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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Carpenter Riding High, Looking Ahead After Fontana Win
After scoring a popular win last weekend at Fontana, Ed Carpenter tells SPEED.com he's basking in the victory while looking ahead at how to improve in 2013.
Ed Carpenter's single-car team out-gunned the likes of Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon to earn ECR's first IndyCar Series win. (Photo: LAT)
With the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship on the line, the winner of Saturday night’s MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway was always going to take a backseat to the title celebrations, but that shouldn’t diminish the accomplishment of Ed Carpenter and his first-year team.
Carpenter’s new Ed Carpenter Racing outfit made its debut at St. Petersburg with Derrick Walker helping to oversee a trusty group of top-tier IndyCar veterans like general manager Tim Broyles, engineer Matt Barnes, driver coach Lee Bentham and a collection of talented mechanics, but the team saved its best for the 500 miler last weekend.
Looking like a genuine threat to win from the first lap, Carpenter crossed the line ahead of Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti to finish in front of the Scot for the second consecutive season-ending race, but says it took a few minutes after leaping out of his Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy to realize he was also the winning team owner.
“To be honest, I didn't even really think about the owner-driver element of it until somebody mentioned it to me after the race,” Carpenter told SPEED.com. “I really want to be on the racetrack; I really don't think of myself as an owner. I just try to continue to do my same routine–you’re always trying to better yourself and do things to get better but, I'm really there as a driver. I try to keep the owner stuff to the weekdays when we’re not at the racetrack and I hadn't thought of it that way.”
With Walker in Virginia for an ALMS race, Carpenter relied on his stepfather, Tony George, and Broyles to look after ECR while he concentrated on finding Victory Lane.
“I was really focused when we got out front, just not making any mistakes,” he said. “That's usually the key to 500 mile races that I've been a part of it is executing and not making mistakes, and usually people that do that come out on top. That was the big thing going into the night; we just wanted to have a solid execution all night and we knew we had a good car.”
Carpenter’s prowess on ovals has never been questioned, and after his second career victory following the win at Kentucky he claimed for Sarah Fisher Racing, the well-liked Hoosier said he was met with plenty of congratulations from his fellow drivers…for the most part.
“Yeah, definitely…I haven’t talked to a lot of guys but Justin [Wilson] and Dario both tweeted me last night – obviously I talked to Dario and Scott [Dixon] in victory Lane, although I remember Dario being a little bit more happy for me last year in Kentucky I think,” he said with a laugh.
“After this one he was a little less happy for me and a little more disappointed. But, like I said before, I love racing with Dario in those situations because that's one you don't have to get nervous that he's going to do something to take either one of you out, you can just race hard and clean. I also talked to Ryan [Hunter-Reay] last night, we were congratulating each other.”
Fontana confirmed ECR’s capabilities on ovals, and despite a few missteps on road and street courses this season, Carpenter believes he’s progressed enough in 2012 to have earned the respect of the road racers in the IndyCar Series.
“There was a time a long time ago when I wasn't sure if I was respected or not but I've even heard from a couple guys this year that gave me compliments on the progress I've made on road and street courses,” he said. “That's one thing that's hard to keep focus on at times. But when I first started it I was further off the pace than I was this year and the quality of road racing in our series right now is pretty high, I believe, compared to when I first started.
“I think I've gotten better, it's just that the competition is that much better as well. Obviously, I've got a lot of work to do but I don't worry about not being respected by the guys I race against. I've been doing it long enough that I don't question that.”
Carpenter credited Bentham, the 1998 Toyota Atlantic champion, for advancing his road racing knowledge and technique in their first season of working together.
Carpenter’s new Ed Carpenter Racing outfit made its debut at St. Petersburg with Derrick Walker helping to oversee a trusty group of top-tier IndyCar veterans like general manager Tim Broyles, engineer Matt Barnes, driver coach Lee Bentham and a collection of talented mechanics, but the team saved its best for the 500 miler last weekend.
Looking like a genuine threat to win from the first lap, Carpenter crossed the line ahead of Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti to finish in front of the Scot for the second consecutive season-ending race, but says it took a few minutes after leaping out of his Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy to realize he was also the winning team owner.
“To be honest, I didn't even really think about the owner-driver element of it until somebody mentioned it to me after the race,” Carpenter told SPEED.com. “I really want to be on the racetrack; I really don't think of myself as an owner. I just try to continue to do my same routine–you’re always trying to better yourself and do things to get better but, I'm really there as a driver. I try to keep the owner stuff to the weekdays when we’re not at the racetrack and I hadn't thought of it that way.”
With Walker in Virginia for an ALMS race, Carpenter relied on his stepfather, Tony George, and Broyles to look after ECR while he concentrated on finding Victory Lane.
“I was really focused when we got out front, just not making any mistakes,” he said. “That's usually the key to 500 mile races that I've been a part of it is executing and not making mistakes, and usually people that do that come out on top. That was the big thing going into the night; we just wanted to have a solid execution all night and we knew we had a good car.”
Carpenter’s prowess on ovals has never been questioned, and after his second career victory following the win at Kentucky he claimed for Sarah Fisher Racing, the well-liked Hoosier said he was met with plenty of congratulations from his fellow drivers…for the most part.
“Yeah, definitely…I haven’t talked to a lot of guys but Justin [Wilson] and Dario both tweeted me last night – obviously I talked to Dario and Scott [Dixon] in victory Lane, although I remember Dario being a little bit more happy for me last year in Kentucky I think,” he said with a laugh.
“After this one he was a little less happy for me and a little more disappointed. But, like I said before, I love racing with Dario in those situations because that's one you don't have to get nervous that he's going to do something to take either one of you out, you can just race hard and clean. I also talked to Ryan [Hunter-Reay] last night, we were congratulating each other.”
Fontana confirmed ECR’s capabilities on ovals, and despite a few missteps on road and street courses this season, Carpenter believes he’s progressed enough in 2012 to have earned the respect of the road racers in the IndyCar Series.
“There was a time a long time ago when I wasn't sure if I was respected or not but I've even heard from a couple guys this year that gave me compliments on the progress I've made on road and street courses,” he said. “That's one thing that's hard to keep focus on at times. But when I first started it I was further off the pace than I was this year and the quality of road racing in our series right now is pretty high, I believe, compared to when I first started.
“I think I've gotten better, it's just that the competition is that much better as well. Obviously, I've got a lot of work to do but I don't worry about not being respected by the guys I race against. I've been doing it long enough that I don't question that.”
Carpenter credited Bentham, the 1998 Toyota Atlantic champion, for advancing his road racing knowledge and technique in their first season of working together.
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