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ECR Set To Turn First 2013 Laps Wednesday at Sonoma

Topics: Ed Carpenter

ECR Set To Turn First 2013 Laps Wednesday at Sonoma

Tom Blattler
Ed Carpenter Racing
February 26, 2013

ECR Set To Run First 2013 Laps Wednesday at Sonoma

February 26th 2013 - INDIANAPOLIS – It’s been some time since Ed Carpenter and his Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet machine took the checkered flag in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season finale, the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway on September 15. 2012.

It was an exciting, last-lap victory for the first-year Ed Carpenter Racing squad.

Now, the Indianapolis-based team returns to the track for the first time in 2013 when Carpenter and his No. 20 mount make testing laps Wednesday at the 2.30-mile road course at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California.

Carpenter and his team decided to skip the Sebring test session last week and prepare for the tricky Sonoma circuit.

“Anytime there are people testing somewhere and you’re not there you feel like you’re missing something, but we’ll get our turn this week and we’re excited about that,” said Carpenter, the only team owner/driver in the IndyCar Series. “The season is just around the corner and we have a lot of work to do there so it should be a good test.”

Carpenter, the only IndyCar Series driver from the USAC sprint car and midget ranks, looks to continue the road course progress his contingent made in their last road race at Baltimore. Carpenter started eighth in the Grand Prix of Baltimore last September.

“We felt we were getting better with our street circuit setups and Baltimore was a good qualifying performance for us,” said the Butler University graduate. “So getting back on the road course at Sonoma will help us work on that process. It will feel great to be back in the race car again.”

Carpenter will be joined by eight other IndyCar drivers Wednesday at Sonoma Raceway including JR Hildebrand, Oriol Servia, Tony Kanaan, Simona de Silvestro, Sebastien Bourdais, Sebatian Saavedra, Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Vautier.

“Just to win one race in the IZOD IndyCar Series is very difficult,” Carpenter admitted. “And to win a race in the team’s very first year is quite an achievement. I feel the Ed Carpenter Racing/Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy team stuck together through the ups and downs of the first year. Our team is much more prepared for the 2013 season.”

Carpenter believes the Sonoma test will assist ECR’s preparation for the opening four events in the 2013 campaign, all street and road events.

“We were able to make progress with our street and road setups,” he said. “I think I’ve gotten better, but the competition is much better too. Now our team’s goals for 2013 are to keep improving.”

The 19-race 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series begins in the streets of St. Petersburg March 22-24 at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.