Spencer Pigot Returns To Site Of First Verizon IndyCar Series Top 10 Finish; Jordan King To Compete In First Race in Elkhart Lake

(INDIANAPOLIS) June 19, 2018 – Race Preview

– Ed Carpenter Racing will spend the first official weekend of summer at Road America for the 10th round of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Spread across 640 acres in Elkhart Lake, Wis., the legendary road course is a staple of North American road racing and is a favorite of many drivers. Rookie Jordan King will compete at the four-mile, 14-turn road course for the first time while Spencer Pigot is returning for his third KOHLER Grand Prix.

– This weekend, Pigot’s No. 21 Chevrolet will showcase the blue and white colors of longtime team partner Direct Supply. Headquartered in nearby Milwaukee, Direct Supply is the nation’s leading provider of equipment, eCommerce and service solutions for Senior Living. Direct Supply uses more than 30 years of experience to help build, equip and better run Senior Living communities across the country.

– Road America is the sixth of 10 venues King will race at in 2018 as road and street course driver of the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet. After ascending the European motorsports ranks, King has transitioned to Indy car racing and is in the midst of his debut season. He is competing on each circuit for the first time this year, including Road America. At the last road course race, the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, King reached the Firestone Fast 6 during qualifications for the second time in only four races.

– Pigot also turned in his best career road course qualifying effort at the INDYCAR Grand Prix, earning the 9th starting position. For the first time in ECR’s history, both team cars qualified in the top nine on a road course. Despite having two of the quickest cars leading up to race day, a goal of strong finishes for the pair of 24-year-olds was immediately interrupted by two different incidents on Lap 1.

– Four oval and street course races have occurred between the road course events of the INDYCAR Grand Prix and this weekend’s KOHLER Grand Prix. Pigot led the Indianapolis 500 after starting 6th, the best qualifying position of his Verizon IndyCar Series career. Team owner and No. 20 oval driver Ed Carpenter won his third pole position for the 500-mile race and led the most laps of all drivers on his way to a second-place finish. King stepped back into the No. 20 for the Detroit doubleheader, joining Pigot for two full-points paying races in two days on the Belle Isle street circuit. Pigot earned his first Top 10 finish of the year in Race 1 at Detroit before competing in his first 1.5-mile oval race at Texas Motor Speedway alongside Carpenter the next weekend. Last week was the first in 11 weeks where Ed Carpenter Racing had no on-track activity.

– Pigot scored the first Top 10 finish of his Verizon IndyCar Series career at Road America in his rookie year of 2016. In last year’s KOHLER Grand Prix, Pigot suffered from a mechanical issue which essentially made the car undriveable on two separate occasions. Because Road America is over four miles long, lengthy pit stops for repairs only dropped Pigot a half a lap behind the leader. A fortunate caution late in the race allowed Pigot to pack up with the rest of the field. Once he was with his competitors, he took advantage of a race car he had known to be quick all day. In the final seven laps of the race, Pigot made up five positions to finish 12th.

– The KOHLER Grand Prix will feature two practice sessions on Friday, a third practice session and knockout qualifying on Saturday and the 55-lap race on Sunday. NBC Sports Network will broadcast qualifying on Saturday, June 23 from 6:30-8 pm ET. Sunday’s KOHLER Grand Prix will be shown live on NBCSN, beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on June 24.

JORDAN KING, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet: “I’ve been on the simulator twice now learning Road America, which was good as I learned what way everything goes! It looks like it might be quite a tough circuit, there are a couple of blind corners that will be difficult and also some elevation changes. Those always add another element of difficulty into the mix as you have to judge your distance by things other than being able to see where you’re going! It will be nice to get back on a road course after a bumpy street course! Overall, I’m looking forward to Road America, it should be a good challenge!”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Direct Supply Chevrolet: “Road America is always a track I look forward to going to. It’s one of the best venues on our schedule, for sure! I’ve always enjoyed it, ever since I started racing there in Skip Barber, and it’s a great place to drive an Indy car around. It’s the hometown race for our partner Direct Supply and we’re really excited to have them on board. Hopefully we can get a good finish for them and the whole ECR team!”