IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud out of final two races with 'post-concussion symptoms'

Unfortunately, for IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud and his fans, he will not be returning to his Meyer Shank Racing car this season. The No. 60 Honda will remain without its full-time driver for the final two races of the year at Portland and Monterey.

The day after Scott Dixon pulled off back-to-back wins in IndyCar by claiming victory at Gateway, Simon Pagenaud announced he would remain out for the remainder of the season.

The 2019 Indy 500 champion and 2016 IndyCar champion is still recovering. He was involved in a terrible wreck at Mid-Ohio. His car sped off the track and then flipped into the sand and eventually against the tire barrier.

In a statement on his social media accounts, Simon Pagenaud announced he will remain out of the No. 60 AutoNation Honda.

“The accident left me with lingering post-concussion symptoms,” Pagenaud wrote. “I am working hard to get back to 100% but this type of recovery is unique in time to each individual. I wish I could be out there doing what I love and driving my race car, but the accident was very violent and left me to focus on the task at hand: my health and recovery.”

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— Simon Pagenaud (@simonpagenaud) August 28, 2023

The 39-year-old will stick to focusing on his recovery. Hopefully, we see him racing again as soon as he is able.

Simon Pagenaud means a lot to IndyCar

The French driver has done a lot in the sport of IndyCar. In his last two seasons with Meyer Shank, he has tried to recreate some of that magic he had in the 2010s. With his last win coming at Iowa in 2020 with Team Penske, it has been a long four years now in the IndyCar series.

This season he is teammates with Helio Castroneves. The two veterans have tried to do their best to provide consistent results at MSR but it hasn’t been easy. The 2022 season went well for Pagenaud as he earned a top-5 and multiple top-10 finishes. However, he was struggling this year leading up to his injury to get into that top group again.

In the immediate wake of Kurt Busch’s retirement from NASCAR, it is worrisome to hear this from Simon Pagenaud. Of course, as Pagenaud’s statement read, everyone has a different recovery and impact in these cases. It is just the first thing that popped into my head when reading that statement given how recent Busch’s announcement was.

Let’s hope for a full and speedy recovery for Simon Pagenaud as he continues to heal.