BIRMINGHAM, Alabama —Spencer Pigot compiled a good history with Barber Motorsports Park on his way to racing full time in the Verizon IndyCar Series. His performance Friday in practice for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by America’s First showed that the Ed Carpenter Racing driver may be on his way to building on that resume.
Pigot clocked the second-fastest overall lap of the two practice sessions, touring the 2.3-mile permanent road course in 1 minute, 7.5372 seconds (122.599 mph). The lap in the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet just was a tenth of a second off the pace set by two-time and defending Barber winner Josef Newgarden.
Prior to joining the Verizon IndyCar Series career in 2016, Pigot was undefeated in all his Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires races at Barber. The 24-year-old Floridian chalked up a pair of Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires wins in 2014 and repeated the weekend sweep a year later in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires. The double victories each year helped propel Pigot to season championships in those series and move him up the INDYCAR development ladder to the Verizon IndyCar Series.
"It's been a good track for me,” Pigot said of Barber. “I love coming here, I love the high-speed corners and just the flow that you can get into around here. I don't know if it suits my driving style or what, but it definitely gives me the confidence (that) I know I can be fast here.
“Obviously, (the Verizon IndyCar Series) is a whole new ballgame, and to be fast here is something different than in Indy Lights and Pro Mazda, but now we've shown that we can be quick in practice and we just have to keep it up there.”
Pigot learned about the “new ballgame” the hard way in his first Verizon IndyCar Series race at Barber last year. He spun while running in eighth place, lost a lap waiting to get the car restarted and finished 20th.
Pigot learned that, with greater power from an Indy car, comes greater speed and a smaller margin for error than with the support series machines.
“The general feel of the track is the same,” he said. “Everything just kind of comes at you a lot faster and (there’s) bigger consequences for making mistakes and less room for error. The general feel of the track is very similar and the kind of rhythm you get into is similar, you just have to readjust your timing.”
Pigot does believe that his experience in the Mazda Road to Indy cars gives him an advantage at Barber driving the new Indy car for 2018 with its universal aero kit. He senses similarities.
“I wouldn't say that the two are now identical by any means, but it definitely, I think, brings it a little bit closer in terms of just the overall grip, power-to-grip ratio and downforce as the Lights car,” said Pigot. “I think that's one thing that's nice to kind of be able to draw back on that experience.
“Yeah, it's definitely a little bit closer than it was last year (with the competitive aero kits from Chevy and Honda), but still, there's a lot of differences and a lot of things that you have to do differently to get everything out of an Indy car.
“I think at this track specifically you have to be able to drive a car that’s kind of on edge and the rear has to be free to keep the car rotating around the long corners. That’s a characteristic from a car I’ve always enjoyed and having a really good front and a rear that’s a little loose doesn’t bother me as much.”
Verizon IndyCar Series practice resumes with a 45-minute session at 11:50 a.m. ET today that streams live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app. Verizon P1 Award qualifying airs live at 4 p.m. on CNBC, with a replay on NBCSN at 6:30 p.m.
NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network have live coverage of Sunday’s race starting at 3 p.m. ET.