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LONG POND — Simon Pagenaud’s second season with Team Penske in the Verizon IndyCar Series is going smoothly.

So smoothly that the French driver leads the points going into this weekend’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Pagenaud won last time out at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after passing teammate Will Power on a late-race restart. His points lead coming into Pocono is 58 markers over 2014 champ Power.

“Pocono has such a great history with IndyCar racing,” Pagenaud said in an IndyCar press release. “The list of winners at the track is amazing. The track was designed with these cars in mind. The racing produces a lot of passing and lead changes. It’s very similar to Indianapolis in many ways.”

All of Pagenaud’s eight IndyCar victories have come on road courses and can add the elusive oval-track win on Sunday.

“I’m very excited to have Menards back onboard the No. 22 Chevy,” Pagenaud said. “I like the gains we’ve made in our oval-racing program. Pocono suits our team very well and it will be a very competitive race.”

In the series’ last visit to an oval, Ed Carpenter Racing driver Josef Newgarden dominated the Iowa Corn 300 by leading 282 laps en route to winning last month at Iowa Speedway. Newgarden led the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 late until pitting for fuel but still grabbed a third-place finish in the prestigious event.

The Tennessee native finished runner-up to fellow American driver Ryan Hunter-Reay in last year’s 500-mile race at Pocono and looks to make it one spot better this time.

“I am super excited for Pocono,” Newgarden said in an ECR press release. “It’s one of the trickiest places we go, ‘The Tricky Triangle’ is such a fitting name. I think we’ll have a great car. We had a really good test with both of the Fuzzy’s Vodka cars.

“We should have a good opportunity to challenge for the win as we close out our oval program this year. I am eager to see how we do.”

Newgarden sits third in points and with the rain-delayed Texas race scheduled to resume next Saturday, the 25-year-old driver crashed out in the early laps there and finds himself in a bigger hole than being 111 points back of Pagenaud. Team owner and driver Ed Carpenter’s No. 20 Chevrolet hasn’t visited victory lane in over two years.

Andretti Autosport has one win to show for in 2016 when Alexander Rossi stretched his fuel to win the Indianapolis 500 and become the first rookie driver to win the race since Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves did in 2001.

A series track-record 33 lead changes in last year’s ABC Supply 500 didn’t steal the storyline. It was IndyCar mourning the loss of Justin Wilson when a piece of debris landed on the Scottish-born driver’s head after parts and pieces flew from Sage Karam’s wrecked machine.

The 2016 edition of the event marks the fourth-straight year IndyCar returns to the Tricky Triangle as the series signed a two-year extension with the track to come back in 2017 and 2018.

Pocono is only one of five oval-events on the current IndyCar schedule.

Simon Pagenaud comes to Pocono Raceway this weekend coming off of a late-July win at Mid-Ohio to lead the IndyCar points race.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/web1_pagenaud.jpg.optimal.jpgSimon Pagenaud comes to Pocono Raceway this weekend coming off of a late-July win at Mid-Ohio to lead the IndyCar points race. Tom E. Puskar | AP photo

By Kyle Magda

For Times Leader

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