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PIGOT, HILDEBRAND NARROWLY MISS OUT ON ADVANCING IN KOHLER GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING

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Ed Carpenter Racing Drivers Miss Moving On To Round 2 Of Qualifications At Road America By Mere Tenths Of A Second

(ELKHART LAKE, Wis.) June 24, 2017 – Qualifying Notes

– It was a game of tenths today in qualifications for the KOHLER Grand Prix and Ed Carpenter Racing came up just shy of advancing both cars to the second round. Spencer Pigot was only 0.09 seconds away from continuing on, while JR Hildebrand was 0.11 seconds back. Pigot will start 14th in tomorrow’s 55-lap race at Road America while Hildebrand qualified 18th.

– Pigot set the 7th fastest lap of the weekend to date in this morning’s third practice session. His lap of 140.200 miles per hour was his last of 41 laps turned during the three 45-minute sessions. Hildebrand continued to improve his pace throughout each session, gaining nearly two miles an hour of speed between yesterday’s opening practice and today’s third session. Hildebrand ran 42 laps around the four-mile circuit, the longest course the Verizon IndyCar Series competes on.

– For qualifications, both Pigot and Hildebrand were assigned to Group 2 of Round 1. Hildebrand began the session on a set of sticker red Firestone Firehawk tires, pitting after three laps for a second set of sticker reds. At the end of the 10 minutes, Hildebrand sat 9th with the top six cars advancing. Hildebrand’s lap of 01:42.9132 (140.413 miles per hour) was just 0.11 seconds out of 6th.

– Pigot elected to begin qualifying with a set of sticker black Firehawks on his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet, also switching after three laps to a set of sticker reds. He was 8th after his run on blacks and jumped to 3rd after his first lap on reds. He settled into 6th, but was bumped down at the checkered flag and finished the group in 7th. At 01:42.8875 (140.449 miles per hour), Pigot missed advancing to Round 2 by less than one tenth of a second.

– The No. 21 of Hildebrand is showcasing the blue and white colors of longtime team partner Direct Supply. Direct Supply, headquartered in Milwaukee, is the nation’s leading provider of equipment, eCommerce and service solutions for Senior Living. Direct Supply uses more than 30 years of experience to help build, equip and better run Senior Living communities across the country.

– Pigot earned his first Top 10 finish of his Verizon IndyCar Series career last year at Road America during his rookie season, racing his way up to 9th after starting 17th. Hildebrand has not yet competed in an Indy car race at Road America; tomorrow’s KOHLER Grand Prix will be his first.

– A half an hour warm up session will take place tomorrow morning, beginning at 9 a.m. ET (8 a.m. local). NBC Sports Network’s live broadcast of the KOHLER Grand Prix will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET.

SPENCER PIGOT (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet), Qualified 14th: “We really wanted to get through to that next round of qualifying, I’m pretty frustrated not to. Even though we were close, it’s not really a consolation. We just didn’t take advantage of the red tires quite as much as the other guys. We’ll see what we can do for tomorrow and try to make the car even faster for the race. I can’t thank the Fuzzy’s Vodka guys enough for everything they’ve been doing this weekend, we are getting there!”

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 21 Direct Supply Chevrolet), Qualified 18th: “Despite where we ended in qualifying, we made some major gains from where we have been at. It’s a little frustrating not to get that extra tenth and a half out of the car, that’s really all that we were missing to have transferred. Moving on to the second round of qualifying would have been a big win for us with how this weekend has gone so far. We can feel good about checking some boxes and now feeling more confident in the car and also in my driving. It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow, I think there’s going to be some fuel saving going on and I’m not sure we’re going to be able to avoid that with where we are starting. We’ll see how it shakes out, maybe we can work some magic! At least Spencer and I should have some racy cars tomorrow.”

Next Race

Streets of Long Beach

April 21, 2024 • 3 p.m. ET

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