Spencer Pigot and Jordan King Back in Their Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolets for Verizon IndyCar Series Race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

INDIANAPOLIS (July 25, 2018) – Preview Notes

– The Ed Carpenter Racing team will make the drive to Lexington, Ohio, home of the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, for this weekend’s Honda Indy 200. The 90-lap race will be the 12th round of 17 on the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series calendar. ECR will field a pair of Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolets for Spencer Pigot and Jordan King, the green No. 21 for Pigot and the black No. 20 for King. Pigot will be competing in his third Indy car race at Mid-Ohio while King will race on the natural terrain road course for the first time.

– Pigot will bring ample experience back to the 2.258-mile, 13-turn circuit. He competed at Mid-Ohio in Mazda Road to Indy events, including a 2015 Indy Lights doubleheader which vaulted him into contention for the championship. After claiming that title, he moved to the Verizon IndyCar Series and competed in the Honda Indy 200 the next two years in the No. 20. In 2016, his rookie year, he scored one of the first Top 10 finishes of his career with a 7th place. This weekend’s event will be his second race of the year at Mid-Ohio as he participated in an IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship sprint race in early May with Mazda Team Joest.

– King is a newcomer to the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2018 and will be making only his ninth start. The Brit takes over the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet during the road and street course events from team owner and oval driver Ed Carpenter. Prior to joining ECR, King ascended through the European ranks and is competing on each Indy car track for the first time this year. In addition to leading the most recent race in Toronto, King also paced the field during the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, Fla. At the season opening event, he set the track record in qualifying, made the Firestone Fast 6 and took the lead of the race on only the fifth lap. By reaching the Top 12 of qualifying in Toronto, he has advanced out of the first round of qualifications in over half of the possible races this year. He made his second Firestone Fast 6 appearance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during qualifications for the INDYCAR Grand Prix.

– Pigot’s first full-time Indy car season has been full of accomplishments. Just three weeks ago, the 24-year-old earned the first podium finish of his Verizon IndyCar Series career at Iowa Speedway. As Ed Carpenter Racing’s road and street course driver in 2016 and 2017, he had not yet competed at the .875-mile oval. Though he qualified 18th, he drove through the field to finish second, extending ECR’s streak of podium finishes at Iowa to four years in a row. At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race, Pigot broke through the first round of qualifications for the first time his career. He followed that up at the next road course event at Road America, again advancing to Round 2. He put forth a career-best qualifying effort for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500, making the Fast Nine and ultimately earning himself the 6th starting position. Pigot has led the field at the Indianapolis 500 and the Honda Indy Toronto.

– In the last event, King faced down a weekend of adversity in the streets of Toronto to bring home his highest finish of the year. After three taxing practice sessions and a first round of qualifying in the rain, King was able to turn a lap over a mile an hour faster than any he had done in practice to earn himself the 8th starting position. In warm up on race day morning, King hit a bump which jerked the steering wheel out of his hand and resulted in heavy contact with left-front corner of the car. With damage more extensive than originally anticipated, the Fuzzy’s Vodka crew was up against the clock to make repairs and rolled the car onto the grid with only 30 minutes before the command to start engines. Still, King remained undeterred. As one of only four drivers to start the race on black tires, King found himself at the front of the field and pulling away as those on reds had to pit early. He led for six laps before an ill-timed caution prior to his first pit stop dropped him back in the field. He moved his way forward again, narrowly missing out on the first Top 10 finish of his Verizon IndyCar Series career and taking the checkered flag in 11th.

– The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will feature two practice sessions on Friday, a third practice session and knockout qualifying on Saturday and the 90-lap race on Sunday. Each practice will be streamed on IndyCar.com while NBC Sports Network will broadcast qualifying live on Saturday, July 28 from 1:30-3 pm ET. Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 will be shown live on CNBC, beginning at 3 p.m. ET on July 29. A same-day encore presentation of the race will be on NBCSN at 6:30 p.m. ET.

JORDAN KING, No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet: “Mid-Ohio is another track I haven’t yet been to but I have done some time on the simulator and it looks like a lot of fun! Lots of flowing corners that lead into one another, I think this will make it quite tough to learn but that’s all part of the experience.”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet: “Everyone at Ed Carpenter Racing is looking forward to going to Mid-Ohio. We’ve been fast at road courses so far this season and I know we have what it takes to be towards the front this weekend. It’s a very challenging track and with the reduced downforce for 2018 it will make it even tougher but I’m excited to get out there!”