Toasting Simon Pagenaud's IndyCar Victory

Yeah. You go around and you grab it like that. Now you take your little fork. Do I have a little fork?

Yeah, you should. Do you not?

Yeah. Oh wait. Okay. You go in, or whatever hand is better. Oh wait. Oh shoot. What's up guys? Leslie Robbins here for Young Hollywood standing to my left, the 2016 Verizon IndyCar series champion Simon Pagenaud, or as they say in French, Simon Pagenaud.

Yes, that's correct. Good job.

Thank you. Good to see you again. Welcome back to Los Angeles.

Thank you.

Yeah, we we're here promoting the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. That's the last place I saw you down in Long Beach at the Grand Prix. It's an exciting race. I can't wait to get back. But, I wanted to switch things up a little bit before the Grand Prix in Long Beach. I wanted to take you out for a little French food, French wine. I'll have a little table for us.

Okay. Let's go in.

Yeah. Start wining and dining. Let's do it. Let's do it. Okay, come on. Let's just, let's get it out of the way.

Yeah, that's my ring. I mean. Yeah, that's my champion ring. So, you know, for me it represents so much because I dreamt to be a IndyCar champion since I'm four years old. And uh, this to me represents my life and the accomplishment of um, my whole career.

Someone put this on the table already.

I did, I did. I called the heads. A good wine makes a good dinner. You know?

Is that the key?

It is the key and and as a Frenchman you're gonna make sure, you're gonna make sure you know your wine. If you don't know your wine there's something wrong about you as a French guy so, um. But I like my wine. I I really enjoy it. Cheers.

Cheers. Enjoy. So how is life changed now that the word champion comes with your name?

People, the way people see me has changed. I see that. Um, the way the media talk to me is a little different as well, which I don't dislike, I have to say. Um.

You won nine races before you became champion, so you weren't

Yes.

a slowpoke.

No. But once you become a champion, things change. People see you a different way. You know, people call me champ everywhere I go, uh, now, which is, which is really cool. But um, in the mean time, nothing has changed except the fact that I feel a little more relieved. I feel, I feel less stress, less anxiety, because I'm somebody that's very anxious originally, because my dream was so big to me.

How do you mentally prepare going into that car knowing anything can happen. Knock on wood. Where's the wood? Anything can happen.

Anything can happen. Yeah, it's you know, it's a way of life really. It's a, it's a lifestyle. It's, it's um, it's not always fun, I tell you. I mean, sometimes you you worry about your safety and I've lost friends too, you know, which you know, it's it's tough. But I feel like I was made to come on this earth and do this job, do this, do racing was what I was supposed to do. Um, I almost feel some kind of responsibility about it.

I have a question for you. Why does the winner of the Indy 500 get just as much, if not more

Yeah. That's true.

accolades than the series winner?

That's a great question. It's, well, it's it's one of the oldest races in the world. It's the fastest race in the world too. I think you know, when you win that race, you become a legend of your sport.

Sure.

Because it's one of the biggest race in the world.

Thank you. Look at this. What is here?

So, this is foie gras. Okay. And they put uh, salt on top, some pepper as well. Actually, put a lot of salt usually because it gives it a better taste.

Okay. Just take a little bit. We're doing it. Okay, bring it. Just take a tiny bit. And then what do you do?

So it just, here you go. That's yours. This.

Oh. This is you. It's the bad too. There's no fat on this one. Oh no.

Okay. That's the fat, the yellow one. So you spread this?

A little bit, yeah. You're gonna like it. It's not that bad, is it? No. Les escargots. Is escargot. These look like snails.

Because they are. I'll show you how you eat the snail. This is a snail spoon.

I guess I've never used a snail spoon. I don't even know if it's called a spoon, but whatever. Okay. So you see, that's the shape of a snail. That's the bottom of a snail. So you grab it this way. Okay. The other way. Yeah. You go around. And you grab it like that. Now you take your little fork. Do I have a little fork?

Yeah, you should. Do you not?

Yeah. Oh wait. Okay. You go in, or whatever hand is better. Oh wait. Oh shoot.

Well, don't press the the spoon otherwise it will open. See? So be careful not to press the spoon.

This is eye and coordination right there. And my shirt could get really dirty quickly. Good thing you're wearing gray. So you gotta stab the snail. Stab him. Screw this, right? There you go. We're going in with our fingers. That's the way of eating snails right there. Okay. There you go. Now you eat it. You don't look at it because it looks disgusting. I don't even look at it myself, because it is disgusting to me too. Okay. Here's to an amazing 2017 season. Wrecking some cars gracefully. Yeah. No. Enjoy. Blowing up some engine in a nice way too. In style. In style. Cheers. Oh God. Snails. You gotta chew it. My grandpa used to say that. You gotta chew it. Oh come on, it's good. No. What, it's good. You gotta chew it. I chew it. I chew it, otherwise it's not good on your stomach. I chew it. I don't like it. You don't like it? No. You don't like the taste afterwards? No. Oh dear. Where's the ketchup for my fries?