Defending Honda Indy Toronto Winner Josef Newgarden Also Won Last Weekend at Iowa Speedway

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (July 12, 2016) – Advance Notes

– For the past two years, Ed Carpenter Racing drivers have stood on the top step of the podium at the Honda Indy Toronto. Mike Conway won for the team in 2014, while Josef Newgarden led then teammate Luca Filippi to ECR’s first ever one-two finish in 2015.

– Newgarden’s current teammate Spencer Pigot, road and street course driver for the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet, is also no stranger to success at Toronto. He won both races of the 2015 Indy Lights doubleheader in the Canadian city, leading flag-to-flag in the second event. The victories were two of the six he collected on his march towards capturing the 2015 Indy Lights championship.

– ECR’s one-two last year came when Newgarden claimed the victory 1.4 seconds ahead of Filippi. A strategy call to pit early to switch from rain tires to slicks vaulted Newgarden to the front of the field, where he battled for the remainer of the race. Meanwhile, Filippi raced forward from a career-best starting position of 6th and was Newgarden’s biggest challenger at the end of the event.

– Newgarden made it look easy last weekend at Iowa Speedway, dominating the Iowa Corn Indy 300 on his way to his first victory of 2016. He set a Verizon IndyCar Series record, leading the most laps ever during an Indy car race. Newgarden was at the front of the field for 282 of 300 laps, taking the lead on Lap 1 and only relinquishing it during green flag pit stops. At one point during the event, he had lapped every car with the exception of second place. The victory was Newgarden’s first on an oval track, third of his career and seventh for Ed Carpenter Racing.

– Pigot most recently raced at Road America, earning a career-best 9th place finish. He ran three events earlier this year with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, including the Indianapolis 500. The rookie moved to ECR after the 500, participating in the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit that weekend. The Honda Indy Toronto will be Pigot’s seventh Indy car race.

– Newgarden’s No. 21 Chevrolet will revert back to a blue and white Preferred Freezer Services livery for the Honda Indy Toronto. It will be the fifth time this year Newgarden has raced the PFS car, including driving it to a third place finish in the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

– With his victory at Iowa Speedway, Newgarden moves up to second in the Verizon IndyCar Series point standings, the highest he has ever ranked. He drove the race with a surgically repaired clavicle and broken bone in his right hand, sustained one month ago today in an accident at the suspended Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.

– The Honda Indy Toronto will consist of 85 laps around the 11-turn, 1.75-mile street circuit on Sunday, July 17. A live broadcast will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on CNBC in the United States and Sportsnet 360 in Canada.

SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET: “I’m really excited to go back to Toronto, I’ve always enjoyed racing there! I won both Indy Lights races at Toronto last year, so it’s a track that’s been good to me. I’m really looking forward to driving it in an Indy car. Every time I go back to a track I’ve driven at before, it’s just that much more fun and exciting with Ed Carpenter Racing. I’m happy to be going back to Toronto and hopefully I’ll have a good result there this year like I have in the past!”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER SERVICES CHEVROLET: “I can’t wait to get back to Toronto! It’s such a wonderful place to race Indy cars and such a cool place to visit. I always enjoy the love we get from the fans, the atmosphere we get to race in and the great race track with all the history that it has. I think we will have a really strong package to come back with and will have two really good chances with Spencer and myself. It worked out really well for us last year getting the one-two finish for the team. Everyone involved would love nothing more than to repeat that so hopefully we can make similar magic happen once again!”