Carpenter shifts gears between owning, driving as he prepares for Indy 500

Ed Carpenter can finally take his driver's suit out of hiding.

Since the IndyCar season began he's had it neatly tucked away, purposely opting for his owner's hat and crew gear as he tries to blend in with his CFH Racing team.

Which is terribly awkward territory for an IndyCar driver. Blending in. It doesn't work for Carpenter. Not for someone accustomed to controlling his own pace. Lately he's only been able to do so by schmoozing with sponsors and consulting engineers.

Luca Filippi has handled driving the No. 20 car's road and street courses, leaving the oval tracks for Carpenter. So for the first five races this year he had to sit back as a supporter.

Not so much anymore. With the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis behind him, the CFH Racing co-owner is getting back into his car, testing out his new oval kit and feeling out the track he knows all too well. As preparation for the Indianapolis 500 begins in earnest, it's difficult to find anyone more enthusiastic than Carpenter. And with good reason. The Indianapolis native just might win.

Carpenter is one of as many as 34 drivers who will work on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with attention turning to the 500. On Monday cars will run from noon to 7 p.m. – an hour later than normal.

"From the time we move in here," Carpenter said, "even though we're on the road course we're still thinking about the 500. That's what we're here for."

And that means Carpenter is thinking about himself. When CFH Racing arrived at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Grand Prix earlier this month, Carpenter's teammates, J.R. Hildebrand and Josef Newgarden, were starting to sense it.

Sure Carpenter shows off a renewed energy. There's nostalgia in returning to Indiana. And yes there was still plenty of work to do leading up to the Grand Prix. But there was mostly the feeling that his time is near.

"He's a pretty cool customer," Hildebrand said. "You don't see it that much. But you definitely see the excitement start to build in his eyes once May starts to roll around. He's definitely getting amped to get back in the car."

After sitting on the pole for the last two Indy 500s there's plenty of optimism in the CFH garage for Carpenter. There's also an emptiness left by last season.

With 26 laps to go in the 2014 Indianapolis 500, and Carpenter set up nicely in second place behind eventual champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe sandwiched Carpenter, going three-wide into Turn 1. It was an obvious disaster. Bell clipped Carpenter, who didn't have room to recover as he and Hinchcliffe flew into the wall. A distraught Carpenter left the track in misery.

Not since 2008 has Carpenter finished in the top five in the 500. Not much has been the same since then, either.

With Carpenter's transition to co-owner and part-time driver – as well as a merger that brought Josef Newgarden onto the team -- it hasn't all been about getting on the track.

"He's really embraced the role of team ownership and I think over the last couple of years has really figured out where his place in that is and how he can, as a driver, add value to what the team is doing," Hildebrand said. "But you've got to think for sure there's nothing like driving."

Carpenter is quick to point out he can do more than drive. He notes that sitting out the first five races is no longer an abnormality. He's found a new purpose in working at the top.

But it's different. Carpenter will be the first to explain; you can't be a driver disguised as an owner. You have to just be the owner and worry about the cars in ways beyond controlling them.

"You have to switch your mindset," Carpenter said. "(Driving is) not really something you think about."

That mindset started switching back to driving late Saturday afternoon. As Luca Filippi finished 14th in the Grand Prix, Carpenter's second annual sabbatical came to an end. And another run at the 500 doesn't seem farfetched. Not with a speedy Chevrolet sitting in his garage.

His return creates a boost for CFH Racing and Carpenter's fellow drivers, who often use their co-owner as a reference on the track, regardless of how long he's been out of the car.

"It doesn't really seem to affect him," Newgarden said. "Any time that he got in he seemed just as good as he was the last time. And sometimes that was six months in between. Normally it makes you rusty."

Now Carpenter just needs to remember where he hid that suit.





WHO TRANSFERS FROM GRAND PRIX

Marco Andretti, Andretti

Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH

Helio Castroneves, Penske

Gabby Chaves, Herta

Stefano Coletti, KV

Scott Dixon, Ganassi

Jack Hawksworth, Foyt

JR Hildebrand, CFH Racing

James Hinchcliffe, SPM

Carlos Huertas, Coyne

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti

James Jakes, SPM

Tony Kanaan, Ganassi

Charlie Kimball, Ganassi

Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske

Carlos Munoz, Andretti

Josef Newgarden, CFH

Simon Pagenaud, Penske

Will Power, Team Penske

Graham Rahal, RLLR

Sebastian Saavedra, Ganassi

Takuma Sato, Foyt

Justin Wilson, Andretti





WHO'S JOINING FOR 500

Pippa Mann, Coyne

Townsend Bell, D&R/Kingdom

Ed Carpenter, CFH

Bryan Clauson, KV

Conor Daly, SPM

Simona De Silvestro, Andretti

Sage Karam, Ganassi

Buddy Lazier, Lazier Partners

Oriol Servia, RLLR

Alex Tagliani, Foyt





WHO'S TO BE ANNOUNCED

Car No. 19, Dale Coyne Racing



Chart by Curt Cavin