Carpenter's Texas Charge Slowed By Vibration and Tough Luck

Carpenter's Texas Charge Slowed By Vibration and Tough Luck

Topics: Ed Carpenter, Firestone 550

Carpenter's Texas Charge Slowed By Vibration and Tough Luck

Tom Blattler
Ed Carpenter Racing
June 10, 2012

Carpenter's Texas Charge SHortened By Vibration and Tough Luck

June 10th 2012 - FT. WORTH, TEXAS – Ed Carpenter made a sensational charge Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway in the Firestone 500. But at the finish, he had to settle for 12th in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet.

Starting 19th in the 24-car field, the owner/driver of Ed Carpenter Racing made his way to the top ten by lap 37 after a solid pit stop by the ECR crew. And Carpenter continued his charge to the top five by lap 67.

At the 100th lap, the Butler University grad began challenging the likes of Graham Rahal, James Hinchcliffe and eventual race winner Justin Wilson. He slipped past Hinchcliffe for third on lap 111 and set his sights for second.

After having to pit on lap 119, Carpenter slid back to sixth but drove up to third ten laps later. But by lap 137, Ed felt a vibration in his Dallara chassis and his mount began having oversteer. The “loose” condition forced him to pit under the green flag on lap 170. The pit stop dropped Carpenter a lap behind the leaders and he had to fight his way through some heavy traffic.

Late in the race, Carpenter began moving towards a top-ten finish, but another “loose” condition relegated him to 12th at the checkered flag. It was a tough conclusion for Carpenter and his ECR/Fuzzy’s squad in a night that looked so promising at the midway point of the 228-lap feature.

The ECR team now travels to Iowa Tuesday for a testing session before heading to the legendary Milwaukee Mile for next Saturday’s IndyFest, the 225-lap feature set for 1:30 p.m. EDT.

“It’s disappointing because we made our way to the front,” said Carpenter. We had a vibration during a couple of stints that cost us a lot of time. It was just a weird race. I know we are all worried about pack racing but I prefer the way we raced at Texas before. And I may be on an island in that sentiment. Hopefully the fans enjoyed the race never the less. We worked our way to the front and that we had a good chance to stay there. Obviously, we were hoping for better than 12th tonight. We had a little tough luck on our green flag pit stop because, about two or three laps later, the yellow came out when Scott Dixon crashed. But that is racing. We’ll regroup and get ready for Milwaukee next week.”