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Simon Pagenaud has run just 25 oval races in his lifetime. He'll complete two more between now and Aug. 27, and how the 32-year old Frenchman fares in those races at Pocono Raceway and Texas Motor Speedway could be the determining factor in whether he is able to secure his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship. On the strength of four road racing wins, including the most recent IndyCar event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Pagenaud leads his Team Penske teammates Will Power and Helio Castroneves in the standings by 58 and 111 points respectively. With four races remaining that will unfold quickly over the next five weeks -- Pocono, the continuance of the rained-out Texas race that started in June, and natural terrain road courses Sonoma and Watkins Glen -- Pagenaud's points lead is comfortable but not quite cushy. Adding a couple quality results on the Pocono and Texas ovals could end the championship drama early, and Pagenaud believes he's ready for that breakthrough oval victory. "I think we're there, really," he said. "I think this year we took a big step forward. For the first time on the short ovals, we've shown a lot of strength -- second at Phoenix, and we were running second for the whole race at Iowa before we had a little bit of a mechanical issue at the end and finished fourth. At Indy, I felt we would have contended for the win as well if we didn't have another mechanical issue. "At Texas, I felt really strong during the race" -- he was running 15th after a pit stop when the red flag flew after 71 of 248 laps -- "and I was disappointed we had to go home. But this year has been a big step forward. I've had a tremendous car and we found stuff that I really like that gives me confidence to keep pushing on ovals." For a lifelong road racer like Pagenaud, adapting to oval racing isn't as simple as it seems. Aside from learning the nuances of driving a car set up to only turn left, the races unfold at a faster pace, and pit strategy can play a much bigger role. Power won a half-distance "twin" race at Texas in 2011 in his 24th oval start but felt he carried a burden for not winning a full-length race until he won the 2013 season finale at Fontana. Castroneves, a three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, required 29 oval starts before scoring his first win. Four-time IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti made 45 starts over nearly five full years before scoring his first oval triumph in 2001. "I'm better at the game," Pagenaud said. "At the end of the day, it's a game: How does the race play out? On a road course for me, it's very natural. On an oval, I'm still learning how it plays out in the end. It's always in the last 30 laps that you win the race. "Now I feel like I'm there," he added. "It's just a matter of time and having the opportunity." The first chance comes at Pocono, the unique 2.5-mile Pennsylvania tri-oval. With 500 miles on tap Sunday, there's ample opportunity for anything to happen. Pagenaud's 58-point cushion with four races to go is the largest lead a driver has enjoyed at this point in the season since 2010. Team Penske drivers have led the standings with four to go four times in the past six years but failed to convert the late advantage into a championship. Holding down the top three spots in the standings this year, Penske looks likely to get the job done. Josef Newgarden lies fourth in the standings but will not restart the Texas race after crashing out of the first segment. Four-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing is next up, 127 points behind Pagenaud. "Running 1-2-3 is a good problem for Roger and for the entire team," Pagenaud said. "This team works so hard and deserves to do so well. They leave nothing unturned. I just want to be the one who gives them that gift of winning the championship. Being 1-2-3 in the championship is amazing, and I hope we finish that way. But I just want to bring these guys what they deserve." Power, who missed the season opener with concussion-like symptoms, has done an excellent job in rebounding to become Pagenaud's closest championship contender. The Australian knows he needs to be virtually perfect over the next four races to defeat his teammate. "We have a lot of momentum right now, and Pocono is a track that we've had some good performances," Power said. "We're in the championship hunt, and that's all I could ask at this point after missing the first race." While much attention is focused on the frosty relationship between Mercedes-Benz F1 teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the four Team Penske IndyCar drivers get along famously. Power and Pagenaud sometimes clashed as Indy car rookies in the Champ Car-sanctioned series in 2007, but the past two years under the Penske umbrella have been harmonious. "I wouldn't say we had a bad relationship," Pagenaud said of his '07 pairing with Power at Walker Racing. "Back then it was more a language barrier. Now it's a different deal because I understand the subtlety of the language and we've had a really good two years together." The Penske duo has had several memorable on-track battles this year, most notably at Detroit Belle Isle and in the most recent race at Mid-Ohio. Pagenaud's race-winning pass on Power was a thing of beauty, the two Penske cars running side-by-side for most of a lap, occasionally banging into each other, before Pagenaud finally muscled ahead. Pagenaud and Power have demonstrated all season that they are this year's top IndyCar Series drivers. And even though the championship seems to be playing out within the confines of one team, things have never been boring for the fans -- or the main protagonists. "For me, it's really enjoyable," said Pagenaud. "Will is driving really well, and we know we have the best cars. At the end of the day, you've got to take your gloves off and go for it, but that doesn't mean you can't get along outside the racetrack or outside the car. "Obviously when it comes crunch time, we're probably not going to have our ice cream together," he added. "But still, we're going to be back at the trailer together to talk. I mean, we have to be together because we're fighting to be first and second, and for that we need to work together."
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