CHEVROLET RACING IN THE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES
102ND RUNNING OF THE INDIANAPOLIS 500
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEAM CHEVYDRIVER TRANSCRIPT – MEDIA DAY
THURSDAY, MAY 24, 2018
SPENCER PIGOT, NO. 21 PREFERRED FREEZER SERVICES ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET:
IS THERE MORE PRESSURE IN YOUR (THIRD) YEAR, OR IS IT EASIER TO TAKE ALL THIS IN SINCE YOU’VE BEEN THROUGH IT BEFORE?
“It’s all been great. This month has been a different experience that I’ve had so far than in the past. It’s nice to be at the pointy end of things, for now. The race is a totally different animal but this gives me confidence that we can have a good day Sunday.”
MUCH HAS BEEN MADE ABOUT DIFFICULTY PASSING. WHAT’S YOUR STRATEGY EARLY ON?
“Early on, just try to settle in. You’ll take advantage of anything that happens or anyone that gets checked up in the first few laps. But I think it will be a lot of patience and a lot of waiting to set your moves up and capitalize on other people’s mistakes.”
WITH HAVING DRIVEN THE INDY 500 FOR THREE DIFFERENT TEAMS, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN TAKE FROM EACH TEAM TO PUT IT TOGETHER THIS YEAR?
“Maybe a little bit. There definitely are experiences that I can think back on. But this year is a different animal with a different car. It’s hard to learn from everything that’s happened but there are things about traffic and passing and how the race unfolds.”
WHAT WITHIN ECR SEEMS TO BE WORKING AND CLICKING SO FAR?
“I don’t think there is anything we’ve found. That part was already done in the past. ECR has always been quick here, so we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel to get speed out of the car. That’s what people have come to expect from this team based on the last five or six years. I wouldn’t say we’ve found anything in particular. It’s an evolution of what we’ve been working through the last few years.”
TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STARTING 29TH YOUR FIRST TWO YEARS AND NOW SIXTH THIS YEAR.
“It’s great. Only seeing a couple cars in front of me is going to be really neat. After the Fast Nine Shootout and qualifying, people have really shown their support of our team not just at the track but around town, too. The team has been great. Right out of the box, we were all super comfortable with the cars we had. We experimented and tried some different things, but we all came back and decided on a way to go and it worked out. Three in the top-seven is better than anyone of us expected.”
WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE BIGGEST KEY TO HANDLING THE HEAT AND CARS SLIDING AROUND THE TRACK? HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT FOR 500 MILES AND STILL COME HOME WITH A GOOD FINISH?
“That’s going to be tough. You’re going to be struggling with different things at different points of the race, and maybe corner to corner on the same lap. It will be important not to get too freaked out or focus on one instance too much. You just have to adjust what you can in the car but know it’s not going to feel super comfortable probably at any point in time. You have to deal with what’s being thrown at you as quickly as possible.”
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