Q&A with Pagenaud, G. Rahal, & Castroneves

An Interview with Simon Pagenaud

Simon Pagenaud

Q: We've been having every driver as they come in sort of recap your 2016 season and then look ahead to 2017. Obviously the season couldn't have gotten much better for you last year.

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, it's been a really good season. You know, obviously for us, 2015 was about building, and I think as a new entity and a fourth car at Team Penske, we did a good job at building in '15, and especially transitioning during the winter into '16. We managed to get everybody on the same page and get a really good chemistry with everybody, and I think that was the key.

And then we started off really strong. I think St. Pete, I kind of lost the race on my own there, and I think it set the tone for me for the year. I realized I had to be even more aggressive to win races, so it was a good first race. The first five races of the season were really strong for us, and I think that's where we put a stamp on the championship there.

Then the middle part of the season we had a little bit of a tough time with some mechanical issues mostly, a little bit of bad luck in Toronto, and then we — what really characterized my team, I would say my — yeah, the group that we are, is how we bounced back, because when you have a tough time in the middle part of the season and your rival wins everything, it's really tough actually being able to bounce back like we did. So very proud of everybody on a personal standpoint because everybody was strong enough to keep looking forward and keep their focus, and then at the end of the season we were strong again and showed that.

Yeah, it was a great team. There's still a lot to iron. It's only our second year together, so we still have a lot to improve, so that's what's exciting for 2017.

Q: How do you top 2016?

SIMON PAGENAUD: I think it's about being disciplined. It's easy to relax after you've won one time, but it's about being disciplined. Myself, it's to reflect on '16 and see how I can improve myself physically, mentally, all the aspects of driving, the craft basically. I can definitely improve on a lot of those things.

And then there's the race team. I'm basically the quarterback on my team, and it's about looking at every race, every practice, every qualifying, and trying to see how we could have done better each time and then tackle the weekend that way, with a new strategy going in that would basically put us at a better level to start the weekend.

You know, I think it's about — it's like you look at a messy bush a long time ago and then you trim the bush as you go and you end up defining it and making it the way you want to make it at the end, so I think that's where we're at right now is basically designing the bush, and it's really cool. It's a really good time.

Does that make sense?

Q: Makes perfect sense.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]SIMON PAGENAUD: Like a tree bush, you know? I just want to make sure we agree on that.

Q: How do you think — you had a very similar path at Team Penske as Josef did coming from a smaller team. Do you think he's going to have a season at Team Penske similar to what yours was or do you think he'll have a little different road?

SIMON PAGENAUD: I think it's dependent on everybody. We're all different. The way I drive seems to be quite different from the way he drives in terms of approach. But it's going to be a different story for him because he has a team that's already rolling. The 2 car has been together for a long time. It's a successful team. They won the Indy 500. He's going to be in different shape than where I was where we had to build a team and start with new people from outside.

I think he's going to be all right from the beginning. I don't think he's going to have as much of a transition as I did.

You know, as long as he adapts well to the system, I think he'll be just fine. But he's definitely going to be a championship contender very quickly.

Q: Is there anything unavoidable that comes in a transition like that that you can impart to him as far as having been in that same situation? Anything that you know that he is going to have to face that you can maybe kind of help him through as a teammate?

SIMON PAGENAUD: No, definitely time is your best — you don't have a choice. You've got to let time do its things. Sometimes it's just — you just need to be with people for a long time and then things get better and you get to understand each other better, and then you end up being at a much better level. But I think time is going to do everything for him. I don't think he can force time. You've got to let it happen. That's what I would say.

Q: Did you try to force time in 2015?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, no, you always try because you want to give it your best, and if it's not happening, it gets frustrating. So yeah, you try, but you just can't do it. It's a natural course.

Q: What can you do better now that you've trimmed the bush, so to speak?

SIMON PAGENAUD: That's a good question. That's a great question. Get to the point, I guess.

Well, you know, I always look at — I look at it at different — there's always different departments you can work on, right. There's myself as a driver, how do I improve myself as a driver. But I like to look at it as me being part of my team and the whole team working together well, gelling well, and making sure — one of the big things for us having won is not to rest on our laurels and keep going, keep pushing to get more. So being hungry is going to be very important for everybody, not just me but the whole team.

What I can do better myself is obviously I think if you look at my craft, we didn't qualify well on the speedway this year, so we need to improve that. One of the reasons being is maybe we need a different approach in how we approach qualifying, but if you look at 2015, we qualified well, we didn't race well on the speedways. It's about adjusting that. It's about understanding — obviously we've raced better this year.

But we can do better. I think one of the things that — outside factors is Honda is strong on the super speedways, so there's ways to improve superspeedways. Short ovals we did improve, but for me there's some crafts still to get better. I think to improve my performance on the road courses and street courses will be tough. I think we got to a very good level, so I think it's mostly focusing on the oval for 2017 and trying to raise the level there.

Q: You've been one of the fastest drivers across the street the last two years. What do you got to do to have the speed at the right time at the end of the race?

SIMON PAGENAUD: On the speedway?

Q: Yes.

SIMON PAGENAUD: I think it's a good point. Well, this year we had a mechanical issue, so really there's nothing you can do about that. I think what I realized is it's easy to get lost in two weeks of testing. With the condition change, now we've got data, I've got information, I know the car, I understand the race better, so it's about trusting what you have and focusing on race day as much as possible. I don't think qualifying actually — despite what I just said, I don't think qualifying is very important at the 500. I think actually if you look at who wins, it's often the guy that comes from the pack because he gets to test his car in the pack, and he gets to go to the front. The guy that starts at the front, when you get back in the pack it's difficult to adjust.

I think it's about working on the race car and working in traffic, working your skills in traffic during the two weeks of testing and focusing on that mostly and trying to make very little changes.

Q: Nico Rosberg won a championship and retired. Obviously you didn't retire. Were you shocked at his announcement, and could you see what would make a driver at 31, a champion, retire?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I think I totally understand his decision. You know, it's not a decision that I would have made, but I respect his decision.

I think, you know, what might not transpire is how difficult it is to live this life. It looks all shiny and all fun, but it's not. There's a lot of work in the background that's not being seen. Some of us hide a lot of the work that we do because we don't want it to get away from us.

But the preparation to be at this level is — you've got to have an education — it's an everyday education, it's like 24/7, and don't really have any room for personal life. You don't have room for going out with your friends. You don't have room for anything else than being selfish about your career. Sometimes being selfish, sometimes people have enough of that.

So it's a very selfish life. Maybe he's done with that, you know? Personally I'm in a different situation. I just love competition. I couldn't live without it. If tomorrow I didn't have competition, I would be really bored. A bored life is not what I'm made of.

I get that at the end of the last year when the championship was finished, I was tired, too, and I didn't think about retiring, but I was tired.

Q: So you admire guys like Tony Kanaan and Helio who are into their 40s and still very competitive and it's 24/7 for the last 20 years for these guys?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Absolutely, yeah. I totally admire those guys. I admire Jeff Gordon, I admire Jimmie Johnson, I admire Michael Schumacher coming back. You know, it's crazy. Yeah, I admire all these guys.

Yeah, 20 years, I mean, it's crazy. You know, first of all, the physical side of it, your body — I mean, the suspension of an IndyCar is not that good. You hit the ground, it's rough.

Q: Especially with your back.

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, it's rough. So you've got to take care of yourself, and I think that's what Helio and TK have been doing, and they're the most popular drivers because they've been around for so long, so people relate to their names. They've been seeing them for 20 years. It's admirable to see such a long career.

Like Helio said, it's admirable to see that when he shows up, he's like 19 years old. You know, it's something to be inspired about. Anyone should be inspired about their life and the desire that they have.

Q: Going along the lines of that selfish lifestyle, how does Penske continue to have such — the team being so unselfish year after year between the dynamic of drivers?

SIMON PAGENAUD: I think we all understand we drive for a grand — we drive for something historical. We represent a name that's historical in motorsports. It's difficult to — you can't be fully selfish. You have to race for the team. Now, it's your right to try to be the best of the four. It's your right to compete against the others, and that's what Roger wants. He wants us to race against each other fairly, as long as we don't crash.

I think that's where the line is drawn. The race starts, and we are allowed to race, but before the race starts, it's about sharing and making sure that everybody has a good understanding of that and good relationships. But to last 20 — I think Helio has been about Team Penske for 17 years. To last 17 years, you have to come to the truck on race day or at the shop with an open mind and accept everybody around you, otherwise you're going to blow up at some point.

Q: How cool was it for you to go to the big Team Penske Christmas party this year? You were the big star because you were the champion.

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, it was quite a big change, you know. After showing up in '14 and being the new guy, and in '15 not having such a great year, and then being a champion now, it was really cool. It was really cool. We had all the NASCAR people. We had about — I think it was 500 people at the Christmas party. Families, all the families were there, kids and spouses. That was pretty cool to see.

You know, the support from family is very important to our success, so it's something I always like to say at the Christmas party is thanks to the families, too, for supporting a selfish life, basically. Those guys are gone — more than the drivers, they're gone all the time, so it's great to see that.

Q: What did Brad and Joey say to you?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Say or — well, they congratulated me right after the championship. I'm good friends with Joey. You know, I was pulling for him at the last race, too. I actually went to see him in Martinsville, too, so that was cool.

I was hoping, but second. I don't think he was very happy with it, to be honest.

Q: There's a lot of talk about cockpit protection for F1 and IndyCar. It looks like IndyCar is going down a road. As a driver is that something you want to see happen, or is it something that's mandatory for you to keep driving five years down the road, four years down the road?

SIMON PAGENAUD: What do you mean by going down the road, going down the road of protection?

Q: Yes.

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yes what?

Q: Would you like to see some sort of cockpit protection down the road?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I mean, if you look at the evolution of time, I'd like to see that because, I mean, if you look back 30 years ago, it was acceptable to lose a race car driver in a race or somebody else in the pits. Now it's not acceptable. Society is changing. Safety is changing. It's the evolution of time. It's the evolution of time to see a big crash and the driver walk away. I'm good with that. I'm a driver, so I want to live for a long time.

I think if you look at the IndyCars these days, the only way you can get hurt, that's the truth, is to get hit in the head. So if you can protect the driver, protect the head of the driver, it seems like it's almost — and I'm saying almost, impossible to get hurt.

What an incredible evolution that IndyCar has made throughout the years. It's amazing. Especially being on an oval at 240 miles an hour, being able to protect your driver this way I think is crazy good.

Now, when you see the evolution of safety between '15 and '16 on an oval, it just shows that IndyCar is going down the right way. So very happy to see that. But yeah, if it goes to head protection, it would be great to see, as long as we keep the look of an IndyCar.

Q: You mentioned improving various things behind the wheel. Do you feel like driving different cars has helped you do that, because you drove in the Rolex 24 and Petit Le Mans this past year?

SIMON PAGENAUD: Yeah, I think any time you can have an open mind about things, it's helping you. I think driving different tires sometimes helps you to understand things or different ways to drive, different techniques, so I think it is helpful. I think also doing sports car races is good for team spirit, to keep you open-minded about your teammates, and seeing other ways that you can drive the team forward. I think that's good, too.

It's a job — it's endless, this job. I don't know if I'm being clear, but it's an endless job. There's no limit to improving. The question you asked me is how can you improve. You can always improve. It's just you being curious about it and trying to find more ways. It's just difficult to explain because it's such a narrow field I would say. You know, when I explain to you about parking in my box during the Indy 500, I need to gain 1 mile an hour going in so my 60 miles an hour to 0 is faster than usual. We can't go into details that much in an interview, but that's the kind of things we're working on.

An Interview with Graham Rahal

Rahal

Q: What did you think of Clemson's victory?

GRAHAM RAHAL: To be honest, after the Ohio State game, I thought they'd beat Bama. I mean, I don't think Washington is very good at all. Anyway…

But that's not what we're here to talk about.

Q: Let's maybe start off a little bit, if you can remember that far back, recap your 2016 season a little bit and then maybe what you're looking forward to for 2017.

GRAHAM RAHAL: Well, yeah. I thought 2016 was a year of tremendous potential. The potential really that we did tap into, if you look at our qualifying performance was pretty solid everywhere compared to 2015 where our qualifying was certainly weak. But 2016 we were in the ballpark a lot. We were in the Fast Six a lot.

I want to say every single road course we were, rather than Watkins Glen where we got the penalty.

So you know, I felt like speed-wise, our performance was actually better than 2015, pretty considerably, and we just did our season reviews about a month and a half ago, and it's pretty clear to see performance-wise, the team performed a lot better. However, we had a lot of things that just didn't quite go our way, whereas in 2015 we had bounces that certainly did. 2016 the bounces didn't happen. We had to fight a lot harder, still managed to get a top-five finish in the championship, but you know, if I look throughout the entire season, it starts right off with St. Pete running in the top 5, getting punted. Everybody knows that whole image.

So you know, you get — running from fifth, solidly if fifth, great race car that day, there's no doubt we would have stayed there if not improved, and you finish 13th or whatever. So right there is a missed opportunity.

And then that carried on to Long Beach, and had a brake line come loose in Detroit when we started fifth or sixth. Just a lot of just mishaps that cost us.

I think a really genuine shot to go — I don't know if anybody could have challenged Pagenaud consistently, but there's no doubt I think we could have been in the top two.

Lots of potential, and we just have to find going forward a way to keep that performance level, enhance it a little bit. Obviously the cars aren't really going to change at all. We'll see what Firestone brings on the tire front and what we have to adjust to there, but hopefully we can keep the speed from the car. We really need to improve at Indy. That's our main focus of everything this off-season. And also get a little bit of those breaks.

You know, that's kind of the goal. That's what we feel like we need.

Really we've had no changes with the new organization. I mean, we brought on Tom German to kind of help out on the engineering front with specialty projects, particularly because Indy was such a struggle. We really messed up on some aerodynamic testing that we did before. We only did one day of wind tunnel testing, and it completely fooled us, and that's what happened to us at Indy. We just reacted to this one day, and the data points weren't even correct, and it literally ruined our entire month.

You know, we were an outlier for the Honda camp by far, as far as our aerodynamic settings. We shot ourselves in the foot, and so we just kind of have to reset, and Tom will help us do that.

He brings, obviously, a lot of experience from Penske mainly. Clearly he was with Rossi last year, but going forward or going backwards from that, he had many, many years at Penske, so on the preparation side of things, he's already pinpointed a couple things that we need to do.

But other than that, you know, the organization is going to stay the same, keep trucking along just as it has been.

Q: You mentioned the fact of not changing the cars obviously this year. We've heard about that. Your thoughts on that? Are you frustrated and disappointed because you kind of know your lot right now, it's going to be tough to make that leap.

GRAHAM RAHAL: It is. It is. But my hope, as a Honda guy through and through, is that the engine can continue to improve and overcome what the aero kit lacks. There is no doubt that there's aero kit inefficiencies, but it is what it is.

And yeah, is it a little bit tough kind of going into a season knowing, okay, we're going to have the same uphill battle we've had for the last couple years? Yes. But again, I actually believe that Honda on the engine side is pretty strong, and I think that that will continue to develop. A couple new hires that they've had starting middle of last year really helped the performance of the engine, I think, the second half of the year, just getting comfortable pushing it a little bit more, and I think that will continue to happen.

You know, I hope we can get enough — as they say, horsepower can overcome anything. So we've just got to get enough of it somehow.

I know that they're working hard to make that possible for us.

Q: Rico (team manager Ricardo Nault) and (engineer) Eddie (Jones) both said that you probably drove better last year than in 2015. Do you agree with that?

GRAHAM RAHAL: Yeah. I mean, in 2015 definitely when we had our opportunities we took them. There was no doubt. If I look at last year, I definitely was more confident. I feel like I was — if it came down to like having to throw a lap in, I feel like I did a good job maximizing what we had for sure.

But I think everybody else did a good job adjusting, too. I'll be honest, we finished second at Sonoma, but my car was like awful at Sonoma until the race, and it took a combination, an effort to put that magical qualifying lap in, to get it into the Fast Six, and then what do we do, go on to Sunday, and that's not just me, that takes everybody, from all the engineering staff, Joe, my Honda engineer, everybody. What are we going to do to improve this thing, and they did a great job, too.

You know, yeah, I think that I probably drove better last year than 2015. But hopefully the best is yet to come. I don't know. I mean, it's hard when you look back. As a driver you always have to be critical of where can you improve, where were mistakes, what did you kind of let go, you know, and where did you lose points. Last year there weren't that many cases of it. Like I said, we had a couple cases of mechanical issues and stuff like that, which was very rare for us, and then we had a couple cases of just getting caught out like St. Pete and getting punted, and the place that I know I hurt us the most is Long Beach because we were fast at Long Beach and I crashed right before qualifying, and we — it was just a panic just to try to get the car put back together, so that's probably an area that I really hurt us a lot.

Q: How do you look at where the series is at as a whole? Do you think it's on the upswing with some momentum?

GRAHAM RAHAL: I think there's no doubt it's on the upswing. And what I like about what we have going on here is there's no fake news out there. There's no — let's just say something just to say it. Genuinely, everybody, Jay and the entire organization here, Bill, they've done a great job. And there's no doubt it's headed in the right direction.

I think when people see the new car, people are going to really like it. I mean, you guys know how it is. You've got your just passionate haters out there that are going to continue to just do that. But in general, what I really enjoy is I do see the series has so much potential and is headed, without a doubt, in the right direction.

And I don't see that that's going to stop any time soon. I mean, I don't. I hope that our TV package can improve in the years to come and we can continue to get in front of more eyeballs. But the at-track attendance is strong, and like I said, the thing I appreciate the most from what I've seen is the honesty within and outside of the sport.

You know, areas where we're weak, we're going to tell you we're weak. In areas where we're strong, we should be proud of it. But it's good to see. I like what I've seen out of Jay's group in particular. I think it's strong.

Q: Do you think some of the haters will be quieted when they see the return of what they prefer in a race car with the 2018 kit?

GRAHAM RAHAL: I think so. I think so. What people need to realize is IndyCar racing has never been more competitive than this. And people go on about the aero kits. They go on about all this stuff. But this is the deepest field anywhere in motorsports. It is the closest field anywhere in motorsports. And okay, last year you've got — obviously Penske won a lot of races last year. You know, but they're one hell of a team, too. It's a great organization, but at the same time, you've got a lot of other people that have opportunities and chances to win. I mean, it's just — these guys that are worried so much how the car looks or the noise of the engine or whatever, the racing is great.

Now, I do hope that the new car has less aero wash. I do hope that the under tray is more effective and that you can actually follow closer to make the road course racing a little easier because with these aero kits for sure, it's more difficult. And really, you then rely more on the tires to create the falloff and then create the racing, which Firestone has done a great job of that.

But I think the new car — you know, I haven't seen the finished product by any means, but I think it looks pretty awesome. You know, it's — I'm excited about it.

For me, it's more like what I feel an IndyCar should look like.

Q: There's going to be a ton of eyeballs on Indy this year. You say IndyCar is on this big swing. They'd better sell out again or people are going to jump off the bandwagon, aren't they?

GRAHAM RAHAL: No, I'm not worried about that. I'm not worried that they'll sell out again because it's hard to really sell out anymore. Now, I do know ticket renewals are the best that they've ever been by far, percentage-wise, and I know a lot of people that I talk to when I travel and go to other races, they talk about the experience and how they won't miss another Indy. I have no doubt that it's going to be — it's going to be really good. But I don't think by any means if it's not sold old that people are going to jump off.

The race has lasted over 100 years not by chance, you know, and it's going to continue to go on and be successful for many, many years to come.

Now, the race last year had a lot of drama, right down to the — obviously to the very, very, very finish. I have no doubt that this year is going to be the exact same.

But if you look at it, if you look at the potential of it, again, it's just trending upwards. With the snake pit and everything they have going on there, with the facility upgrades and everything, there's no reason to believe that by any stretch of the imagination is this thing going to fall backwards at all. I mean, I think it's — everything that they're doing is only going to — Keith Urban is playing, right? That's a huge draw. I mean, everything. I think all the partners are all hands on deck, and it seems to be headed in absolutely the right direction.

Q: What was the most memorable thing or most fun you had during the off-season?

GRAHAM RAHAL: Actually I would say, yeah, the — for me, the Honda Classic, getting to go with Firestone and Honda was — I'm a big hockey guy, so that was a lot of fun. That was a really, really cool experience for me to go see.

Q: That's the NHL Winter Classic?

GRAHAM RAHAL: That's what I mean, Winter Classic. Honda Classic is a golf tournament I'm going to in a week. I've been pretty busy this off-season. Everyone is like, we need a shorter off-season. I'm like, hell no, I'm all over the place.

And on a personal level, just getting to spend some time at our dealerships, I'm getting more involved in our dealership group, and I'm very passionate about it, getting to go up there and see them and seeing all our award winners again this year, we had our team Christmas party, and there's — there are well over 600 people there. It's impressive to see the way that the company has grown, and it gives me personally a lot of pride for what Dad and his partners have created there. On a personal level, that's what was most powerful for me.

Q: You said before when looking at adding a second driver to the team, we saw Rahal Letterman announce Oriol Servia. How has the dynamic of the team changed with Oriol addition to 2017, confirming it this early?

GRAHAM RAHAL: Well, you know, Oriol is a clear plug-in for us. First of all, he's a great guy. Second of all, he will help us. He's going to help our performance at Indy. I can tell you that right now. And third, he's been there so many times with the organization, he's been in and out of the team a handful of times. He knows everybody. He's been part of the team before. So it's a clear fit.

One thing we learned last year, and I love Spencer (Pigot), I think he's got great potential in his career, but like at Indy last year, I mean, you might as well have been a one-car team. Legitimately there was no information coming off of that car to help, and when we were having these aerodynamic issues, you need somebody to say, hey, I tested it, too, and I'm not really sure or whatever.

And when we were following this aero path, the comments from the other side were just like, yeah, it's just a lot better. So you just react. We need just a very experienced guy who can help lead us down the right path, and Oriol is going to be that guy.

You know, I think there was a bunch of drivers, and I can't tell you who because I don't know because they don't tell me, but I know there were several drivers who came to the team that wanted to run full season, had budgets to do it and everything else, and they were all turned away. I mean, they've genuinely — the team is focused on making sure if there is the addition of a second car full-time, it has to fit the right environment. We don't see turnover, in an area here of Indy, if you want a job, literally all you've got to do is walk across the street. So normally you do see pretty high turnover. You guys might see the same faces in the pack, but a lot of times they're at different places every couple years. We don't see that, and we really are proud of the environment that we have, and so Oriol is a guy that fits that just perfectly and won't upset the apple cart, so to speak.

Hopefully that continues on, and hopefully he's not — and you can tell him I said this. Hopefully he's not falling apart over 40 now and everything else. But he's a great guy, and I think he'll do a heck of a job for us. We're looking forward to it.

An Interview with Helio Castroneves

Q: You're starting your 20th IndyCar season.

Castroneves

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Wow, 20. The doctor, yesterday I went to medical, and the doctor said I have the health of a 19-year-old kid. That's what she said. I said, I just feel like —

Q: That's what she said?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: It was a doctor. It was a she. It was a doctor. Come on, really?

Q: Would you kind of recap your 2016 season and then transition into this year, what you're looking forward to.

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, happy new year, everyone. It's great to be back. Again, as Mark said, about 20 — wow, it's a lifetime achievement. When I was a kid, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to drive race cars, and obviously I'm still living my dream, and I want to keep going as far as I can, as competitive as I can. With Team Penske, it's going to be my 18th season. It's interesting that over the years I've only been outside of the top 5 only twice, which shows that we are very competitive.

Unfortunately that top 5 did not give me the championship, and I've got to figure out what to do. But we've got to keep knocking on the door, like I always did, but the main one is the Indy 500. We're coming back strong for this year. We're really focused for the 500. We want to have — the team is going to have five cars, which at the same time it's good and bad because the good thing we can develop the car faster, find information faster. The bad thing is it's obviously going to have four more competitors on that.

But I feel that, as you heard, I'm young as ever. Age is just a number, and I can't wait to go back. I can't wait to start the season again, and it sounds like it won't change much with the aero package. It might be a little bit faster, but again, seems — just looks like it's going to be a continuation from 2016, which is great for us.

Q: Over the years you've had different teammates come in, and I think from my point of view, you keep stepping up your game and improving every year like a Will Power came along and was winning poles. It just seems like just a little fire under you to watch whatever he was doing or at least try, and I just think you've really improved the longer you've been driving. Now you've got Newgarden coming in, you had Simon come in, and so what are you going to have to do now?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, keep up — it's just a computer. It's update the skills, and it'll be great for Newgarden, a new addition on the team. Last year he did dominate at the Iowa race, and we want to find out why, and that's one of the things. At least I see it this way: I want to try and see what's the quality that Joseph has that I can improve my ability to put on the racetrack, as well.

There is no question he's a race winner, and Roger has an amazing eye for talent, and he is a rising star for sure.

And talking about him now, for sure having the certainty, as well, I think it'll be a great fit for the whole entire team, which is going to help everyone, including myself. I have the mentality to look what is the good thing that I can make myself better, and hopefully Joseph has that, too.

Q: You look at Ganassi's switch to Honda, and obviously you guys are still with Chevy. Do you think that builds a certain degree of competitiveness?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: No question. It's definitely — it's going to create that kind of scenario that — it happens in the past. The good news is they were with Chevy for a few years, but with the caliber of the Ganassi team, for sure it won't take long for them to figure it out. But we want to think that at least it's something that they're going to have to work double the time to catch up.

But again, it's a team that has been obviously very competitive the past — all the years, and with the caliber of drivers, as well, I feel that they're going to be competitive for sure. But that doesn't scare — that's actually — when you have a competitor team, it makes us to go to the next level, and that's what we're looking for.

Q: To have a one-off driver come in, obviously Juan can do it as much as anybody with his experience here, but there's got to be a little bit of a definite for somebody who hasn't been in the car for all the races like you guys. How do they overcome that so quickly?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Well, I believe he's going to be making one race before the 500, maybe a possibility. I'm not sure if that's the case. But if not, the only — one of the guys that I know that can sit down in a car and go fast without any practice is Juan Pablo. I have no doubt of that. He for sure, for us, it's going to be just an extension. I don't think it's going to be a — we've got to take people from our side just to fulfill a fifth car there, so the way the logistics work, Team Penske knows the best. We have like Kyle Moyer, which is a phenomenal guy, actually used to deal with five cars in the past when he was working with Andretti. So that won't be any issue related to the program of Team Penske.

Q: What's it going to take to put a complete season together and capture your first title?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: That's a good question. It's been, as I said, 20 years, and we're doing everything we can, and we always end up close. For sure, win. You've got to make it happen. Last few years we have not been in victory circle, and that hurts for sure, to be at least in contention. So we've got to figure out a way to win, and from there on, just hopefully carry on the momentum for points.

We have consistency, which is probably the most difficult thing is to keep that consistency. We've just got to find the weakness spot areas, and for sure the main thing is winning a race, and with that, we carry on the rest of the season.

Q: Helio, last year Team Penske won 10 races out of 16. Now you have Newgarden joining you, and that only leaves three other drivers outside of Team Penske that won anything. What do you think the other teams will have to do to beat you guys? Are you going to be as strong as you were last year?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, absolutely. As you said, we have the top four in the championship. Basically we — I don't think you can do better than that. And that's our goal. It's to complete the top four in the same team, and we are looking for the same result that we have this year, except different numbers. Hopefully that No. 3 will be in the No. 1 spot.

Q: Helio, the championship is the only thing really on your resume that's missing. You can arguably run the Indy 500 a few more years even after being competitive for a full season. The clock is ticking. You've got another year or two to really do it, don't you?
HELIO CASTRONEVES: Yeah, I know.

Q: Are you starting to feel like I've got to do it this year, I've got to do it next year?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Look, yes. Personal, I know that the clock is ticking. I don't have to prove anything to anybody else, but I want to achieve my goals, and my goal is to win a championship. We've just got to put all the pieces together. Last year we had a very good season, and unfortunately we had pole position, we were fast, we were leading races. Roger always says, you lose more than win races, and I agree. There's so many races that we should have won and probably would have put us in the title for the championship. But the interesting thing is we always have phenomenal teammates that end up getting in the right spot in the right situation.

I won't thinking about the clock ticking, I am thinking about opportunity, and that's probably one of the — of my motivation to come back every year and keep — when I put the helmet on, give it my best, and that's what I'm going to do again.

Q: And you've got the body of a 19 year old, so you've got who knows how many years?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: We've got to prove the fact at night, that's what she said. Ba-boom, we've got to make that happen now. It was said in a very innocent way.

Q: We're going to the 101st running of the 500. What can we expect? Will it be a letdown, or is it still always the 500, a special race?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: Good question. The good thing about last year, I do feel we got a — the new millennial. We got the new young people watching the Indy 500. It was a great promotion that everybody did. It's a new generation, and I feel now 40 years from now that the guys — the first time — I heard a lot of people it was the first time they watched the Indy 500. Those people are the ones that are going to continue to watch it. It's a continuation of that new people probably for this year and the following year. So looking forward to another great race which is — this is never going to end. It's always going to be the most great spectacle in racing, and looking for the fourth one.

Q: How tough a challenge is it to get people that watch the 500 to start watching the other events?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: The challenge is, from the series, to keep it motivating. We have the right product. We have the right drivers. It's more exciting than actually any other race you see out there, to be honest. So it's just — we've just got to get the word out there. Today you have so many ways that obviously Verizon is a big partner in it, and that's what we've got to continue to focus. I feel that that's the direction we should be focused on.

Q: We're going back to Gateway for the first time in a few years. You've had a lot of success there. What do you expect the racing to be like, and what do you like about that track?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: I'm super excited to be honest. First, because 1999, Hogan Racing, that's the team I raced for, it was based down there. So I have kind of like a sentimental way from St. Louis. That also was one of the races in Champ Car that I finished behind Michael Andretti, which was one of the — I couldn't believe it. When I was racing, I remember, man, this is Michael right in front of me, and I remember racing. Which is amazing, 20 years now, we're going back. My memory is going back. I know I won there, and there was one fact very interesting that I don't think a lot of people know. My win there in 2003, when we are on the grid, I had a glitch in my dashboard, so I raced the entire race without revs information or lap times or fuel consumption information. So it was kind of like difficult, especially on the restarts, because sometimes you're guided by the lights to shift gears. But that didn't stop us to win the race.

I really like the place because the place has been very good to me, and I can't wait to go back there. I know it's a different evolution, of course. We used to downshift and different speeds, probably going to go much faster in the corner when we go back. But it's a place that still — it's a great way for us to go to a new oval, and I feel the people from St. Louis, especially now that they don't have the football there, I think they're going to find a way for us to becoming the new sport over there, so I'm looking forward to going back.