Simon Pagenaud sidelined from Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio after massive crash

Simon Pagenaud has been ruled out of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio after his massive crash in practice on Sunday, with Conor Daly to substitute for Meyer Shank Racing.

Simon Pagenaud was able to walk away from a massive crash in practice for the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. (Travis Hinkle / Penske Entertainment)

Pagenaud had a violent rollover after a brake failure during practice, and was evaluated and released by the Indycar medical team, but was not cleared to race at Mid-Ohio on Sunday.

“First and foremost, I have to speak to the safety of these cars,” said team owner Mike Shank.

“To walk away from an accident like that is incredible and we cannot thank everyone at INDYCAR, the AMR INDYCAR safety team and the INDYCAR medical team for everything they did to get Simon out and evaluated as quickly as possible.”

“This is obviously not a scenario that we had planned for, but everyone at MSR has pitched in to get our backup car ready for Sunday.

“It’s actually Helio’s Indy 500 car and the one he won the 500 with in 2021.

“We have to thank Conor for being here and stepping into this, he’s been super great through all of the chaos. Now we will get back on our feet and see what we can do in the race.”

Conor Daly will substitute for Meyer Shank Racing. (Paul Hurley / Penske Entertainment)

Daly is recently without a drive after being replaced mid-season at Ed Carpenter Racing, and welcomed the chance to return to the series.

“Obviously I have to think about Simon, you hate to see someone wreck like that,” said Daly.

“The most important thing is to get him as healthy as possible, as soon as possible. This is his car and his group of folks and I am here to do the best job that I can for this team.”

“I’ve known Mike [Shank] for a long time and I’ve tested for his sports car team many years ago.

“I’ve always had a lot of respect for this organization. It’s an honor to be a part of this group and fill in – we will just do the best job that we can.”

Daly will start at the rear of the field when the Honday Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio goes green at 3.30am on Monday (AEST).