INDIANAPOLIS - The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew were the unsung heroes of the day on Thursday, building up a new tub nearly from scratch to ensure rookie Spencer Pigot got at least an installation lap in in the No. 16 RLL/Mi-Jack/Manitowoc Honda.
Pigot crashed on Wednesday, the first crash on the oval this month, after running over some debris that cut the right side tires of the car and caused an abnormal spin.
But the crew completed the build job, ensuring Pigot got out after tech in the final 15 minutes of the day. Though no official time or speed was recorded, that didn’t matter.
“I feel good. I only had to suffer through a split moment of pain and the guys have been working hard for the whole last 24 hours so I feel much worse for them,” Pigot said.
“They have had to rebuild the whole car but they did a great job and got us out for an install lap which was important so we could go through everything and make sure we are ready to go tomorrow and get some track time which is very much needed. I just can’t thank them enough for their hard work.”
Photos from the rebuild are below:
They're working hard on @SpencerPigot car after crash. @RLLracing pic.twitter.com/1h6e983PfE
— Chris Widlic (@Chris_Widlic) May 19, 2016
.@RLLracing boys working hard on @SpencerPigot back up car. "It's close" they tell me. pic.twitter.com/VhUdkCSV1Y
— Chris Hagan (@ChrisHaganIndy) May 19, 2016
Car is coming together nicely. Can't thank the @RLLracing guys enough for how hard they've worked to build a new car pic.twitter.com/cXrIn9TSX7
— Spencer Pigot (@SpencerPigot) May 19, 2016
Pigot about ready to head out for an install lap. pic.twitter.com/2UEYh9eo6o
— Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) May 19, 2016