Carpenter turning things around

It would be an understatement to say Ed Carpenter hit a string of bad luck after qualifying on the pole for the 2014 Indianapolis 500.

Carpenter won the pole for the second consecutive year then and was in contention to win the race. Carpenter, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe were driving three-wide going inside Turn 1 on lap 175 when Hinchcliffe bumped Carpenter and both spun out.

Carpenter bounced back with a win at Texas Motor Speedway and took third at Auto Club Speedway. However, outside of top-10 finishes in Milwaukee and Iowa in 2015, results have been largely disappointing for Carpenter, who drives the oval portion of the schedule in his No. 20 for Ed Carpenter Racing.

It’s early, but things are looking up for the Indianapolis native this May. He produced the top speed for Chevrolet on Monday, finishing third overall at 224.969 mph. Wednesday, he posted the fastest practice time at 222.894 mph, with teammate JR Hildebrand placing third at 220.553 on a day when few cars did heavy laps because of the gusts.

“I thought it was important to run on a day like today because it is a challenge,” Carpenter said as he and Hildebrand were the only drivers to top 50 laps. “The wind was very gusty, but to get comfortable in conditions like that bodes well. It could be this windy on race day.”

Carpenter’s performance this month is a contrast to the issues he has endured since 2014. In the 2015 Indianapolis 500, he qualified 12th but finished 30th after clipping Oriol Servia inside Turn 1.

In 2015-16, he entered 11 races and finished just three.

Despite the struggles, the team didn’t make any technical changes going into 2017, and it’s working.

“I don’t think it changes the approach from a team standpoint,” Carpenter said. “We were strong here as a team. Even in the race last year, I was having a good race until we had a mechanical problem, which wasn’t a team issue.”

His only start in 2017, at Phoenix, didn’t appear like it would be any better than the previous season as Carpenter qualified last in the 21-car field.

But things got better on race day as Carpenter finished seventh. Hildebrand finished third. The team has practiced well in Indianapolis, and Carpenter is feeling at ease with the decision to run two cars this year.

“I feel like I’m in better shape than I’ve been in a long time,” the driver-owner said. “Mentally, I’m in a good place.”