Pigot Finishes 10th in Race 1 of Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix; Ed Jones Overcomes Contact to Finish 20th

DETROIT (June 1, 2019) – Race 1 Notes

– With a weather delay and a rainy start, Race 1 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix concluded this evening. For the third time in three years, Spencer Pigot earned a Top 10 finish in Race 1 of the only doubleheader weekend on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule. Ed Jones had drove his way into the Top 10 before contact with a tire barrier; fortunately, with no damage to the car, he was able to continue and record a 20th place finish. Ed Carpenter Racing will compete in Race 2 tomorrow afternoon.

– Unlike knockout qualifying at other street courses, qualifying for the Duals in Detroit would see the field split in half with both groups getting a 12-minute session. The fastest driver overall would be awarded the pole position, while the rest of the drivers from that group would fill out the odd-number spots. Jones was out to qualify first in Group 1, finishing in the 7th spot. Pigot finished 9th in Group 2. With pole winner Alexander Rossi coming from Group 2, Jones would be assigned the 14th starting position while Pigot would roll off 17th.

– Following the delay due to heavy storms passing over Belle Isle, the race switched from the scheduled 70 laps to a timed race of 75 minutes. The race was also declared a wet start, meaning all competitors started on Firestone’s wet compound Firehawks. The race clock started under a yellow flag after a car spun coming to the green; on the first green flag lap, Jones picked up three positions and moved into the Top 10.

– With the racing line rapidly drying, Pigot was one of the first cars to duck into pit lane for a switch to slicks on Lap 16. Just after Pigot left the pit lane, Jones made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 7 and brought out a full-course caution. The No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet was restarted and able to continue, albeit one lap behind the rest of the field. Jones brought the car in for a full load of fuel and a switch to red Firehawk tires. After assessing the front wing, the crew determined that there was no damage and Jones continued.

– When the cars were re-ordered following everyone’s pit stops, Pigot found his No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet up seven positions to 10th. He would gain another position as Scott Dixon made contact with the tires and was not able to finish. Another competitor was able to take the spot back from Pigot, but Pigot then held off late-race charges on multiple restarts to earn his third Top 10 finish at Detroit.

– Though he had to finish the event on his own lap, Jones gained two positions when Dixon and then Matheus Leist retired from the race after separate incidents. He finished 20th, one lap behind the field. The checkered flag waved on today’s race after 43 laps, the amount the field was able to complete in the 75-minute window.

– Tomorrow will follow the same format as today with qualifying for Race 2 kicking off the day at 10:45 a.m. ET. NBC will broadcast the 70-lap race live, beginning at 3 p.m. ET. The green flag for Race 2 of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix is scheduled to fly at 3:50 p.m. ET.

ED JONES, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet, Finished 20th: “It was an interesting race in the wet conditions. I had a good start, made up a few positions and got into the Top 10. We were running pretty well. Everyone’s tires were going off quite a lot and we just lost the fronts. I made a mistake just as we were about to pit and unfortunately cost us a lap and a strong result. I’m sorry to the team and hopefully we can have a stronger day tomorrow!”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet, Finished 10th: “It was a tough race out there with all of the different conditions! We were able to move forward a decent amount of positions which was good, though we would have liked to have finished a little higher up. It could have been a lot worse! Thank you to my guys, we made a good call when to come in for slicks. We’ll go back tonight and see where we can improve for tomorrow.”