Simon Pagenaud walks away from wildest crash of IndyCar career; will miss Mid-Ohio qualifying

Simon Pagenaud walked away from “definitely the wildest crash” of his IndyCar career after his car went airborne and barrel rolled through a gravel trap before stopping upside down against a tire barrier.

The 2019 Indy 500 winner and 2016 series champion lost the brakes in his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda in Turn 4 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The team posted on Twitter that it was “a manufacturer brake failure.”

“Oh shit, it’s going to hurt,” Pagenaud told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch during an interview on Peacock when asked what he thought after veering off course. “It was a hell of a ride for sure. Something broke, and I couldn’t slow down. I tried to make the corner anyway. I know that gravel is deadly. Michael Andretti has done it . I guess I’m joining another legend, so that’s cool, but that was just trying to bail out.

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“The car took off, hit the gravel and just rolled. Just glad I didn’t go over the tire wall. So glad we have the aeroscreen. I’m really thankful for IndyCar and the aeroscreen safety.”

In a statement, IndyCar announced Pagenaud was evaluated and released by its medical team but wasn’t cleared to qualify Saturday afternoon. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow morning.

“I’m ready,” Pagenaud said. “I can get back in now. It’s not a problem. It’s going to be the doctor’s decision. It was a pretty big hit. We’ll see what they say. There’s a protocol to follow. Again, that’s to keep the drivers safe.

“We’ll see what they say. Very unfortunate day for us. But I got some TV time, I guess. “

If Pagenaud was unable to race Sunday, his replacement would be Conor Daly, who recently lost his ride with Ed Carpenter Racing.

Dillon Welch reported that Daly had sat in on MSR engineering debriefs Saturday, and that Daly’s mother, Beth Boles, was driving to Lexington, Ohio, from Indianapolis with his seat insert and safety gear.