Pigot Grabs Career-Best IndyCar Finish at Road America

Spencer Pigot scored a career-best finish of ninth in only his sixth start as the Verizon IndyCar Series returned to Road America.

The IndyCar rookie reigning Indy Lights champion kept the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet out of trouble early, until a late caution bunched the field back up and allowed him to set his sights on the top 10.

Pigot powered past series championship leader Simon Pagenaud in the late stages and finished behind his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate, Josef Newgarden, to put an exclamation point on the banner day.

“I had a lot of fun out there today – it was a really fun race,” Pigot said. “For the first half of the race we were kind of by ourselves, but towards the end – after the restart – to be around (Juan) Montoya and Simon (Pagenaud) and guys I’ve been watching for so many years. To be racing against them so close was really cool.

“I just can’t thank this team enough for having me, Fuzzy’s Vodka and Chevrolet and Rising Star Racing, and we’re looking forward to building on this next time out. I think having raced here in the past definitely helped getting up to speed with the car and the track here throughout the race.

Pigot, who had a previous best finish of 11th in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, noted his exciting drive didn’t come without its share of intense drama.

“Knowing where to pass and if you overshoot a corner where you can kind of get away with it and where it’s going to bite you,” Pigot said.

“At the end there it was pretty wild. You have to fight so hard for every position. A couple of times going into Turn 5, Carlos (Munoz) and Simon (Pagenaud) and I braked way too late I thought and somehow came out the other end. It was just cool to be racing against these guys.”

About Joey Barnes 611 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.