Ed Jones Will Start 6th in Tomorrow’s Honda Indy Toronto; Spencer Pigot Qualifies 9th for 50th Career Indy Car Race

(TORONTO) July 13, 2019 – Qualifying Notes

– When the green flag waves for tomorrow’s Honda Indy Toronto, Ed Carpenter Racing will have two Chevrolets rolling off in the Top 10. For the second time this season, Ed Jones reached the Firestone Fast 6 and has qualified 6th for the 85-lap event. Spencer Pigot will start his 50th career NTT IndyCar Series race from the 9th position. It is the best starting spot for both drivers at the 1.786-mile downtown Toronto street circuit. In addition, it is the best street course qualifying effort by two ECR cars in the team’s history.

– Three practice sessions preceded this afternoon’s qualifications. Pigot finished with times in the Top 10 in each, including setting the fourth fastest lap in Practice 2. His best lap came this morning in Practice 3 at 107.267 miles per hour (mph). Though Jones was not able to get a run in on a set of sticker blacks at the end of the session, he too set his fastest lap this morning at 106.614 mph.

– Pigot was assigned to Round 1, Group 1 of qualifying. He began the 10-minute session on Firestone’s sticker black Firehawks, sitting 5th when he came into the pit lane for a switch to red tires. His eighth lap was his fastest of the weekend as he came across the line at 108.526 mph. The No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet moved up to 4th on the charts and would advance to the second round of qualifying for the fourth time this season.

– Jones was out next in Group 2. He too started on sticker blacks, sitting comfortably in the 3rd position. However, a switch to the red tires would propel the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa even further up the list. On his eighth and final lap, Jones put up a lap of 109.718 mph, the fastest of all Round 1 laps turned by 22 drivers. As the fastest driver in Group 2, Jones easily made his way into the second round of qualifying.

– Just like the most recent event at Road America three weeks ago, both Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolets rolled out for the second round of qualifying. Keeping with the same strategy, Pigot and Jones went out on the black tires before pitting for a switch to a second set of sticker red Firehawks. Pigot went quicker still, turning in his first lap over the 109-mph mark at 109.306. It would ultimately give him the 9th starting position on tomorrow’s grid, his highest starting position on a street course to date.

– Also faster was Jones, clocking a lap of 109.840 mph which was 4th quick of the 12 Round 2 qualifiers. The lap would earn him his second Firestone Fast 6 appearance of the year, following one at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Jones turned three laps during the Fast 6, managing a top speed of 107.996 mph on a set of scuffed reds. He will start 6th in tomorrow’s Indy car race, his third in the streets of Toronto.

– Today’s qualifying results are ECR’s best to-date on a street course, topping the team’s starting positions from this event in 2015. Josef Newgarden started 11th in the 2015 Honda Indy Toronto while Luca Filippi qualified 6th. They would finish the race in 1st and 2nd, the team’s first one-two finish. It was the second Toronto win in a row for ECR as they also took home the victory in 2014 with Mike Conway.

– Jones and Pigot will have an additional half an hour of practice tomorrow as a warm-up session will take place from 12:15-12:45 p.m. ET. NBC Sports Network will begin pre-race coverage of the Honda Indy Toronto at 3 p.m. ET with the race scheduled to begin at 3:42 p.m. ET.

ED JONES, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet, Qualified 6th: “It was a good qualifying session! We made a good jump up from practice and really made some solid improvements. It was great to be P1 in the first round and fourth in the second. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite have it on the older red (Firestone alternate) tires, but we’ve still got to be really pleased with sixth. We’re starting back up at the front again, and hopefully, we can have a strong race tomorrow!”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet, Qualified 9th: “It’s good to be starting inside the Top 10. I would have liked to have been a bit higher up, but we’ve had a solid car all weekend. We’ll make a few more changes and get the Autogeek Chevy a little bit better for the race. I’m really looking forward to the race!”