ED CARPENTER SET TO RESUME FIRESTONE 600 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SATURDAY NIGHT

Ed Carpenter Racing logo

ED CARPENTER SET TO RESUME FIRESTONE 600 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY SATURDAY NIGHT
Carpenter To Restart 5th; Josef Newgarden Not Permitted To Participate
SPEEDWAY, Ind. (August 24, 2016) – Race Resumption Notes

  • After a 76 day delay, the Firestone 600 will resume Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway. The 248 lap race, originally scheduled for the night of Saturday, June 11, was delayed due to weather until the afternoon of Sunday, June 12. It was then suspended after 71 laps when rains came again and is now set to resume on Saturday, August 27.
  • Ed Carpenter Racing began the Firestone 600 with two cars in the event. Ed Carpenter, the 2014 winner at Texas Motor Speedway, will resume the race from the 5th position. Carpenter started 14th and had moved into the Top 5 following the first round of pit stops.
  • On Lap 42, Josef Newgarden was working his way around Conor Daly when Daly’s car broke loose, collecting the bright green No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet and sending Newgarden into the wall upside down. Newgarden sustained a broken right clavicle and a broken right hand in the accident.
  • The pit lane opened on Lap 51 and quick work by the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka crew helped Carpenter keep his 5th place position. Carpenter continued to circle the track with the rest of the field as crews worked to clean up the debris and repair the SAFER Barrier. The same issue that plagued the 1.5-mile oval on Saturday night returned and the red flag flew under rain on Lap 71. The downpour caused officials to make the decision to return to Texas Motor Speedway in August.
  • Just 14 days after the accident at Texas, Newgarden drove in the next race at Road America. With his clavicle surgically repaired and a brace on his hand, he drove to an 8th place finish after starting 20th. The following race at Iowa Speedway, only one month after the accident, Newgarden dominated the event by leading 282 of 300 laps on his way to his first oval Indy car win.
  • On June 24, INDYCAR announced Daly and Newgarden would not be allowed to continue in the event. The statement read: “(the) No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet driven by Josef Newgarden will not be permitted to participate in the continuation due to the extensive chassis and engine damage each sustained in a crash on Lap 42.” Newgarden will be awarded points for a 22nd place finish. He currently sits third in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings.
  • The completion of the Firestone 600 will be Carpenter’s last race in 2016. The team owner, who only competes in the oval events, will hand the car over to Spencer Pigot for the final two road courses of the year. Carpenter is looking for redemption after dropping out of last week’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway after only a quarter of the race with an electrical failure.
  • The Firestone 600 will resume from Lap 72 on Saturday, August 27th and will be broadcast live on NBCSN at 9 p.m. ET.

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET, RESTARTING 5TH: “I am excited to get back to Texas and finish what we started in June. It is an odd circumstance to go back and pick up a race that began such a long time ago, but we are determined to go get a result for ECR, Fuzzy’s, Chevrolet and for Josef who will not be competing in the remainder of this event. It is also the last race for me of 2016, so I want to go out on a high note after what has been a challenging season for the 20 car. I know that we have what it takes to get a victory in Texas, now we just have to go and make it happen.”