CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES – ECR 2026 Preview

***ECR drivers Christian Rasmussen and Alexander Rossi celebrate Rasmussen’s victory at the Milwaukee Mile***

First year with Chevrolet: 2012

Years with Team Chevy: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, & 2026

Starts with Chevrolet-power: 432

Wins with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 9 (T4th/T2nd), with the first win by Ed Carpenter at California Speedway in 2012

Poles with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 6 earned poles and pole starts (T5th/4th), with the first pole by Ed Carpenter at the Indianapolis 500 (IMS Oval) in 2013

Podiums with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 26 (6th/4th), with the first podium by Ed Carpenter at California Speedway in 2012

Team Notes:

Is one of two teams that have been part of Chevrolet since the iconic Detroit, Michigan brand returned to racing in 2012
100% of the team’s all-time wins (9) and poles (6) have come with Chevrolet power
A total of 16 drivers have made Chevrolet-powered INDYCAR starts for the team, with Ed Carpenter leading all drivers with 94 starts powered by the Bowtie at ECR
Formerly known as Ed Carpenter Racing, the team’s name is now ECR.
Currently headquartered on Georgetown Road in Indianapolis, Ind., the team will be moving into a newly constructed shop at Grand Park in Westfield, Ind., prior to the beginning of the 2027 season
The team made some significant organizational changes over the offseason

o Tim Broyles, the team’s first employee, has been promoted to Team President

o Matt Barnes, another early hire, has been promoted to Vice President of Engineering

o Joining ECR as Team Manager is Derek Davidson, an experienced INDYCAR hand, who has served in every non-engineering competition role

o Joining ECR as Senior Project Engineer is Robert Gue, an experienced developmental engineer who has helped teams win three Indianapolis 500 pole positions, including in 2025

o Chase Campbell has joined the team in the role of Strength and Conditioning Coach and Pit Stop Coach. The team finished last year as the 14th and 20th-best teams on pit road

Starts with Chevrolet: 50

Wins with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 0

Poles with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 0

Podiums with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 2 (T41st/21st) – his first podium was on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in 2023

Strategist: Ed Carpenter

Race Engineer: Quentin Montigaud

Crew Chief: Austin Shepherd

Noteable:

The veteran finished off the season strong, with three straight top tens, including a pair of top five finishes, moving to 15th in the championship standings from 18th
Finished better than his teammate in ten of 17 races, and outqualified him 11 to six
Team Owner Ed Carpenter moved back into the role of Rossi’s strategist for the last few races of the 2025 season, and will continue in that role for this season (excepting the Indianapolis 500)
Quentin Montigaud, a Frenchman who was most recently the Senior Tire and Simulation Performance Engineer, will move into the role of race engineer for Rossi

Quotable:

Q. When you had your post-season debrief meeting with the team, what was the general feeling? Did y’all feel like you accomplished what y’all set out to do?

“Yes and no. I think we were pleasantly surprised with some aspects of the year, and felt we came up short in some others, which is probably the same for every team, right?

“I think what was generally quite good was qualifying performances, and then – at least on the 20 car side. And then a little bit of a disappointment on race day, just not quite turning the decent starting spots into big results.

“There’s been a lot of focus on that and our approach to how you manage a race. There’s been a lot of investment and time put into what we’re doing from a pit crew standpoint and the training that goes into that.

“The whole organization is just really looking at all of the boxes and making sure we’re ticking as many of them as humanly possible. Ted has given a very clear direction and expectation of what he wants from the whole team, drivers included.

“He wants a certain standard upheld, and that’s cool to be a part of ’cause there’s an expectation. There’s some pressure that goes along with that, but in the best kind of way.

“We’re all excited for the opportunity. Like I said, it’s hard to really talk about it too much because this is all just in conference rooms and meetings you’ve had. It’s not until you get to the track where you can really all put it into action.”

Q. How do you contrast the position the team was in at the start of last season to the position the team is in now?

“Expectations are much higher. I kind of talked about that before in terms of Ted has made it very clear that he’s involved in this, yes, because he loves the sport and yes, because he uses it as a good marketing arm for his products, but also because he’s a competitor and he’s here to win.

“I think the atmosphere within the organization, everyone is excited. Everyone believes that after a long time that we are now starting to get the pieces together to go out and compete with the best.

“Now, does that happen overnight? Absolutely not. Are we all of a sudden going to be a CGR? No. Are we going to take a big step forward over where we have been? Yes”.

Starts with Chevrolet: 31

Wins with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 1 (T27th/T15th) – his first win was at the Milwaukee Mile in 2025

Poles with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 0

Podiums with Chevrolet (rank all-time/since 2012): 2 (T41st/21st) – his first podium was at World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway in 2025

Strategist: Brent ‘Woody’ Harvey

Race Engineer: Pete Craik

Crew Chief: Jimmie Johnson

Notes:

Rasmussen finished higher than he qualified in 12 of 17 races last year, gaining 62 spots from his qualifying spot across the 2025 season, the third most among the field

o He was particularly effective on ovals, where his average starting position was 22.6, and his average finishing position was 10.2

The Dane scored 173 points across the 2025 oval races, trailing only Álex Palou and Pato O’Ward in points scored in the six oval races
Was the third driver to win all three U.S. Open Wheel Championships on the way to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the USF2000 Championship (2020), the USF Pro 2000 Championship (2021) and the INDY NXT by Firestone Championship (2023).
Grew up racing with, and is close friends with, fellow Danish and Team Chevy driver Christian Lundgaard

Quotable:

Q. If you had to pick one area that you think needs improving, what would it be?

“I think for us on the (No.) 21 car, particularly, I think our qualifying pace wasn’t what we — our qualifying performance wasn’t what we wanted it to be. Also, a lot of effort has gone into that in the off-season to try and improve that. So also excited to see what that is going to amount to in 2026.

Q. Obviously, a lot is made of your style of oval racing being a bit more on the edge than others, for example, especially by the broadcast. When you’re sitting in the car, do you feel you’re more on edge than others, and how do you know where the line is where you don’t go too far over that limit?

“Yeah, it’s definitely something that you develop all the time and try to get better at judging and whatever.

“When looking at it, I think we did a pretty good job of it, not a perfect job of it. Obviously, Nashville we didn’t really get to see much other than the first corner. But also, overall I was the third highest scoring points on the ovals combined out of all the drivers in INDYCAR last year, so we must have done something right.

“We’re honing, getting better all the time, but I think we’re on the right path at least.”

The 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season gets underway this week with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Tune-In Alert

Friday, February 27

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice #1 – 1:30pm (ET)/12:30pm (CT)/11:30am (MT)/10:30am (PT) – FS2/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

Saturday, February 28

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice #2 – 9:30am (ET)/8:30am (CT)/7:30am (MT)/6:30am (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying – 4:30pm (ET)/3:30pm (CT)/2:30pm (MT)/1:30pm (PT) – FS2/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

Sunday, March 1

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm Up – 9am (ET)/8am (CT)/7am (MT)/6am (PT) – FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (100 laps) – noon (ET)/11am (CT)/10am (MT)/9am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

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