Newgarden Races Through Fractured Clavicle, Hand to Finish 8th; Pigot Earns First Career Top 10 with a 9th Place

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 26, 2016) – Race Notes

– There was no stopping the Ed Carpenter Racing teammates of Josef Newgarden and Spencer Pigot during today’s KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America. Newgarden drove to an 8th place finish, two weeks to the day after an accident at Texas Motor Speedway left him with a fractured right clavicle and a small fracture to his right hand. Pigot raced to a 9th place finish in only his sixth Verizon IndyCar Series race and third event with ECR.

– Newgarden spun during qualifications yesterday, causing a red flag and invalidating his two fastest laps. He was forced to start 20th; meanwhile, Pigot qualified 17th for his first Verizon IndyCar Series race at the legendary four-mile, 14-turn road circuit.

– The KOHLER Grand Prix was off to a clean start for Newgarden and Pigot. On the first lap, Pigot advanced one position to 16th while Newgarden moved up two spots to 18th. Both drivers started the race on red alternate Firestone Firehawks.

– Pigot made his first pit stop on Lap 8. The No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka crew gave him a set of sticker red tires as well as a front wing adjustment. He was able to maintain his position and was running 16th following his stop.

– Newgarden made a stop at the same time as the leaders on Lap 13. On a different strategy, he opted for a set of sticker black Firehawks. Newgarden gained three positions once pit stops had cycled through, moving up to 15th.

– Newgarden led Pigot for their second stint with Newgarden in 15th and Pigot just behind in 16th. Pigot made his second stop on Lap 22, switching to sticker blacks. Newgarden stopped four laps later for his own set of black tires. After the stops, Newgarden had improved to 11th and Pigot was running 13th.

– Pigot was able to get around the damaged car of Alexander Rossi and move up to 12th before his final stop on Lap 36. He chose sticker blacks for his last run and moved up to 11th.

– Newgarden brought the No. 21 Direct Supply Chevrolet in for his last stop on Lap 38 for a set of sticker red tires to finish the race. Once the field had completed their pit stops, Newgarden had worked his way into the Top 10 and was running 9th.

– A full-course caution came out on Lap 40 when Conor Daly going went off-track in Turn 1. The cleanup was lengthy, leaving a restart with six laps to go.

– After the green, Newgarden powered around points leader Simon Pagenaud to move to 8th, while Pigot picked off both Pagenaud and Carlos Munoz for 9th.

– Pigot’s finish is his first Top 10 and the best of his Verizon IndyCar Series career.

– Newgarden gained 12 positions from his starting spot and now sits 5th in the Verizon IndyCar Series point standings, just 18 points out of second place.

– After a test at Iowa Speedway on Wednesday, the ECR crews will enjoy a weekend off over the 4th of July holiday. The Verizon IndyCar Series races next at the Newton, Iowa oval on Sunday, July 10th.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 DIRECT SUPPLY CEHVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: “The car was so good today. We had a really good race, but I think we had a podium car if I didn’t mess it up yesterday and would have qualified properly. We got some good points and gained on the guys we needed to in the championship. Overall, I think we put on a great show for the fans and there seemed to be an amazing crowd. I hope we come back to Road America for many, many years to come. This is one of the best tracks with the best racing, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to make sure I was able to race here! I’ll try to heal up a little better for Iowa since that will be physically harder than this one.”

SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, FINISHED 9TH: “It was great, a really fun race. he guys gave me an awesome car. I really enjoyed it, I was able to push hard throughout most of the race. I had to save a little fuel here in there, but it was interesting to see when I pitted who I would come out with and who was around me to race with. At the end, it got pretty wild! You have to fight so hard for every position, a couple of times going into Turn 5 I braked way too late, I thought, but somehow came out on the other end. It was just cool to be racing against these guys. I can’t thank Ed Carpenter Racing, Fuzzy’s Vodka and Rising Star Racing enough for letting me be out here.”