IndyCar: Why Spencer Pigot could be the best superspeedway driver in the sport

Spencer Pigot’s road to a full-time ride

It was no surprise that Spencer Pigot was the road and street course specialist for Ed Carpenter Racing for most of the 2016 season and the entire 2017 season. In the 2015 Indy Lights season, there were 16 races, of which 13 were road and street course races. He finished on the podium in 10 of the road and street course races and won six of them. He finished no higher than seventh place in the three oval races.

But heading into Indy 500 qualifying this past weekend, Pigot had not previously had a legitimate chance to show off his talent at a superspeedway. Sure, he drove in two Indy 500 races before, and he qualified in 29th both times before going on to finish both races several laps down. These aren’t exactly great statistics. In fact, they aren’t good statistics whatsoever.

But let’s consider all of the facts here as opposed to just a select few. In the 2016 Indy 500, Pigot was a part-time driver in his third of three promised races for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as as a result of the fact that he was the reigning Indy Lights champion.

He was driving the second car on a one-car full-time team, a team that typically do not have much success in the Indy 500 anyway. Did anybody anywhere expect anything better than a 29th place qualifying effort or a 25th place result from him in the race?