INDYCARNATION

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Ed Carpenter waved to the “yellow shirts” on his way to the garages just as he had done hundreds of times over 15-plus years at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This Opening Day was markedly different, though, even if it didn't register with the 29-year-old stepson of former Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corp. CEO Tony George.

Carpenter, who has finished eighth and fifth in the past two Indianapolis 500s with Vision Racing, is driving the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka entry in a collaboration between Vision Racing and Panther Racing. It’s Carpenter’s first race of the season – and, if successful in qualifying for his seventh 500 Mile Race – will be his 100th IZOD IndyCar Series event.

“It sure would be nice to win one on my 100th start,” said Carpenter, who has a career high of second place (Kentucky 2009) and 27 top-10 finishes in all. “It makes me seem old, but I don’t feel old. Time has gone by too fast."

“A lot of things change but a lot of things stay the same, too. A lot of times when you come into a situation when it’s a one-off race you don’t feel as confident and comfortable. But with the combination of my experience and working with the group of people I’m working with I feel I have a better chance to win than I’ve ever had.”

So far, track time has been progressive. He was seventh on the time chart on the first day of practice in basically what was a shakedown and 23rd (221.535 mph) the next day as the team worked on race setup. He’s teaming with regular Panther Racing driver Dan Wheldon, the 2005 Indy 500 winner and ’09 runner-up, for the first time.

“I was confident coming in that we were going to have good cars and that’s the case,” said Carpenter, who is behind the wheel of the same chassis that he ran in the ‘500’ last year with “a lot of Vision stuff on it and a lot of Panther stuff on it.”

“I worked with (his engineer) Al Bodey and Dave (Cripps), who is Dan’s engineer, at Vision so there’s a familiarity between the whole group. Having that trust already established really makes it easier to go out and run.

“I’ve enjoyed it and enjoyed working with the whole team. I’m grateful to (Panther Racing owner) John Barnes and Panther for helping this come together and obviously Fuzzy’s Vodka. That was the final piece of the puzzle that got us here.”

It’s been a long and emotionally draining process for Carpenter and his extended racing family. His mother and stepfather, Laura and Tony George, are co-owners of Vision Racing, and when proper funding for the IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights entries couldn’t be secured the team that started in 2005 curtailed racing operations while continuing to seek sponsorship. 

“I’m thrilled to be back,” said Carpenter, and Indianapolis resident who won the inaugural Firestone Freedom 100 at the Speedway in 2003. “The Indianapolis 500 is why I love IndyCar racing. When we got to the point this off-season that we knew we weren’t going to be racing full time the focus became Indianapolis. There were times I thought we were solid and then there was a period where I didn’t know if we were going to get something together. You really realize how much this means when you feel like you’re not going to be able to participate.

“In a lot of ways, being in a situation where I wasn’t sure if I was going to be here and with all the uncertainty we’ve gone through – not to say I wasn’t motivated before – I feel like I’m extra motivated to go out and do well because you never know when you won’t be able to do this anymore.”