INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Spencer Pigot is a few years away from competing in the Indianapolis 500, but as one of the rising stars of the Mazda Road to Indy development ladder he will be racing in the famed "Night Before the 500" event at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis on Saturday night. The highly rated young American is eagerly looking forward to defending his lead in the hotly contested Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda.
Pigot, 18, from Orlando, Fla., a former winner of the prestigious Team USA Scholarship - an honor he shares with 2012 Indy 500 qualifiers Josef Newgarden, J.R. Hildebrand and Charlie Kimball - has won three of the four races so far this season aboard Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing's #2 Team Pelfrey/Doug Mockett & Company/E-merging Technologies/Parathyroid.com /California Scents/Mazda/Cooper Tires Van Diemen.
In addition to the 75-lap race around the challenging 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway oval on Saturday evening, Pigot will be involved in a wide range of activities at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the lead-up to Sunday's 96th running of the Indianapolis 500. His "chores" began yesterday (Wednesday) with a well-attended fan autograph session and a Q&A session in the shadow of the famed Pagoda. Today he will attend a Mazda Road to Indy Welcome Reception, a Driver Fitness presentation hosted by Jim Leo of PitFit Training and a Spotter's Seminar.
"It's been quite a while since our last race in St. Pete, so I'm looking forward to going racing again," said Pigot. "We've had some series tests at Mid-Ohio and here at Indy so that was good but racing's always different and also a lot more fun. Also this whole week leading up to the race will be a great experience with all the media activities, the autograph sessions and especially on Friday when, as the championship leader, I get to drive my USF2000 car on the pace lap of the Indy Lights race at Indianapolis. It will be even better because I'll be joined by the Star Mazda point leader, Jack Hawksworth, who's also a Team Pelfrey driver. It's always a great event here in Indy so I'm really looking forward to it."
Pigot will begin preparation for Saturday evening's race with a three-hour test session on Friday, followed by two more practice sessions on Saturday afternoon. Single-car qualifying will take place at 4:10 pm, and the race is scheduled to start at 7:40 pm.
"I had a pretty good race at Lucas Oil Raceway last year (finishing fourth), and I think that experience is really going to help me in the race," he said. "Hopefully, I'll be able to use the traffic a little bit more to my advantage this year and get through it a little bit quicker than some of the other guys who are here for their first time. Having said that, there are a lot of fast drivers in the field and a lot of cars (21), so it's going to be very competitive and very difficult."
Pigot would like to thank Team Pelfrey, Doug Mockett & Company, E-merging Technologies, Paraythyroid.com, California Scents, Mazda, Cooper Tires and the Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing team for their support and allowing him to chase his dream of winning the Indianapolis 500.
ABOUT SPENCER PIGOT:
Spencer Pigot, 18, won numerous state and national karting championships before graduating to cars in 2009. He won the 2010 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Powered by Mazda, earning a scholarship via the MAZDASPEED Driver Development Program to contest the 2011 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda. Pigot finished second in the title-chase with three wins, four poles and a track record to his name, and won five of six races to claim the 2012 Cooper Tires Winterfest mini-series. He also won prestigious Team USA Scholarships both in 2010 and 2011. His goal is to compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. Follow Spencer at www.spencerpigot.com or on Facebook (Spencer Pigot Racing) and Twitter (@spencerpigot).
For more information, please email: spencer@spencerpigot.com.