Ed Carpenter, Spencer Pigot Eager to Get Back to Oval Racing After Strong Indianapolis 500

(INDIANAPOLIS) June 6, 2018 – Race Preview

– A pair of Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolets will run under the lights on Saturday night, driven by Ed Carpenter and Spencer Pigot. The ninth round of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season will feature a 248-lap, 600-kilometer race at Texas Motor Speedway, located outside of Fort Worth. While Saturday night’s DXC Technology 600 will be Pigot’s first time competing at the 1.5-mile oval, it will be Carpenter’s 17th Indy car race at TMS.

– Carpenter, the only owner/driver in IndyCar, will be back behind the wheel of the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet two weeks after a career-best Indianapolis 500 performance. In May, Carpenter became just the 10th driver in the history of the Indy 500 to win three or more pole positions when he earned the first starting position for the third time. He led the most laps f all drivers (65) on his way a runner-up finish in the 102nd running of the 500-mile classic. Of Carpenter’s 15 Indianapolis 500 starts, this year’s second place was the highest of his career.

– Pigot will be competing in his fourth race in a span of just 15 days. The last three venues the Verizon IndyCar Series has raced at has featured a different type of track; Pigot has turned in his best qualifying effort at each. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, he earned the 9th starting position; he started 6th in the Indianapolis 500 at the 2.5-mile oval; and in last weekend’s street circuit race in Detroit, he qualified 12th.

– As Carpenter has shifted his driving focus exclusively to the oval events, Texas will be his third of six races this year. The 37-year-old is returning to the site of his most recent win as his No. 20 was the car to beat at Texas Motor Speedway in 2014. Carpenter led 66 of the final 67 laps and stretched his lead to over 14 seconds at one point. His victory that night was his was his third career win in the Verizon IndyCar Series.

– Texas Motor Speedway will be a new track for Pigot, who is competing in a full Verizon IndyCar Series season for the first time this year. After sharing the No. 20 with Carpenter the past two seasons, the 24-year-old was elevated to ECR’s full-time driver of the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet for 2018. Though Saturday night will be his first race at Texas, he has tested the No. 21 at the high-banked oval twice.

– In last year’s edition of the 600-kilometer race, it looked as though the night would come to an early end for the entire Ed Carpenter Racing team. Both of the team’s cars, including the No. 20 of Carpenter, were collected in a seven-car accident on Lap 152 of 248. With neither car damaged beyond repair, the Fuzzy’s Vodka crews completed stellar work and both cars were able to continue. Because of the attrition on track, Carpenter earned an 11th place result by resuming the race.

– NBC Sports Network will proceed with coverage of the Verizon IndyCar Series, beginning Friday afternoon in Texas. Coverage of qualifying will be broadcast on NBCSN at 3 pm CT (4 p.m. ET) on Friday, June 8. The DXC Technology 600 will be shown live, starting at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) on Saturday, June 9. 

ED CARPENTER, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet: “It is always great to race at Texas Motor Speedway! It’s a track that we have had success at before and we are excited to see if we can do it again. I am ready to keep the momentum going that the Fuzzy’s Vodka team built during the month of May!”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet: “Texas is one of the races I have been looking most forward to this year. I’ve tested there a couple of times, but not yet ran in a race. I am really enjoying being able to race on the ovals this year. We qualified strong at Indianapolis but the race didn’t end how we were hoping, so it’s exciting to get to another high-speed oval so soon afterwards and see what we’ve got!”