Spencer Pigot embarks on a new challenge this weekend with the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway.

Despite over 100 combined races in the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Mazda Road to Indy, the 24-year-old has never turned a lap around the unique, three-turn superspeedway known as the “Tricky Triangle.”

“Nope, never driven around the place,” Pigot said this week. “It’s going to have to happen pretty quick, learning the track and getting comfortable in the first (practice) session on Saturday because qualifying is up second and these practice sessions seem to go by pretty quick.”

There is some confidence for Pigot following a career-best runner-up finish in the oval race at Iowa Speedway last month. However, Pigot acknowledges the dramatic difference he’ll see on Sunday in Pocono’s 2.5 miles versus the 0.894-mile Iowa bullring. For that reason, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver is tempering expectations.

The pilot of the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet will instead rely on his work in the racing simulator to “get the line down and figure out each corner a little bit.” The focus also turns to reviewing past races, going through data from last year with engineer Matt Barnes and acquiring feedback from his peers.

“Pocono is a place where I think both ends of the track can be pretty different,” said the 2015 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion.

“Obviously, they're banked quite differently and also I've heard the wind can play a pretty big factor there. So just learning or seeing how on top of the tools and the roll bars the guys usually are there is something that we've been looking into a lot, just trying to gather as much information as I can before we get there.”

With no track to truly compare with Pocono, data and experience gained from other superspeedways is of little application for this weekend. On top of that are the challenges presented with the 2018 Indy car and its universal aero kit in use at Pocono for the first time.

“I think that getting the car to react or to behave really well in clean air and then in traffic is difficult,” Pigot said. “Obviously throughout the race, you could be in multiple different situations. You're not always going to be behind cars and you're not always going to be behind one car – it could be five, could be six.

“Just having a car that's consistent throughout different conditions that you're in, I think is really important and something that's been pretty challenging to get a hold of so far. But I think the more time we get on the car, the more time I get in the car as well, will only help that and we'll learn more and more.

“We've got a few ideas heading into this weekend that, hopefully, they pan out for us.”

Teams will also have the option of using front wing extensions and wickers for the first time at Pocono. The intent from INDYCAR is to increase front downforce minimally and to give teams more freedom for adjustability.

“I think the idea behind it is to just have the front wing work a little bit better in dirty air and in traffic so that you're able to get better runs on the exits (of the corner) than we saw at Indy,” Pigot said.

“At Indy, it was very difficult to pass. You almost kind of had to wait for someone to make a little bit of a mistake to get a really good run. So, the idea behind (the front wing extensions) is to make it, maybe, less sensitive to dirty air and falling behind other cars. So, we'll see.”

With four races to go on the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, Pigot sits 14th in the standings, but only 54 points out of 10th place. Although difficult, he believes “it’s possible” to crack the top 10 by season’s end.

“We have to be really strong the last four races and, with double points at Sonoma, anything can happen,” Pigot reminded of the season finale. “I think everyone has races they look back on and say, ‘Man, I really gave up a handful of points there.’ I think we've definitely had a few, most recently in Toronto and threw away a seventh place, which would have been a handful of points.

“It is what it is and we're now in that situation where we’ve just got to kind of attack every weekend and try to do our best. Whatever happens with the points happens.”

A 60-minute practice is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday at Pocono and will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com, youtube.com/indycar and the INDYCAR Mobile app. Verizon P1 Award qualifying airs live at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on NBCSN, ahead of a final practice at 4:45 p.m. (RaceControl.IndyCar.com, youtube.com/indycar and INDYCAR Mobile app).

Live race coverage of the ABC Supply 500 begins at 1:30 p.m. Sunday on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.