Ed Carpenter Heads to Kentucky Looking Forward, Not Back

Ed Carpenter delivered arguably the most David vs. Goliath moment in IndyCar over the last five years when he almost beat Ryan Briscoe to the line to win at Kentucky in 2009.

Driving for one-car Vision Racing -- a relative funding minnow in the IRL ocean -- Carpenter went wheel-to-wheel with big-fish Penske and almost won.

Relive the 2009 race highlights here:

Ed and Vision/Panther Racing head back to Kentucky this weekend, but he says he's looking forward to the 2010, not back on 2009.

pressdog: Going into the race at Kentucky, will you be flashing back to your soooo close P2 finish in 2009 during the whole race?

Ed: I’m going to try not to be. This series changes so much all the time. Just because we had a good set-up and good car last year doesn’t really mean that will be the case this year. You just have to keep your eye on the ball and work hard and adapt to whatever is changing. You think back to that race last year. We didn’t really get practice because of the weepers, didn’t qualify, and there were some new rules in place. There were a lot of things (going on) and we just hit it perfect last year. I think last year you could say we caught some people with their pants down.

This year Ganassi is going to be better than they were last year. Even so, I think that our cars are faster right now (going into Chicagoland) than they were this time last year. I’ll be disappointed if we’re not in the hunt for sure, but I’m not going to relive the past. I’m just going to try and put myself in the same position again.

(For a Q&A with Ed right after his near miss, go HERE.)

pressdog: You’re back from the wilderness (not having a ride). How did you make it back for Chicagoloand, Kentucky and Homestead?

Ed: We started of talking about it after May. (Sponsor) Fuzzy's Vodka was really happy with me and wanted to try and do more with us. It was a successful venture for them, getting some awareness and selling vodka. They see a lot of synergies with racing and golf and it’s just another way to spread their brand. In the start of May, they were in 14 or 15 states and now they are already up to 22 states just since then. It’s growing fast and I think they see the racing program as part of that.

We started talking seriously about it right after May. They basically told us after May they wanted to do more and we just had to figure out how to make it work. They came to us and told us where they wanted to run and the schedule kind of worked out for everybody where they wanted to be. For the equipment we had and what we were capable of doing, it just worked out we could do these three (Chicagoland, Kentucky and Homestead).

pressdog: Did you feel cobwebs or rustiness coming in the car again after being out since Indy?

Ed: Not really. I tested a couple of weeks ago at Kentucky, so kind of got all that stuff out of the way. Although I did downshift in qualifying (for Chicagoland) when I wasn’t supposed to so I guess I didn’t knock all the rust off (laughter). (Ed accidentally downshifted from sixth to fifth while trying to adjust the weightjacker in his car during qualifying at Chicagoland.)

pressdog: Chicagoland might not be back next year. What do you think about that?

Ed: It sucks. It sucks bad. You hear a lot of concern about about keeping the schedule 50/50. I think they are going to have a hard time doing that. ISC (International Speedway Corporation) owns a lot of tracks, and I understand the situation where it’s a difficult relationship sometimes, but they own too many race tracks for us to not be racing at ISC tracks. This is a good event, so I’d hate to lose it. It’s a big market in Chicago. A lot of fans come up from Indy and from around the Midwest. I can’t remember what year it was when the league started the Midwest push, but all in all it’s been pretty good success so it would be sad to see this race go away.

pressdog: Does the twisty/oval split concern you?

Ed: I’m fine with balance. There are hard-core oval fans. There are obviously drivers who like and excel at either discipline. But when it comes to fans, there is a different fan base for the road courses and street course that is just as passionate about them as the hard-core oval fans. So I am fine with balance. You can’t argue the fact that if you go to a street race, they are a lot of fun. It’s a great atmosphere. They may not be the best on TV all the time, but at the same time they make a lot of sense business-wise for the league and they are fun when you are there. It’s a good atmosphere. People like going to them to attend. There’s always a balance of TV ratings, attendance -- you know, all of it. I think that’s why it’s important to try and keep this schedule as close to 50/50 as you can. We’ll see where it goes in the future.

pressdog: Would you like to do more driving in road and street courses?

Ed: I would love to. I think I was getting better — the whole league was getting better — on road and street courses. I really enjoyed being teammates with (Ryan) Hunter-Reay a couple years ago. It just didn’t work out for him to keep running, but I never had had a teammate who is a competent road course racer. It would be fun to be teamed with a guy who has road and street races as their strong suit and let me kind of worry about the oval stuff, and help each other like that. I think I could do a lot better (on the twisties) but I want to race, I want to race, and hopeful I get a chance to do more of it.

pressdog: Does learning to drive the road courses take a long time for an oval guy?

Ed: Sure seems like it. It’s just hard. We do have the ability to go test now. We get a certain amount of miles and tires. But we were in a situation the past couple years where we weren’t even able to use the miles just because of the budget we were working on. It would be nice If I were in a strong situation where I would be able to go get some testing away from (race weekend at) the track and things like that. When you get into the race events — with session and qualifying, warm up, and race — its hard to really try a bunch of things and make improvements. I’d love the opportunity to do more of it. But I take what I can get at this point.

pressdog: What was the strangest thing about being out of a ride for the first time in a long time?

Ed: I had been full time since 2004 in IndyCar. Full-time in some series basically my whole life. It’s been a weird summer and weird season for me. I think obviously aside from just missing being in the car and going fast, I’ve been traveling my whole life and it kind of gets boring being home sometimes. Not so much with kids being around because they keep you busy, but it’s weird not traveling. I’ve gone to some of the races, not all of them, so it’s awkward being home all the time. I’m glad I love my family as much as I do.

pressdog: Can you watch it on TV?

Ed: I do, but to be honest I don’t pay that much attention to it. It’s painful enough coming to watch them when am not driving, but it's something you got to do.

pressdog: How’s it looking for 2011?

Ed: We’re working really hard on it; working on a lot of things. But with the way the things have gone in the past year and a half, I try not to get too excited about anything. But I’m optimistic.

pressdog: Do you ever see team ownership, Ed Carpenter Racing, in the future?

Ed: I don’t know, man. I’d have to have a strong partner. Maybe if Fuzzy keeps growing the way they are, maybe they will back me. To get into this sport as an owner you have to know you have someone who is going to be with you and support you long term and help grow a team. It’s so hard coming into the sport new. That's always the most frustrating thing about having to shutdown Vision Racing, we were just getting so close. We had grown, had a good database and information, which we still have to some extent, and were growing in a lot of ways. I’d really like to get it back up and running.

pressdog: So you don’t spend a lot of time lamenting the role of money in starting a team, getting a ride, etc?

Ed: That’s just the way it is. There so many people who are in the same situation as me and a lot of owners who want to be here who aren’t. Bitching about it doesn’t get you anywhere. Some guys who sit on the sideline and complain about ridebuyers and guys who bring sponsors — that’s the way it is. It’s 2010. Racing is expensive. It is what it is. You just have to adapt and find some money.

pressdog: Does this pack racing at Chicagoland and to some extent Kentucky freak out your wife and family?

Ed: Heather (wife) is really cool. She was a nurse for the series. That’s how we met, so she’s got a high level of respect and trust for all he doctors and nurse that travel with us. So I think she’s comfortable from that aspect and she’s just pretty laid back and doesn’t get too worried or freaked out. And I don’t even had a big life insurance policy or anything (laughter).

pressdog: Is your dad, Tony George, still involved in the team?

Ed: Yeah. It’s changed, though. It’s a collaborative effort. I think he has a harder time being active just because he doesn’t want to feel like he’s overstepping his bounds with (Panther boss) John Barnes, but we have a good relationship. It wouldn’t happen without his support and the work he’s done with Fuzzy, so he’s an integral piece. He probably doesn’t have as much of leadership role as he did with Vision, but hopefully be able to change that.

Comments

[Jack]

Ed is one of the good ones. And the Fuzzy's Vodka car was the sweetest-looking car in the field at Chicagoland.

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[GeorgeK]

AND he's on pole for this weekend! Must be the Pressdog magic coverage working its charm.

[new balance]

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