Rookie Pigot Crashes in Indy 500 Practice

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

INDIANAPOLIS – Verizon IndyCar Series rookie Spencer Pigot took a hard hit heading into Turn 1 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Wednesday afternoon’s Indy 500 practice.

The reigning Indy Lights Series champion’s Honda spun completely around on corner entry, hitting the wall with the left side of the car, receiving heavy damage but not catching air while becoming the first driver to crash during preparations for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Most notably, this was the first accident with the domed skids on the underbody of the chassis and the new rear wing beam flaps in the rear wheel pod assembly – which were designed to keep the cars from going airborne.

“I feel fine physically. Just feel bad for the guys,” Pigot said. “I’m not really sure what happened there. Before I knew it I was facing backwards. Difficult day before that. I thought we were getting through our plan. It’s a pretty big setback. Hopefully we can get back out in the next day or two.

“The car was feeling pretty good. Car was making improvements. Everything was feeing good. Just not sure what happened. We’ll have to look and see what caused the spin. It’s a big setback for me and the team. It’s not what you want to happen on the second day.”

Pigot was checked and released from the Infield Care Center.

Image: Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR

About Joey Barnes 600 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.

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