IndyCar: Ed Carpenter will finish 2019 season with promise

Ed Carpenter’s last IndyCar race of the year is Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500, but the veteran driver has had a solid 2019 season.

When Ed Carpenter takes to the grid for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, it’ll be the last time he races in the NTT IndyCar Series this year. Since Carpenter only races ovals, he won’t be in the No. 20 for the last two events of the 2019 season.

Given that he only runs a partial season, it’s harder to evaluate Carpenter’s progress relative to other IndyCar drivers. One has to go back to 2013 to see the last time he completed a full season, and as such, he’s not in the hunt for the Astor Cup.

But that’s not what motivates the Illinois native. He’s the league’s only owner-driver, and he’s made a successful niche for himself as an oval specialist, while also using his part-time schedule to offer opportunities to other competitors.

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So when Carpenter fires up his engine at Gateway, he can do so feeling pretty good about how it’s all unfolded in 2019.

Individually, he’ll still be looking for his first win of the season — and his first podium — in front of the crowd in his home state.

With IndyCar having dropped ISM Raceway (Phoenix) off its schedule after the 2018 season and replaced it with the road course at Circuit of the Americas, he’s also competing in one less race than he did last year.

But in the four races he’s run to date, Ed Carpenter has two top 10 finishes. He came in sixth both last weekend at Pocono and in the 103rd Indianapolis 500.

He’s also markedly improved his results in two races compared to where he ended up in 2018. Last year, the No. 20 finished 20th in the night race at Texas; this season, Carpenter came across the line in 13th. And that sixth place result at Pocono was significantly better than the 10th place finish he had previously.

If he comes in 11th or better at Gateway, Carpenter will have accomplished more in all but two races year over year.

It may be a small sample size, but to post better results in at least half of one’s races isn’t a small feat, given the high level of competition in IndyCar. And if Carpenter does even somewhat well in Saturday’s event, he will also have been in the top 10 an impressive 60 percent of the time he raced in 2019. What driver wouldn’t want those percentages?

One also can’t consider Ed Carpenter without looking at his contributions as an owner. He gave a half-season seat to Ed Jones this year, after the should-have-been 2017 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year didn’t pan out at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Jones can hopefully continue to develop, just like Spencer Pigot, who has looked solid in his second full season driving the No. 21 for Ed Carpenter Racing.

Pigot has two top five finishes, and he is on track to set a new career-best in the IndyCar championship standings. With three races to go, he’s only 48 points away from beating his previous high. That’s improvement, and between him and Jones, Carpenter’s team has a decent nucleus for the future.

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Hopefully Ed Carpenter will have an excellent showing at Gateway to finish the 2019 IndyCar season on a high note. Whatever happens, though, he can look back at both his personal results and what he’s been able to do with his team and feel like they’re better now than before.