Simon Pagenaud to miss 5th race after concussion at Mid-Ohio, Linus Lundqvist to make debut

A second prospective IndyCar rookie will make his series debut as a stand-in for the injured Simon Pagenaud as the veteran Meyer Shank Racing driver's absence extends beyond one month and five races this Sunday in Nashville.

The team announced Monday that 2022 Indy Lights champion Linus Lundqvist, who was unable to land an IndyCar ride this season due to the sizable slash in the series' scholarship, will man the team's No. 60 Honda on the streets of Nashville in this weekend's Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in his IndyCar debut.

Pagenaud continues to remain sidelined with symptoms from a concussion he sustained during a violent crash in a Saturday morning practice July 1 ahead of IndyCar's race at Mid-Ohio. The No. 60 suffered brake failure, sending him skidding off Turn 4 over an embankment and then hurtling side-over-side more than six times at 180 mph before coming to a stop upside down against a tire barrier. After undergoing initial tests, Pagenaud told reporters he "felt fine" and the next day told IndyStar he thought he could've strapped in for that day's race, but was happy in the extreme caution IndyCar's medical team, led by Dr. Julia Vaizer, had taken in opting not to clear him.

Conor Daly stood-in as MSR's last-minute replacement at Mid-Ohio, and just over a week later, Pagenaud traveled to Indianapolis for a reevaluation with the series medical team, where they declined to medically clear him to return to the cockpit for IndyCar's Toronto street race. Initially, Pagenaud was expected to make the trip from his home in North Carolina to Canada to get another evaluation in hopes of a possible return for the Iowa doubleheader the following weekend, but those plans were slashed when he revealed to the team he was still experiencing symptoms.

After MSR's IMSA ace Tom Blomqvist made his IndyCar debut in Toronto -- where he lasted just a single turn into Lap 1 before he was gathered in a race-ending crash -- Daly hopped back in for both races at Iowa. Ahead of that doubleheader weekend, team owner Mike Shank told IndyStar he believed Pagenaud "probably could've done it," but that the heightened conditions of racing 500 laps in a little over 24 hours on Iowa's short-oval in toasty summer conditions made it not worth the risk.

Shank on Pagenaud's possible return: 'I'm not pressing beyond when they think is correct'

"I'm hoping he keeps progressing so we can have him back in the car in Nashville, and that's our goal, but only when he and the doctors say it's time," Shank told IndyStar two weeks ago. "(Simon) is definitely progressing, but (Dr. Vaizer) just isn't ready to sign off on him quite yet. Everyone reacts to concussions differently.

"And I'm not pressing beyond when they think is correct."

In the team's release Monday, MSR noted that Pagenaud "continues to improve" but the 39-year-old driver had "been advised by the IndyCar medical team to not participate in this weekend's event in Nashville." Later, the team confirmed that Pagenaud had indeed not yet been cleared to return to competition.

"First of all, I want to say I am very grateful for everyone's support and kind messages during this time," Pagenaud wrote in a note posted to Twitter. "I am focusing on recovering to 100% and it is just taking some time. As my fans know, when I do something, I always want to (do) it to my absolute best."

In the unfortunate circumstances, Lundqvist will make his debut on the heels of a pair of IndyCar tests earlier this year with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (at Texas Motor Speedway) and with Ed Carpenter Racing (at Sebring). He remains a sought-after commodity on the free agent market who Shank had mentioned even a year ago he had his eyes on when while the Swede was running away with the Lights championship he delivered with the help of five wins and nine podiums in 14 starts.

During that campaign, he swept the 2022 Nashville race weekend with a win from pole, while Pagenaud landed his most recent top-10 with the team, and Lundqvist's new teammate for this weekend Helio Castroneves worked his way from the back of the field to finish 13th.

"This is a moment I've been dreaming of literally since the start of my career. I am extremely grateful to Meyer Shank Racing for this opportunity. This will be an incredible experience, but also the toughest challenge of my life," Lundqvist said in the release. "Sitting on the sidelines all year, it would be a massive task to join any championship towards the end of the season -- let along the IndyCar series on the streets of Nashville. There's been very little time to prepare, but I feel like the sheer excitement of this moment will make up for some of that.

"I would like to wish Simon Pagenaud a continued speedy recovery. While fully aware of everything I have to learn this weekend, I will do my very best to make him and everyone else on the team proud in Music City."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Linus Lundqvist to debut at Nashville, Simon Pagenaud not cleared