Hospital visit for Alberico, Pigot and Newgarden at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus on Thursday Pigot leading Pro Mazda championship Alberico and Pigot looking forward to seeing 2015 Indy Lights Dallara in action on Monday
Mansfield, Ohio — Even for guys who get to chase their dreams and dedicate their entire life to racing, a little bit of a break can be a good thing.
This weekend’s big Verizon IndyCar Series race weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will feature both the IndyCar and Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires series in action, and all three Rising Star Racing drivers are rested and ready to get back to competition after a bit of a break between races.
For Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden, the break was brief with just one off weekend following a chaotic Honda Indy Toronto doubleheader race weekend. The weather played havoc with the event all weekend long as downpours forced organizers to make Sunday a two-race day, which also featured weather playing a role right to the finish.
Newgarden headed South of the border to Mexico to rest and relax ahead of the Mid-Ohio weekend as he looks to convert the speed that his recent rounds have shown into the results that the young American is capable of delivering.
For Pigot and Alberico, it has been a full month since their last laps in Pro Mazda presented by Cooper Tires competition. And those laps were furious ones that saw Pigot score a win at the street circuit surrounding Reliant Park in Houston with Alberico giving chase to the finish as Pigot emerged from the weekend with the championship points lead.
The month break gave the Mazda pilots the chance to continue to double down on their physical training as well as take on some other pursuits with the added ‘free time’ between events.
“My dad taught me how to barefoot ski at the lake last week,” said the Northern Californian native Alberico. “Barefooting is something I always wanted to get good at because everyone talked about how hard it was, and how painful it was to learn. So naturally I had to get my foot in the water... so to speak!”
Alberico has a record that is literally wreckers or checkers at Mid-Ohio, with two race wins (one in the wet and the other in the dry) and a third race that saw him caught up in a 10-car accident last year.
For Pigot, the break between races saw him slowing down a little bit less than his Rising Star Racing teammates as he continued his hunt for podiums, this time North of the border in IMSA competition.
“I'd have to say the best thing during the break was racing in downtown Toronto in the Porsche GT3 Cup Canada championship with Alegra Motorsports,” said Pigot. “It's a great track and we were able to win there. Other than that I went home to Florida to visit my family and friends which was a lot of fun as well.”
Pigot is looking forward to another maximum attack weekend at Mid-Ohio, and has fond, as well as less-fond, memories of the track
“I really enjoy Mid-Ohio,” said Pigot. “It's a very unique track with all the elevation changes and it has a good mix of slow and fast corners. My personal highlight was winning the first USF2000 race of the weekend in 2012. The lowlight was probably the day after that when my teammate Matt Brahbam and I crashed into each other. The Cape brothers weren't too happy about that!”
Both Alberico and Pigot will make a little bit longer of a weekend as the duo will stick around to take in the first public testing of the new Indy Lights Dallara, which is set to test on Monday at Mid-Ohio as the young Americans look to get a first-person take on what they both hope to be their next race cars.
“The new Indy lights car is sexy,” said Alberico. “I would do just about anything to get the opportunity to drive that Dallara.”
“The new Indy Lights car looks awesome!” offered Pigot. “I'm excited to see how it goes on track. I think Dan Andersen and Dallara have done a great job with it and I hope to be racing one next season.”
The on-track action will kick off with a promoter test day on Thursday for the Pro Mazda drivers, who along with Newgarden will then travel to Columbus Ohio to visit the Nationwide Children’s Hospital with the Austin Hatcher Foundation. Tune in to NBCSN for the Verizon IndyCar race at 3:00 PM ET on Sunday.