Christian Rasmussen performed admirably over his rookie season in IndyCar and will continue with Ed Carpenter Racing next season.
The Danish driver was given a chance in IndyCar after his impressive junior career, which culminated in winning the Indy NXT title in 2023.
Rasmussen completed on all the road and street courses in IndyCar and got some vital experience on ovals at the Indy 500 as well as the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway.
He raced at the final two ovals of the season, as Ed Carpenter will only compete in the Indy 500 next season.
The Ed Carpenter Racing driver steadily progressed throughout the IndyCar season and scored his first top-10 finish of the season at Mid-Ohio, taking ninth place.
When speaking to the official IndyCar website, despite his best result of the season coming at the Honda Indy 200, he explained that it wasn’t the highlight of his campaign.
Christian Rasmussen ‘loved every minute of’ the Indy 500 in IndyCar
Rasmussen had progressed through the junior ranks and was suddenly racing in front of a much bigger crowd than he had done before at the Indy 500.
The Danish driver drove well on his first time racing on the oval at The Brickyard, finishing in 12th place in a very impressive drive.
He explained that he enjoyed the Indy 500 and hopes to compete again at Indianapolis. He is likely to do so at The Brickyard as Rasmussen has signed to continue with Ed Carpenter Racing alongside Alexander Rossi in 2025.
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Rasmussen said: “Around Laguna (Seca) I think things were starting to head in the right direction. The (Indianapolis) 500 was the highlight. I loved every minute of it.
“I think that was so cool. Hopefully I get to do that again. I also think Mid-Ohio was really strong for us — made the Fast 12 (he started ninth) and finished ninth in the race was strong.”
Christian Rasmussen built a good foundation this year to develop from in IndyCar
IndyCar is a significant step up from the championships on the junior ladder, it takes some adjusting as the drivers are under much more pressure.
The series’ schedule is very demanding and was underestimated by Chip Ganassi Racing driver Linus Lundqvist in IndyCar.
Rasmussen didn’t deliver spectacular results, but the 24-year-old was consistently driving well, and his experience on ovals should help him next season.
The Danish driver will also have a good benchmark to learn from in Rossi, who has spent much of his career at the front of the field with Andretti and Arrow McLaren.