Information By: ASHLEY KELLER / CHEVROLET – SPEEDWAY, IN – ED CARPENTER, driver of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet and owner of Ed Carpenter Racing, met with the media on Indianapolis 500 Media Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:
THE MODERATOR: We will begin with Row 6. Starting 17th, he just surpassed with 200 starts last year in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, not that we’re counting, driver of the No. 20, Guy Care Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, it is the aforementioned Ed Carpenter.
THE MODERATOR: Ed, the Monday practice, what did you get out of that?
ED CARPENTER: I thought it went well. The cadence of the month has definitely been different with more delays than we’ve had in previous years.
I thought it was a good practice. You go from so focused on qualifying to running no downforce to getting back into the rhythm of race running, race downforce, locking in your timings and all those things.
All three of our cars, we’re quite happy with the way they feel in traffic. Just doing everything we can to be prepared for Sunday.
Q. Ed, the delays, from your perspective, how much does that alter and impact the program you have planned?
ED CARPENTER: I was probably a little worried about how the schedule played out for Christian, but in the end he got really comfortable really quickly. Seemingly has really taken to our car and this track.
I’m not really that worried about him at this point. He’s doing a fantastic job. On Monday he was probably our best car of the team, so… He’s fitting in and feeling less like a rookie all the time.
Q. Ed, last year Josef Newgarden mentioned that he was sort of mentally at peace with the idea that he might not win this race. That helped him to relax. Have you ever taken a similar approach?
ED CARPENTER: I think every year’s a little different. There’s been years that I’ve gone into this race feeling like we have the absolute best car and best chance of winning, had it not pan out. There’s been years where I didn’t feel as confident as I wanted to be, and we’ve had really good races.
I try to just take all the experience I have from all my starts and be prepared for whatever comes at us on Sunday. I would say as time goes on, I worry less about where I start and more so just what I have under me. It’s such a long race. There’s so many opportunities to work your way to the front.
Not really stressed about that. Just want to make sure we get a good, clean start, start executing our game plan.
Q. At Indy, what is the biggest challenge you think there will be on race day and how do you plan to overcome them?
ED CARPENTER: The challenge is always the same here: just being your best and having the car be its best for that final stint, final run after whatever the last restart is, whatever it may be.
It’s easy to get caught up in things happening early in the race. The hardest part is just being positioned properly in the end and having the balance where you need it to make a run. That’s always the most challenging part, I think, and the hardest to get right.
Q. Two rookies, neither have done a three-wide start. A lane-and-a-half for turn one. How do you look at navigating the start? Do you lean on Ed?
ED CARPENTER: For sure they should just follow in behind me, let me show them the way (laughter).
KYFFIN SIMPSON: I was thinking the same thing, you guys just fall in behind me. We’ll figure it out.
ED CARPENTER: I’m sure we’ll have some sort of chat. It’s a hard start. Definitely going to be different for these guys. It’s still challenging. Having done this 20 years, there’s a lot more movement than what you see out of a normal start.
Where we’re starting, there’s going to be a big draft with usually a pretty big checkup by the time you get to one. It’s definitely challenging.
It’s important, but really the only important part about it is surviving that first lap and making sure you don’t end your day too early.
Q. What would be, in your opinion, the key to managing that start for rookies?
ED CARPENTER: We all have the responsibility to take care of our own car and to take care of people around us by making good decisions. It’s obvious you’re not going to win the race on the first lap. Whichever one of us wins the start from our row doesn’t mean we’re going to win the day.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you.