Simon Pagenaud, Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports

The cast: Race engineer – Ben Bretzman. Race strategist – Rob Edwards. Chief mechanic – Don Oldenburg

Twitter: @simonpagenaud

The car: No. 77 Honda

The driver:  Turned 30 on May 18 … a native of France who resides in Indianapolis … has extensive motorsports background, including Formula Renault 3.5, Champ Car Atlantic, Champ Car, Le Mans Series, American Le Mans Series, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, V8 Supercars, Verizon IndyCar Series.

Season finish: Placed fifth in Verizon IndyCar Series standings. Was third entering 500-mile finale at Auto Club Speedway, in which he qualified 13th and finished 20th.

The gist: Pagenaud has finished in the top five of the championship standings each of the past three years since joining Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports. He posted two victories each of the past two seasons. … The ’06 Champ Car Atlantic Series champion has recorded a top-five finish in 36 percent of his 69 starts covering Champ Car and the Verizon IndyCar Series since 2007. … Announced recently that he will move to No. 22 Team Penske car for the 2015 season.

Season stats: Pagenaud won the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the back end of a doubleheader on the street circuit in Houston (his 2013 victories were on the Belle Isle and Baltimore street courses). … A day before his June 29 victory in Houston, Pagenaud claimed his first Verizon P1 Award. … Started the season with four consecutive top-five finishes (advancing a total of 19 positions relative to his starting spot). … Seventh- and third-place finishes at Milwaukee and Sonoma in mid-August kept him in the championship hunt entering the finale. … Overall, notched eight top-five and 12 top-10 finishes (tied for second in both categories) in the 18 races. … Led four races for 59 total laps, and was running at the finish in 17 races (completed 2,307 of the 2,395 laps).

Year over year: 2013 best start third (11.6 average), best finish first (8.3 average). 2014 best start first (8.6 average), best finish first (8.8 average). … 2013 championship standing-third. 2014 championship standing-fifth.

He said it: “Overall, I think we were really strong. We fought for the championship, which is what we were expected to do. But when you finish 20th at one of those races (finale at Auto Club Speedway) it costs you big in the championship. I’m proud of the team; the last three years have been incredible.”

Video: Pagenaud reviews the season

The chart (below): Looking at how Pagenaud finished relative to his qualifying position in the 18 races: 

Click to download the hi-res Infographic