going forward for the rest of the season having had such a great result today?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I mean, I think in the GP we also finished tenth, and it's nice to have a rolling consistency being in the top 10 and going into Detroit will be the first time I'm back in a track that I actually know on the calendar, and I'm very much looking forward to the duels. But I kind of wish there was another 500 tomorrow, to be perfectly honest with you.

Q. Santino, you surprised us. Did anything in the race surprise you?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: I mean, the race was — it's surprisingly longer than it looks, and the racing — racing with other drivers was actually a lot more fun than I had ever hoped it to be. I got to battle it out almost the entire race with Hunter-Reay, who's a champion here, and I can't thank him enough because the experience that you get racing someone like that and the enjoyment and excitement of racing around other competitors like him, it was just a blast.

I think that was probably some of the best parts. It feels like a victory. We started 23rd, man.

Q. You told me media day that you feel very happy here when you arrive here, that the confidence that the team gives you. How do you feel now?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I mean, I think also many of us watched the last lap, I kind of — I almost stuffed it trying to pass Carpenter for sixth. But no, when I say we had a good race car, we had something solid, and I had a lot of confidence in it. To move forward like that, it just helps you out as a young driver so much. I'm sure he can attest to that, as well, because he's won here as a rookie. But yeah, I think it was a really cool experience.

Q. How do you keep from being overwhelmed at 20 years old in front of 300,000 at your first major race in a national event like this? How do you keep from being overwhelmed?
SANTINO FERRUCCI: You don't. You become a fan. You know, you're here to be a part of the event as much as compete in it, and I think that being also a fan and a competitor, it was one of those things where you just get to be in awe of what's around you and the experience that you get and the opportunity that you get. You know, it's still overwhelming. I've never been in front of 300,000 people. I've never seen what that looks like, either. I can tell you it was probably one of the coolest days of my life.