For the second straight year, Ed Carpenter Racing will have all three of their cars start in the top three Rows for next Sunday’s 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500. Last year, Ed Carpenter won the pole in dramatic fashion. Both Spencer Pigot and Danica Patrick made the Fast Nine as well.
Fast forward to this year. ECR was at it again.
Pigot, set the days fastest time with a four-lap average of 230.083 mph in his No. 21 Chevrolet. His teammates Ed Jones (229.440 mph) and Carpenter (229.349 mph) were sixth and seventh fastest respectively.
With the top nine being locked into those spots and knowing that despite having to requalify on Sunday that the worse they can start is 7-8-9 for next week’s 200 Lap race, it’s reassuring.
For ECR to have 33-percent of the field for Sunday’s Fast Nine Shootout, is there going to be any information shared overnight or is it each man for himself?
The team owner in Carpenter said that it’s nice to compete with his teammates for the pole here and a good problem to have. He’s aiming for the pole himself but would not be mad if either Jones or Pigot beat him to it.
“It’s all for one, one for all,” Carpenter said about the competition between his drivers and himself at Indy. “We all work together but everybody’s got a job to do. I’m proud of the team. All three of the cars have been pretty fast. There’s nothing wrong at all with competing with each other for the front.”
To be the team battling Penske for the pole, it shows just how far ECR has come. Plus, Carpenter is happy with the progress of his full time driver in Pigot. He had Pigot as a road/street course driver in 2016 and again in 2017 before replacing JR Hildebrand with him for 2018. Last year, Pigot scored two top five finishes and five top 10’s in 17 tries. This year, he’s running stronger and stronger as Carpenter had nothing but praise for his driver saying that the sky is still the limit for him.
“He’s really coming along. I think you saw it in the GP his performance. He’s getting better and better. I think this May that he’s more confident than last year. He definitely hasn’t plateaued off yet. He’s improving and getting better.”
