What's Next For Ed Carpenter Racing After Newgarden?

With Josef Newgarden confirming his departure from Ed Carpenter Racing on Thursday, what comes next for IndyCar’s only owner-driver outfit?

The 2017 IndyCar season will be a season of change for Ed Carpenter Racing. On Thursday, Josef Newgarden – the team’s only full-time driver and also its best – announced that he will not return, presumably on his way to signing with one of the Big Three.

That leaves ECR with just one person committed to drive for them next year: owner-driver Ed Carpenter, who only competes on IndyCar’s half-dozen oval tracks.

So where does the team go from here? What comes in the era A.N. (After Newgarden)?

The first thing Carpenter will have to do is decide whether or not to keep both cars on the grid in the 2017 season. ECR traditionally only runs one entry, but picked up Newgarden’s No. 21 when it briefly merged with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, and kept it when that partnership ended last off-season.

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Without Newgarden, will ECR want to run two cars? Will it even be able to, as it searches for a second driver and presumably sponsorship?

There will be talent on the market should Carpenter want to keep the No. 21 in operation. JR Hildebrand, who’s run an Indianapolis 500 entry for the team the last few years, is available. So is Gabby Chaves, while Carlos Munoz’s future is in doubt at Andretti Autosport.

Juan Pablo Montoya is rumored to be on the market as well, but one would fathom that ECR is looking for a driver that it could lock up for several years, so as to avoid repeating this situation again in another year or two.

But there’s a caveat: unless Carpenter has something previously worked out, any of these drivers would have to come up with new sponsors, and at least Munoz and Chaves have both had issues securing the financial end of the deal.

The best course of action may be for ECR to bench the No. 21 as it’s still trying to lock down the future of Carpenter’s own No. 20. Spencer Pigot was a mid-season addition as Carpenter’s co-driver this year, and the Indy Lights champ had two Top 10 finishes. Half a season isn’t a huge sample, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to retain Pigot for 2017.

The team could follow in the footsteps of KVSH Racing, which eliminated its second car last year to focus its entire attention on the No. 11 of Sebastien Bourdais. While that didn’t quite work out for KV – Bourdais is now rumored to be leaving for Dale Coyne Racing – putting all of ECR’s limited resources into one car could help it regroup faster than trying to stretch them across two.

What Ed Carpenter Racing really needs next year is a spark. The smaller teams of the league have proven that they can contend, but that’s when they’ve got somebody who can really force the issue. Rahal Letterman Lanigan has a re-energized Graham Rahal, and ECR had Newgarden. Whether it’s in their own entry or driving with Carpenter, this team needs someone who is truly going to attack the competition and keep pushing the team forward.

Next: Josef Newgarden Officially Leaves Ed Carpenter Racing

Who knows who that might be? Or even how long Carpenter will want to continue splitting his time between driving and ownership? But it would be a shame to see ECR fall by the wayside.

Part of what makes IndyCar so compelling is that these small teams are finding ways to battle Penske, Ganassi and Andretti, and just because Newgarden is headed to the top doesn’t mean that his old team should give up the fight.

What do you think the 2017 IndyCar season holds for Ed Carpenter Racing?

What’s Next For Ed Carpenter Racing After Newgarden?

By Brittany Frederick | Sep 30, 2016

With Josef Newgarden confirming his departure from Ed Carpenter Racing on Thursday, what comes next for IndyCar’s only owner-driver outfit?

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