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Rain Hits Barber Motorsports Park Friday As Ed Carpenter Gets Limited Time In The Fuzzy's Car

Topics:  Ed Carpenter, Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Rain Hits Barber Motorsports Park Friday As Ed Carpenter Gets Limited Time In The Fuzzy's Car

Tom Blattler
Ed Carpenter Racing
March 30, 2012

March 30th 2012 - LEEDS, AL – Ed Carpenter suffered through a day and half of rain two weeks ago in testing at Barber Motorsports Park. Finally, Carpenter’s new Fuzzy’s Vodka squad was able to test in the dry for just an afternoon run.

For Carpenter and his new team, it was déjà vu all over again in the opening day of practice Friday for Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama as Ed was able to secure times in one practice session but had to sit out the afternoon runs due to thunderstorms. Qualifying is set for 9:40 a.m. CDT Saturday.

“We were able to make some changes in the first session,” said Carpenter. “But the car wasn’t really what we wanted. It is too bad we didn’t get a chance to try the changes we made for the afternoon. That’s a little disappointing since we felt good about going into the second practice. I have never raced here before so the test we did here a few weeks back did help a bit. But it rained then too. So I had a half day of testing and then one practice so far.”

Carpenter recorded 17 laps in the first round in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet with a best time of one minute, 14.571 seconds for an average speed of 111.034 miles per hour. The team decided to park its machine in the second round with a strong downpour pelting the 2.38-mile road circuit east of Birmingham.

“We just don’t have the track time here compared to some of the other guys,” Carpenter said. “It took us some time to learn the street setup in St. Pete and it will take us some time here for the natural road circuit. Just wish we could have run the second practice in the dry. The forecast looks pretty good for the rest of the weekend, so I am positive we can improve the car into qualifying and the race.”

Ed Carpenter Racing made its on-track debut last weekend in the streets of St. Petersburg with an 18th place finish in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series opener. Carpenter and his Fuzzy’s squad performed well with strong pit stops and good strategy. Unfortunately, Ed lost two laps in the 100-lap event when he was struck from behind by eventual winner Helio Castroneves. The Brazilian driver did drop by the Fuzzy’s pits on Friday to apologize to Carpenter for the mishap.