Ed Carpenter
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Ed Carpenter is an Indy Racing League driver born March 3, 1981. He is the stepson of Indy Racing League founder Tony George.
Following a successful career in midget racing that dated as far back as 1989, he moved up to single-seater formula cars in 2002 with the creation of the IRL Infiniti Pro Series. Driving for Sinden Racing Services, he finished third in points with a best finish of second. He drove for legendary owner A.J. Foyt the following season and won the Futaba Freedom 100, the series' most prestigious race, in his backyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He made his Indy Racing League debut later that season contesting a few races for PDM Racing and longtime owner Paul Diatlovich.
In 2004 he ran his first fulltime season for Red Bull Cheever Racing. He struggled to match the pace of experienced teammate Alex Barron and scored only a best result of eighth. Out of a ride for 2005, George started the new Vision Racing team and not surprisingly Carpenter was his driver. He failed to light up the scoreboard again with a solitary top ten finish from 17 starts.
On March 26th, 2006, during the warmup for the Toyota 300 IndyCar Series opener, Carpenter was involved in a brutal crash with driver Paul Dana. Dana died soon after from his injuries; Carpenter was reported to be "awake and alert," and was released the next day suffering only bruised lungs. He returned to the series on April 22 at Twin Ring Motegi. In a rain-affected race in June at Watkins Glen International Carpenter switched to rain tires late in the race while most others stayed on slicks and captured his best IRL finish to date, a sixth place.
[edit] Indy 500 results
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 16th | 31st |
| 2005 | Dallara | Toyota | 26th | 11th |
| 2006 | Dallara | Honda | 12th | 11th |
