Ed Carpenter Racing Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer NEWTON, Iowa — JR Hildebrand got his chance to prove that his testing work last year was not done in vain. Finishing second in Sunday’s Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway for the Verizon IndyCar Series showed it. Hildebrand received much of the credit for then-teammate Josef Newgarden’s victory at last year’s Iowa Corn 300 by testing and perfecting the car’s setup while Newgarden was nursing injuries from a crash at Texas Motor Speedway. Newgarden led 282 laps last year and HildebrandRead More

By INDYCAR FORT WORTH, Texas – The final practice on race eve at Texas Motor Speedway has become known for nonstop action. This evening’s 30-minute session was no exception. Ed Carpenter was fastest with a lap of 224.682 mph in the practice that featured large groups of cars running together to get a better sense of what race conditions will be like for Saturday’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600 following the full track repaving and reconfiguration of Turns 1 and 2 on the 1.5-mile oval. A total of 957 laps wereRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Ed Carpenter Racing’s eponymous team owner has a pretty successful business model. After driving the teams’ sole car in 2012 and 2013, Carpenter contested the ovals in 2014, ceding the road and street courses to Mike Conway. After spending 2015 rebranded as CFH Racing thanks to a merger with Sarah Fisher and Wink Hartman, 2016 brought Spencer Pigot on to contest the road and street courses opposite Carpenter’s oval efforts in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet. The team wouldRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS— A rookie team with a second year driver in the Indianapolis 500 would seem to be a match that wouldn’t produce much in terms of results. However, Juncos Racing and Spencer Pigot aren’t exactly new to each other. Pigot drove for Juncos Racing in karting in the 2000s, rejoining the team in 2014 to win the Pro Mazda championship. The Pasadena, California-born driver then won the Indy Lights championship with the team, becoming the only driver to win multiple championships inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Several drivers in the Indianapolis 500 only run that race as a part of the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. Many do it by choice, many do it by circumstance, some have done both. J.R. Hildebrand is one that has done both. The 2009 Indy Lights champion drove for Panther Racing in the 2011-2013 Indianapolis 500s, earning Rookie of the Year in 2011 and nearly winning. After the 2013 race, Hildebrand was unceremoniously fired from his ride and resorted to doingRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — For Zach Veach, people doubting him is nothing new. “When I first got to Indy Lights everybody was saying ‘There’s no way Veach is going to be able to finish races,’ and by the end of our career in Indy Lights we were running off ten second leads in Indy Lights and had pretty dominant campaigns,” Veach said. Looking at Veach, it’s easy to see why. When seeing him for the first time, many might assume the Ohio native isn’tRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Switching teams from one season to the next can be a daunting task. It can be more daunting when you’re going from having one teammate to having multiple teammates. Further daunting would be joining the most successful team in the Verizon IndyCar Series. That’s what Josef Newgarden has done for 2017, leaving the comfort of Ed Carpenter Racing and stepping up to the big time and with it, a whole different team structure. At Ed Carpenter Racing, the 2011 Indy Lights championRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Sunday is Pole Day for the 101st Indianapolis 500 and here we will have live web coverage of qualifications as we did Saturday. The No. 18 car now driven by James Davison will start 33rd. No. 40 Zach Veach for AJ Foyt Racing Lap 1: 223.913 mph Lap 2: 221.464 mph Lap 3: 222.000 mph Lap 4: 217.064 mph Average: 221.081 mph No. 63 Pippa Mann for Dale Coyne Racing Lap 1: 225.542 mph Lap 2: 224.875 mph Lap 3: 224.831 mphRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana- High gusts of wind severely limited practice for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 as only 21 cars turned laps during Wednesday’s practice session. Ed Carpenter Racing was the quickest team of the day with Ed Carpenter leading with a fastest lap of 222.894 mph in his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet. JR Hildebrand’s No. 21 Preferred Freezer Service Chevrolet was third fastest at 220.553 mph. Scott Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing Honda split the duo with a lapRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer INDIANAPOLIS — In recent years, many stars of the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires have had some difficult luck breaking into a full time ride in the Verizon IndyCar Series so many drivers are accepting one-off drives, including Zach Veach. Veach was given the task of driving the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing at Barber Motorsports Park after regular driver JR Hildebrand was on the mend from a broken hand. Veach now isRead More