Ed Carpenter giving up his seat across the final few oval races of the season may well have helped his team to secure an extra £760,000 ($1 million) in prize money.
He allowed rookie driver Christian Rasmussen to take the reins of the number 20 car over in a full-time capacity for the oval races he was meant to compete in originally for September.
Results of 11th, 13th and 16th from the Dane helped to lift them inside the top 22 of the IndyCar leaders’ circle and gain the extra money associated with that finish.
It may have helped Rasmussen secure a full-time drive for 2025 too, with a seat at Ed Carpenter Racing still up for grabs.
Christian Rasmussen thinks it was ‘the right choice’ for him to drive ovals
Rasmussen’s recent performances have backed up what he showed in Indy NXT during his championship-winning campaign of 2023.
He has undoubted talent, and deserves to be in an IndyCar after dragging his team to a better position with very little experience on ovals.
Speaking to RACER about the chance he inherited after the race, he shared his gratitude for the opportunity and faith installed in him.
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“It’s a huge trust,” Rasmussen said. “I got presented with the opportunity and went to it very humbly. I know we had an objective, but I just wanted to do the best I could for the team.
“It was the right choice. It was not an easy task, coming to two new ovals without any test days or anything on a short oval, but it worked out pretty well — P11, P16 and P13 in my first three ovals in an IndyCar other than the Indy 500 — so I’m happy with that.”
IndyCar heads on long break
Ed Carpenter has plenty of time to decide who he wants in his cars for 2025 with six months before the start of next season.
Rinus VeeKay is the driver of his other car and a pending free agent – commanding some interest from other teams as a race winner available on the market.
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Replacing his level of experience so late on in silly season would be difficult, but there are plenty of alternative youthful options on the horizon.
Indy NXT has showcased plenty of talent this year, with Louis Foster, Jacob Abel and Jamie Chadwick all winning races and finishing inside the top eight of the championship.
Whichever direction they go in, they will need more consistency and pace behind the cockpit in order to finish inside the top 10 – something they failed to do once in 2024.