Pigot among seven on Juncos Indy 500 list, Briscoe ruled out
Newcomer Juncos Racing has seven contenders for its Indianapolis 500 seats, including Ed Carpenter Racing's IndyCar road course driver Spencer Pigot, but could not complete a deal with Ryan Briscoe
Ricardo Juncos's team - a frontrunner in the Road to Indy ladder series - has acquired equipment from KV Racing Technology for its IndyCar debut in the series' premier event this month.
Pigot won the 2015 Indy Lights title with Juncos and is available for the Indy 500 as he hands his ECR seat to owner/driver Ed Carpenter for the ovals.
"We have seven drivers bidding for the two seats," Juncos told Autosport.
"Some of them I know have never raised any money so I can't take them.
"But still there are a lot of things not finalised.
"Spencer's guys are still looking for the funding right now, and they know I can't take any risks.
"My IndyCar operation is still very small and I have to be smart because I have already invested a lot of money to be on the grid for the Indy 500.
"Whoever I have driving for us has to cover the possible crash damage; I cannot do that."
Ford GT racer Briscoe, a former Penske and Ganassi IndyCar driver and the 2012 Indy 500 polesitter, had been among the Juncos contenders but that deal is now off the table.
"I really wanted Ryan, because with him we could dream about fighting for the win," Juncos admitted.
"And he would help guide a rookie IndyCar team.
"He came to the shop and we shook hands but for whatever reason the deal didn't happen.
"That was unfortunate because it would have been good for everyone, not just us, to have him on the grid at Indy."
Besides Pigot, remaining candidates are believed to include former IndyCar regular Sebastian Saavedra and sportscar racer James Davison, who has made four IndyCar starts.
Juncos ruled out his current Lights driver Kyle Kaiser, who is second in the feeder series standings at present.
"Kyle unfortunately couldn't find enough sponsorship," he said, "although he is definitely someone I think will have a strong future in IndyCar. He's very good.
"But he is still just 21, and for now I want him to focus purely on Indy Lights - trying to win the Freedom 100 [Indy 500-supporting Lights race] and obviously the championship."
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