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ED CARPENTER RACING EAGER TO GET BACK TO OVAL RACING UNDER THE LIGHTS

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Ed Carpenter, Spencer Pigot Looking Forward To Saturday Night’s Race at Texas Motor Speedway

INDIANAPOLIS (June 4, 2019) – Race Preview

– Ed Carpenter Racing will bring a pair of Autogeek Chevrolets to Saturday night’s DXC Technology 600, the ninth round of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season. The race will feature 248 laps (600 kilometers) around Texas Motor Speedway, one of five ovals on this year’s schedule. Ed Carpenter, who made his first start at Texas in the fall of 2003, will be competing in his 18th race at the 1.5-mile oval. Spencer Pigot will make his second start under the lights at the popular track located outside of Fort Worth, Texas.

– The DXC Technology 600 will mark the fifth weekend in a row of on-track activity for the NTT IndyCar Series and fourth race in a span of just 15 days. Pigot began this stretch with the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, where he scored a current season-high finish of 5th. The next weekend, Pigot put forth a career-best qualifying effort of 3rd and earned himself a front row starting spot for the Indianapolis 500. He led the race for three laps before being forced to take service in a closed pit lane for a splash of fuel. He had to take the ensuing restart from the back of the field, but picked up two positions in the closing laps to finish 14th. In last weekend’s doubleheader on the street course in Detroit, Pigot brought home a Top 10 finish in Race 1.

– The Indianapolis 500 was the first oval race of the 2019 season, meaning it was also Carpenter’s first race of the year as the team owner competes exclusively in the oval events. The usual two-car lineup for Ed Carpenter Racing expanded to three for the 500-mile race to include Carpenter, Pigot and Ed Jones. The trio qualified second, third and fourth, making ECR the only multi-car team to have all cars compete in the prestigious Fast Nine Shootout for the pole position. For the sixth time in the past seven years, Ed Carpenter Racing qualified a car on the front row of the Indianapolis 500; for the first time in the team’s history, two of three front row spots belonged to ECR.

– The 2019 Indianapolis 500 was Carpenter’s 16th, where he qualified on the front row for the fifth time in the past seven years. Carpenter started second and only fell out of the Top 5 during pit stop sequences. For the final restart of the race on Lap 186, he was sitting comfortably in 3rd position. However, Carpenter struggled with the balance of the car in the closing laps and fell three positions to finish 6th.

– Jones also serves as the road and street course driver for the No. 20, which had him behind the wheel for last weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader. Carpenter will climb back into the No. 20 Autogeek Chevrolet for the 1.5-mile oval this weekend. With 17 starts at Texas Motor Speedway to date, he is one of the most experienced drivers in the field. In 2014, Carpenter had the car to beat. He led 66 of the final 67 laps and stretched his lead to over 14 seconds at one point. His victory that night was his was his third career win in the NTT IndyCar Series.

– Despite 2019 being Pigot’s fourth season as an NTT IndyCar Series driver, Saturday night’s race will only be his second at Texas Motor Speedway. Pigot’s first two seasons of Indy car competition with Ed Carpenter Racing saw him driving the No. 20 on road and street course events before being elevated to the team’s full-time driver of the No. 21 in 2018. In last year’s race at Texas, Pigot started 18th and persevered throughout the 248 laps to bring home a hard-fought 11th place finish.

– In a change from previous years, on-track activity for the Indy car drivers will kick off a day earlier. The opening practice session for the DXC Technology 600 will take place from 7-9 p.m. CT on Thursday, June 6. Cars will again hit the track from 2-3 p.m. CT on Friday, June 7 before qualifying at 5:45 p.m. All sessions will be available via INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold. NBC Sports Network will carry coverage of the DXC Technology 600, beginning at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) on Saturday, June 8.

ED CARPENTER, No. 20 Autogeek Chevrolet: “Texas is always a race that I am very excited for. The NTT IndyCar Series has such a long history racing at TMS and, as a former winner, it is always one of my favorite races. On top of that, it is my first chance to move on from the Indy 500 and work to get back to Victory Lane!”

SPENCER PIGOT, No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet: “I’m looking forward to getting back on an oval this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway! It’s a unique track to our schedule and one that Ed Carpenter Racing has had success on in the past. Hopefully we can repeat that this weekend! I enjoyed my first race at Texas last season, the high speeds and high banking really making it a lot of fun to drive!”

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