IndyCar: Ed Carpenter Racing seeking to continue Iowa success

Not since the 2014 IndyCar season has a race at Iowa Speedway not resulted in an Ed Carpenter Racing driver finishing in the top two.

When it comes to Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar fans know that you always have to look out for Ed Carpenter Racing, specifically driver/team owner Ed Carpenter.

But what flies under the radar about the team’s speed and their success is their success at another oval, a much smaller oval than the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana.

With all things considered, Ed Carpenter Racing have probably had more success at short oval Iowa Speedway than Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the last few seasons.

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Will that success continue in this year’s running of the 300-lap race around the four-turn, 0.894-mile (1.439-kilometer) Iowa Speedway oval in Newton, Iowa?

The last race at Iowa Speedway that did not result in an Ed Carpenter Racing driver finishing in the top two was the race at the track in the 2014 season.

Ironically, Josef Newgarden, who finished this race in a new career-high second place behind Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport after starting all the way back in 21st, was driving for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, and the following season, Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing merged with Ed Carpenter Racing to for CFH Racing. Newgarden drove for CFH Racing in the 2015 season, and when they rebranded to Ed Carpenter Racing ahead of the 2016 season, Newgarden stayed on board.

Newgarden finished in second place in the race at Iowa Speedway in the 2015 season, behind Hunter-Reay once again, no less, driving his #67 CFH Racing Chevrolet after starting in seventh.

In the 2016 season, Newgarden led the 282 of the race’s 300 laps driving his #21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet en route to winning after starting in second place, marking a dominant bounce-back performance following his devastating crash at Texas Motor Speedway just four weeks earlier that ultimately played a huge role in Team Penske signing him ahead of the 2017 season.

In the 2017 season with Newgarden now driving for Team Penske, J.R. Hildebrand replaced him behind the wheel of the #21 Chevrolet. In the race at Iowa Speedway, he tied his career-high finish with a second place effort after starting in a career-high second, as he finished behind Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves. If you aren’t aware of his other second place finish — well, now isn’t the time to go there.

Hildebrand spent just one season driving full-time for Ed Carpenter Racing, as his second place finish in the race at Iowa Speedway was just one of only two top 10 finishes for him in 2017. He was replaced by Spencer Pigot ahead of the 2018 season.

Pigot, who qualified for the race at Iowa Speedway in 18th place, entered the race having never finished a race in the top six in his IndyCar career, which included 32 starts up until that point. He ended up putting together a methodical second place effort to finish the race behind Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe.

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How will Spencer Pigot and Ed Carpenter fare for Ed Carpenter Racing in this Saturday night’s Iowa 300 at Iowa Speedway? Will either of them continue the team’s top two streak at the track intact? Tune in to NBC Sports Network for the live broadcast of this race, the 2019 IndyCar season’s 12th race, beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET to find out. The race itself is scheduled to begin at 7:10 p.m. ET.