NTT IndyCar Series News Conference
Sunday May 19, 2019
Press Conference
Ed Carpenter
Owner/Driver, Ed Carpenter Racing
Spencer Pigot
Ed Carpenter Racing
THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Ed Carpenter, driving the No. 20 Preferred Freezer Services Chevrolet for his self-made team, also Spencer Pigot, driving the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Ed, first of all, congratulations on a second starting spot in next Sunday's race. Can you take us through personally how excited you are to get back in the car and make a statement so early but at the same time the strength of your team here?
ED CARPENTER: I think first and foremost, the strength of the team is what I'm most excited about. To have Ed Carpenter Racing cars starting second, third and fourth I think just speaks volumes to the organization and all our people and effort that they put into building our cars and the consistency of all the equipment is something I'm really personally proud of.
I know it's a little bittersweet for us. I was able to pass some cars today, which is good and puts us in a good position for the start of the race. Spencer was doing a rain dance, I was wanting to run. I really wish one of us would have ended up on pole, but I'm still really happy to be 2, 3 and 4. I think it's amazing, and Simon just put in a really excellent run with his car, so consistent. I couldn't believe how consistent it was. So congrats to him.
Q. Spencer, I know you were doing that rain dance. However, how sweet this front row start for you?
SPENCER PIGOT: Yeah, it's sweet. Starting front row in the Indy 500 is a real honor, and like Ed said, a testament to our team. I wouldn't say I was doing the rain dance all day. I think as race car drivers we love driving Indy cars at the limit, and you definitely get a chance to do that here in qualifying. Any chance we get to put four laps of qualifying together here is exciting in the car.
So, unfortunately, it was a little short, but like Ed said, great day for the team. 2, 3, 4, and I think all of us were pretty happy with our race cars Wednesday and Thursday, so we have a lot to look forward to and a lot to be confident about heading into next weekend.
Q. You keep starting either on the pole or the front row, and I mean, you're going to go down in modern times as one of the great qualifiers here. When you reflect back on that, you're a part-timer, you don't run every race of the season by choice. What does that say about your career?
ED CARPENTER: I'll let you all decide that. I'm proud of the effort and the consistency we've had. I'm really maintaining focus on figuring out a way to win this race. That's the most important thing to me. One of the blessings of qualifying well here is we get a good starting spot. The negative is people ask me all the time, hey, are you going to win the pole again this year? And it's like, well, that would be nice, but I really want to win the race. That's the goal. I don't want people to think all I come to do here is qualify because that's definitely not the focus. And that's why I'm so proud of the team because I really think that obviously we have to go out and do a good job and put in four good laps, but the speed comes from the work the team does and the preparation, especially to have all of our cars so close.
That's for them, and hopefully, the race will be for one of us.
Q. We had shortly before the shootout the track dried out, we had the rain situation. I think the track was obviously dry but nevertheless did you feel any changes in the track conditions?
ED CARPENTER: I thought the track was really good. I think compared to when -- even though I ran early yesterday, I think with it being a little more cloudy and the track temp was lower, the wind was up a little bit, but I felt like there was probably more grip than yesterday. I was surprised that it wasn't a little quicker, but I think that was just due to the gusty winds and everything else, but the conditions seemed fine.
Q. Spencer, you remain on the front row, you go from starting the inside of row 1 to the outside of row 1. How much different is that lane going to be at the start of the race?
SPENCER PIGOT; Well, one thing will be the same is there won't be anyone in front of me. It's a nice clean view. Obviously, Simon (Pagenaud) will dictate the start, and after that, it'll just be kind of about falling into line and getting through the first corner, first lap with no real issues. I've got my teammates right next to me, so hopefully, we can kind of work together and just kind of slot into the race and just kind of get in the groove. But in terms of the lane, I don't know. Probably won't lead the first corner, but that's all right.
ED CARPENTER: One row up from last year.
SPENCER PIGOT: Exactly, it's all good.
Q. Ed, talk about you've been close before and you've started on the pole but still haven't won this race. Talk about how much do you think about this like you said, all the people come up to you about winning the pole, but how much do you think about all these victories that you could have had and you still haven't got it?
ED CARPENTER: I try not to look back too much other than to learn from mistakes and figure out how to do things better. Really just looking forward and trying to make the best decisions we can and prepare the best we can. I think that's the important thing, in how you get better, if you just reflect on all your misses and get discouraged by that, it's probably not the best mindset.
We've got a lot of great experience and we've been getting closer and better, and hopefully, we'll be able to put it together on Sunday for one of our cars.
Q. Ed, I think if I'm doing the math right, you got beat for the pole by .1 of a mile an hour. How do you square that?
ED CARPENTER: Simon was just more consistent. I think I had the fastest lap of qualifying and usually that's a good sign for the pole, but I've also won a couple of my poles and not had the fastest lap. So he was just a little more consistent than me, and that's why he deserves to be on the pole.
Q. But .1 mile an hour, you can't hardly compute that, right?
ED CARPENTER: No, but that's the way this series is now. Everything is just thousandths and hundredths of a second all the way through. The battle that you saw for guys fighting for the 30th spot yesterday, the ninth spot yesterday and now today, the strength of this series between the teams and drivers from top to bottom, you've got to be perfect to really put it together because if you're not, everything is so tight you're going to slide down, and that's what's great about being a part of the NTT IndyCar Series is it's really the best competition in the world.
Q. You've had a few laps over 300 miles an hour. Is it possible that moving upward, they'll once again get like they were in the late '80s, early '90s when they were running 335 and so forth?
ED CARPENTER: There's certainly been a lot of talk about figuring out how to get these cars back to Arie's record, lap record speed. I'm certainly a big fan of that. I think it would be amazing. I hope I get to see it while my career is still on going. I think people ask a lot what's your favorite thing about racing Indy cars, and without a doubt it's the speed for me. I think that's what drew me to it as a kid, and it's what I still love about it. I think it would be amazing to see track records fall sometime soon, but we'll just have to see how things progress.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Rev #2 by #392 at 2019-05-19 23:29:00 GMT
