{"id":1418,"date":"2016-03-29T21:52:03","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T02:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=1418"},"modified":"2016-03-29T21:52:03","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T02:52:03","slug":"ed-carpenter-racing-excited-for-first-oval-indycar-series-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/29\/ed-carpenter-racing-excited-for-first-oval-indycar-series-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Carpenter Racing excited for first oval IndyCar Series race"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Ed Carpenter Racing<\/strong><\/em>
\n(SPEEDWAY, Ind.) March 29, 2016 \u2013 Advance Notes<\/p>\n

\"Ed

Ed Carpenter, the only owner\/driver in the Verizon IndyCar Series, will be making his first start of 2016 this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. He was fourth-quick overall in the promoter test back in February.<\/p><\/div>\n

\uf0b7 After a successful promoter test at Phoenix International Raceway in late February, Ed Carpenter Racing is excited to return to the 1.022-mile oval in the desert outside of Phoenix. Team owner Ed Carpenter will join Josef Newgarden in the team\u2019s first twocar effort of 2016.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 Saturday night\u2019s race will mark the Verizon IndyCar Series\u2019 return to Phoenix International Raceway (PIR). Carpenter is one of only four drivers in the field who competed in the last Indy car race at PIR, held in 2005.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 Though never having raced at Phoenix International Raceway, Newgarden set the third-fastest lap of the two-day promoter test in February. Carpenter was right behind, setting the fourth-quickest lap overall.<\/p>\n

\"Josef

Josef Newgarden is looking to bounce back after difficult start to the 2016 season in St. Petersburg. Saturday night will mark his first start at Phoenix International Raceway.<\/p><\/div>\n

\uf0b7 For the first four events of 2016, Newgarden\u2019s No. 21 will feature a special paint scheme depicting the newest addition to the Fuzzy\u2019s Vodka portfolio. The Commemorative 100th Running Limited Edition bottle, which celebrates the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500, will be available mid-April.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix will be Carpenter\u2019s first race of the 2016 season. An oval specialist, Carpenter has won three races in the past five years. He will drive the familiar green and gold No. 20 Fuzzy\u2019s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet in his 14th season of Indy car racing.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 Newgarden, who turned 25 in December, is coming off the best season of his Verizon IndyCar Series career. He earned his first win only four races into the 2015 season at Barber Motorsports Park, then led his teammate to the team\u2019s first ever 1-2 finish in the Streets of Toronto in June. Highlights of Newgarden\u2019s year also included two additional podium finishes, capturing his first career pole position at the Milwaukee Mile and leading the most laps (345) of all drivers in 2015.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 Things did not go according to plan for Newgarden in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. An electrical issue with the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet dropped Newgarden to the back of the field, ultimately causing him to retire from the race early and finish in the 22nd position.<\/p>\n

\uf0b7 Practice and qualifying for the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix will take place on Friday, April 1. The race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network at 8 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, April 2.<\/p>\n

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY\u2019S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET:<\/strong> “I am very excited to be getting back in the car for this weekend’s race at Phoenix. It will be my first race
\nsince last season and I am chomping at the bit to get back out there! Excitement has been building for this race since it was announced and we are looking for a big weekend with the Fuzzy\u2019s Vodka Chevrolets.”<\/p>\n

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 21 FUZZY\u2019S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA CHEVROLET:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019m excited to get back to Phoenix! Hopefully we can get back up on the board this time, St. Pete was a bit of a rough start to the year. Those things happen, but the guys have been working really hard leading up to this next race weekend. It will be great to be running with Ed again, we always work well together. I think we\u2019re going to bring a pretty strong effort to the first oval of the year and hopefully have a good showing in the Fuzzy\u2019s Vodka cars!”<\/p>\n

About Ed Carpenter Racing
\n<\/b>Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) first entered the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2012. The team is led by IndyCar\u2019s only owner\/driver, Ed Carpenter, winner of back-to-back pole positions for the Indianapolis 500 in 2013 and 2014. ECR has amassed six victories and 15 top five finishes in the past five years. In 2016, Carpenter will compete in all oval events in the No. 20 Fuzzy\u2019s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet while Josef Newgarden will race the No. 21 Chevrolet throughout the entire season.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Ed Carpenter Racing (SPEEDWAY, Ind.) March 29, 2016 \u2013 Advance Notes \uf0b7 After a successful promoter test at Phoenix International Raceway in late February, Ed Carpenter Racing is excited to return to the 1.022-mile oval in the desert outside of Phoenix. Team owner Ed Carpenter will join Josef Newgarden in the team\u2019s first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[84,83],"class_list":["post-1418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","tag-ed-carpenter-racing","tag-verizon-indycar-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/2e9af0b6-2a26-48ce-b908-0d3f3521a9a0.jpg?fit=800%2C533","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-mS","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1424,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions\/1424"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}