Ed Carpenter Racing has not had a particularly strong start to the weekend, but the team’s owner insists they are in a better place thanks to testing done by the team’s young driver Christian Rasmussen.
Rasmussen is racing with the team on a part-time basis this year, contesting the road courses in the #20 whereas Carpenter takes over the entry himself for the ovals.
The 24-year-old completed a rookie test at World Wide Technology Raceway earlier in the year in preparation for his Indianapolis 500 debut, and helped the team prepare for this weekend’s event in the process.
Despite Carpenter and Rinus VeeKay qualifying 21st and 14th respectively, though VeeKay will start from 12th due to other drivers’ penalties, Carpenter related that he was much more happy with how his team’s cars are handling.
“We’re definitely in a better place than we were this race last year,” said Carpenter. “The team did a good job bringing us something better than what we had last year.
“Christian [Rasmussen] did a test here at rookie day and did a really nice job getting us more prepared. I’m definitely much happier and more comfortable than I’ve been here in the past couple years.
“I thought it felt pretty decent with the changes that we made. I think with the way people are qualifying, everyone’s trimming a little bit, and it’s really just going to be how you hit the balance.”
VeeKay gave a similar sentiment, saying he has been happy with the balance of his car and has been able to push the throttle flat in Turns 3 and 4 during Friday’s running.
Last year, Ed Carpenter started down in 27th and ended the evening in 24th, while Rinus VeeKay climbed from his 20th starting position up to 11th by the end of the race.
Both drivers will be starting a bit further ahead this evening, and will look to earn results good enough to keep them above the all-important Leader’s Circle cutoff line.
