ECR Won Back-To-Back Toronto Races in 2014 and 2015

(INDIANAPOLIS) July 9, 2019 – Preview Notes

– The upcoming weekend will see Ed Carpenter Racing head north of the border for the only international stop on the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series calendar, the Honda Indy Toronto. ECR is familiar with success at the Canadian street circuit, winning back to back races in 2014 and 2015. Full-time driver Spencer Pigot and road and street course driver Ed Jones are aiming to have a similar outcome at the end of Sunday’s 85-lap race.

– Ed Carpenter Racing is coming off a two-week break, one of their longest stretches without on-track activity since late April. The team most recently raced at Road America on June 23, then tested at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course two days later. The Honda Indy Toronto will be the first of three back-to-back NTT IndyCar Series races, stretching through the end of the month. From the street course of Toronto, teams will head to the short oval of Iowa Speedway, then to the road course of Mid-Ohio.

– The Indianapolis-based team of ECR is familiar with victory in the streets of Toronto, winning back-to-back races in 2014 and 2015. The team’s first 1-2 finish occurred at the conclusion of the 2015 Honda Indy Toronto, when Josef Newgarden held off teammate Luca Filippi to take the win. Mike Conway brought home the win in 2014 for ECR.

– Pigot has also enjoyed success in Toronto. In 2015, he won both races of the Indy Lights doubleheader at the Exhibition Place street circuit. Pigot led flag-to-flag in the second event, the same day as ECR’s 1-2 finish. The victories were two of the six he collected on his march towards capturing the 2015 Indy Lights championship.

– Jones, the 2016 Indy Lights champion, will be racing in his third Honda Indy Toronto. In last year’s event, he had gained five positions by the end of the first lap. After a stall in the pit lane he would then fall back to 23rd, the last car running. However, by the end of the 85-lap event, Jones had climbed all the way back up to the 12th position. Jones will be behind the wheel of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet this weekend.

– Driving the No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet, 2019 will mark Pigot’s fourth time competing in marquee event. Last year, Pigot was one of only four cars to start the race on Firestone’s black compound Firehawk. As a benefit, he cycled towards the front of the field but a caution flag closed the pit lane just before his first stop. He fell back to 17th, but had raced his way back up to 8th in the closing stages of the race. A slight brush with the wall with nine laps to go broke the wishbone on the right rear and forced Pigot’s retirement from the race.

– The 2019 Honda Indy Toronto will feature two practice sessions on Friday, a third practice session and knockout qualifying on Saturday and a warm-up session and the 85-lap race on Sunday. NBC Sports Gold will have a live broadcast of all practice sessions while NBC Sports Network will show qualifying live at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday. The Honda Indy Toronto will also be shown live on NBCSN, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 14.

ED JONES, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet: “I am really looking forward to Toronto, it is one of my favorite tracks and one of the best events on the calendar! It has been a tough few races, but hopefully we made some gains in testing and can put that to good use. It is always interesting when we go back to street circuits, but I feel we will be competitive!”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet: “Toronto is always a great event! I really enjoy both the city and the track. It’s one of the most challenging street courses that we go to. It’s very unique in the amount of surface changes we encounter during a lap. In some cases, you drive over three different surfaces in one corner so it’s difficult to find a setup that is compliant around the entire circuit. Ed Carpenter Racing and I have both had success at Toronto in the past so we are all really looking forward to this event.”