Ed Carpenter announced that he would be stepping aside from his seat to race on IndyCar’s oval layouts to allow Christian Rasmussen to gain more experience in the series.
The American driver, who has featured just four times so far in 2024, cited that his colleague ‘deserves’ an expanded opportunity to race more often.
Carpenter has also failed to finish inside the top 10 of an IndyCar race for three years, where he finished fifth during the 2021 Indianapolis 500.
It has also been 10 years since his last victory, which came at the Firestone 600K at the Texas Motor Speedway in 2014.
What are Ed Carpenter’s future IndyCar plans now?
At the age of 43, it would be easy for Carpenter to hang his racing gloves up for good now, but it doesn’t seem as if he’s ready to do that quite yet.
Rinus VeeKay was the last driver to win in one of his Ed Carpenter Racing cars, back in 2021 at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, but the Dutchman has failed to recapture that sort of form with the team to this day.
“First off, this was a very difficult decision for me to make,” Carpenter said. “I want to make it clear that this is not a retirement announcement. However, the reality is, I have not performed to the level that I expect of myself for the team.
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“Christian tested at Gateway prior to the race and he showed me that he deserves this expanded opportunity.
“He also had such a strong performance during the Month of May and has earned the chance to continue his development. I am excited to watch him finish the season out strong for the No. 20 crew and the entire ECR team.”
Rasmussen receives golden opportunity to prove his oval credentials
Rasmussen is 23rd in the IndyCar standings, with a singular top 10 finish at Mid-Ohio earlier this season.
The only oval he was handed the opportunity to race on was Indianapolis, where he finished an impressive 12th place on debut.
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“First and foremost, I am incredibly thankful to Ed for providing me this opportunity,” Rasmussen said. “I am excited to drive the No. 20 in the remaining three races and I am fully committed to giving the team my absolute best.
“While I haven’t raced at Milwaukee or Nashville before, my past performances on ovals have been strong and I’m eager to add these tracks to the list.”
The Milwaukee Mile 250 is a double-header race weekend, meaning that Rasmussen has an excellent opportunity to bag his best result of the season.