Pigot and Juncos: A Match Made In Heaven

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer

INDIANAPOLIS— A rookie team with a second year driver in the Indianapolis 500 would seem to be a match that wouldn’t produce much in terms of results. However, Juncos Racing and Spencer Pigot aren’t exactly new to each other.

Pigot drove for Juncos Racing in karting in the 2000s, rejoining the team in 2014 to win the Pro Mazda championship. The Pasadena, California-born driver then won the Indy Lights championship with the team, becoming the only driver to win multiple championships in the Mazda Road to Indy with the same team.

For Pigot, though, personnel can make up for a lack of experience.

“I think there’s always things that as a new team you probably don’t have compared to the big teams that have been here for a long time and have been doing this for years and won the race many times,” Pigot said.

“We definitely don’t have the resources that some of them do but in terms of the people, I think we have really good guys and experienced guys that have been around IndyCar racing, been around the 500 so they’re not really new even though it’s a rookie team but there’s definitely stuff that I think if they were to come back again this year that they’ll have a much better handle on.”

Pigot’s got to turn his attention back to his normal duties at Ed Carpenter Racing doing the road and street courses in the No. 20 car but Pigot would like to see if he could be a part of a full time ride at Juncos in 2018.

“Right now my working relationship has a few more days left in it, we’re done on Sunday and then I have to turn my attention back to the road courses at ECR. You know obviously that’s the priority for the rest of the year and who knows what’ll happen next year but obviously Juncos Racing is a team that I love and would be happy to be a part of.”

It would be a dream fit and would complete a story of a driver and team rising through the ranks of open wheel racing in America, starting at the beginning together and winding up at the top together. Whether that will happen is anyone’s guess.