Carpenter Completes Two-Day Test At Barber, St. Pete Opener Set for March 22-24

Carpenter Completes Two-Day Test At Barber, St. Pete Opener Set for March 22-24

Topics: Ed Carpenter

Carpenter Completes Two-Day Test At Barber, St. Pete Opener Set for March 22-24

Tom Blattler
Ed Carpenter Racing
March 14, 2013

March 14th 2013 - LEEDS, Alabama – Cool conditions benefited the entire IZOD IndyCar Series field in the two-day testing session at the road circuit of Barber Motorsports Park, as 26 drivers bettered the current track record.

Ed Carpenter, the last IndyCar Series race winner in Fontana, Calif., last September, took his No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet through its paces during the Tuesday and Wednesday practices with the Indianapolis racer posting a best time of one minute, 9.765 seconds for an average speed of 118.765 miles per hour.

Carpenter clocked in for 98 laps in the two days as the Ed Carpenter Racing made its second 2013 testing session.

Late Wednesday, Carpenter slid off the 2.3-mile course and made contact with the guard rail while testing on older tires. Ed was unhurt and the car sustained only minor wing damage. Carpenter was able to drive the car back to the pit area.

However, the team wasn’t able to run a final set of Firestones to improve their speed on the day. The cool temperatures gave the 27-car field some excellent track conditions as the series drivers prepared for next week’s season opener in the streets of St. Petersburg.

Will Power recorded the quickest speed of the two-day test at 123.337 m.p.h.

The St. Petersburg opener will begin at 12:40 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 24, and will be seen live on NBC Sports Network.

“The conditions seemed to be better this morning for us,” said Carpenter. “We were trying some changes this afternoon and it wasn’t the direction we wanted. So we went a different way and I was trying hard on used tires. Then I slid off between turns 13-14. And I got in the guard rail. I’m fine and the car isn’t bad. It bent the front wing a little. It’s too bad because we were going to put on new tires at the end. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the chance. But overall, we were able to get some good direction with the car going into the St. Pete race next week.”