Jones Takes Checkered Flag in 14th; Spencer Pigot Taken Out of Contention Prior to First Pit Stop

DETROIT (June 2, 2019) – Race 2 Notes

– For the third time in eight days and second time in 24 hours, it was race day for Ed Carpenter Racing. After a timed race yesterday which lasted 75 minutes, Ed Jones and Spencer Pigot climbed back into their Chevrolet-powered Indy cars today for Race 2 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader. The race was not an easy one for Jones as the rear of his car was damaged in a Lap 1 incident, but he fought through to the end of the race to finish 14th. Spencer Pigot’s day came to an early end when another car struck him from behind as he was trying to enter the pit lane and sent him into the wall.

– This morning’s qualifying for Race 2 followed the format of Race 1, with the field being split into two groups which each received a 12-minute session. The only difference was Group 2 would be the first to go out today, including Pigot. Pigot had the 5th fastest lap of the Group 2 qualifiers. Just as Jones took the track for Group 1, yesterday’s rainwater spilled off the tire barriers in Turn 6. After a 46 minute delay to dry the track, Jones was able to complete his qualifying run and was 7th in Group 1. With the pole winner Josef Newgarden coming from Group 1, Jones received the odd-numbered starting position of 13th while Pigot would roll off 10th.

– At the green flag for Race 2, Jones fell victim to a multi-car accident just three turns into Lap 1. With front wing damage, he had to bring the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet into the pit lane for a new nose. Once the race resumed, it was also discovered that Jones’s gearbox was damaged when he was hit from behind. Jones had to drive the remainder of the event without second gear as a result of the contact.

– Pigot rolled the dice and did not pit under the first caution. He vaulted from 10th to 2nd; he and eventual race winner Scott Dixon were on red tires. Pigot stayed in 2nd until his tires began to fall off and was set up to pit for blacks on Lap 15. He moved to the inside of the track to signal he was going come in for a pit stop, but before he could make it to the pit lane, he was hit from behind by Sebastien Bourdais. The contact sent Bourdais into the air and Pigot into the concrete wall. The No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet sustained heavy damage to the right front and was unable to continue. Pigot would be credited with a 21st place finish.

– Even with the issues resulting from the Lap 1 incident, Jones was able to stay on the lead lap and elected to top off on fuel under each caution flag. The strategy would see him run as high as 3rd in the closing stages of the race. On Lap 54, the No. 5 of James Hinchcliffe slowed on course. Jones took the opportunity to dive into the pit lane before the full course caution came out, giving him one of the freshest sets of tires in the field. With five laps to go, the race was red flagged to clear the damaged No. 10 of Felix Rosenqvist. Once the race was restarted, Takuma Sato was able to get by Jones in the final corner and Jones would finish in the 14th position.

– The Ed Carpenter Racing team will return to their Indianapolis race shop tomorrow morning to prepare the No. 20 and No. 21 for next weekend’s high-speed oval race at Texas Motor Speedway. Team owner Ed Carpenter will step back in to the No. 20 and race alongside Pigot. The DXC Technology 600 will be shown live on NBC Sports Network, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 8, 2019.

ED JONES, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet, Finished 14th: “It was a frustrating day. We got caught up in the Turn 3 crash on the first lap. I avoided it as best I could with the front of the car, but I got hit from behind. The contact damaged the rear of the car which caused me not to have second gear for pretty much the whole race. Considering this track has a lot of slow corners, that really caused problems for us the rest of the day. We did the best we could with that we had at the end there, we had really good pace despite everything else. We will come back stronger for my next race at Road America!”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet, Finished 21st: “We went off strategy, but the car was going to be pretty good. Obviously, (Scott) Dixon and I were both struggling a lot on those tires, getting passed left and right. It was very easy for all other drivers to see and it wasn’t going to take much to get by us. Coming out of (Turn) 13, as soon as I could, I got over to the right to signal I was coming into the pit lane. There’s obviously public radio as well that (said) we’re pitting; everyone can hear that. I just felt a massive hit from behind. It caused a lot of damage and obviously with the tires in that state you have to brake a little early coming to pit lane. I don’t know if that’s what caught (Sebastien Bourdais) off or what, but it’s definitely unfortunate.”