Our fourth IndyCar Wrap-Up looks at a team that went into the 2026 season with high expectations to improve. Having won a race in 2025, Ed Carpenter Racing was looking for more, and to become a greater threat beyond ovals. The team had a good few races to start the season, but it fell flat during the month of May and never found consistent success. It found mechanical issues on a consistent basis, and what was a hopeful season bordered on a nightmare. There were a few outstanding results, but the disappointing races obscured any view of the silver lining.
Alexander Rossi
Ed Carpenter Racing sought a big jump up the order in 2026 based on how the 2025 season ended, and Rossi was hoping year two would see him carry ECR up the running order to be a greater challenger. That was never the case. A few good results were sprinkled over the opening third of the season, but the rest of the season was terrible. Good days were seldom. Speed would exist in practice and disappear as the weekend wore on. It ended on a high note but that was not how the entire tune went this season.
What objectively was his best race?
Rossi ended on a high note, qualifying fourth at Laguna Seca, his best starting position of the season on a road or street course, and he spent essentially the entire race running in the top five, leading to a podium finish, ending a 41-race podium-less slump.
What subjectively was his best race?
Laguna Seca is the only race where Rossi looked competitive and was running at the front. He was clearly in form for a podium finish from the start. There wasn't another race all season where he showed that pace and ability on track.
The only other race that could be mentioned is Phoenix, where a late stop for tires allowed him to drive up to sixth, but he lost ground in Phoenix and without the late caution and decision to make a pit stop he would not have finished that well. Cautions also assisted Rossi's sixth-place finish at Road America as well.
What objectively was his worst race?
Rossi lost his engine 91 laps into the Indianapolis 50 and this placed him 30th, racing with a broken tibia and broken metatarsal in his hand after a practice accident the Monday before the race. Rossi did start second for the Indianapolis 500, but another poor pit stop to start the race cost him positions early.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Indianapolis is pretty close to the top of the list if it is not. The mechanical issues were devastating, and this was across the board for ECR. Rossi had three retirements this season due to mechanical issues alone. His hybrid issue at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis drew significant attention as he was parked on the main straightway but it took a lengthy time for the caution to come out.
Nashville could have been another good result for Rossi if he did not have the contact with Scott Dixon as Rossi attempted to enter pit lane. It appeared Rossi slowed earlier than expected for pit lane. Dixon read the situation incorrectly and could have done more to avoid it.
Alexander Rossi's 2026 Statistics
Championship Position: 15th (307 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 10
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 12.833
Average Finish: 15
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 5
Laps Led: 10
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 12.833
Average Finish: 15
Christian Rasmussen
A surprise winner at the end of 2025, Rasmussen sought greater success this season, especially on ovals. There were a number of opportunities for the Dane to shine. It looked good almost immediately to start the season, but one got away from him. He never got closer than that. Lightning does not strike often, and Rasmussen could not recreate his 2025 Milwaukee performance. Worse than that, his form did not improve on road and street courses, which make up two-thirds of the schedule.
What objectively was his best race?
At Gateway, Rasmussen took third position at the checkered flag, but he started 19th and was making up positions early. He continued his charge toward the top five, and he was poised to challenge for the victory. Rasmussen did not quite have what it took to defeat Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson, but he was one of the best cars in the race, and rightfully finished third.
What subjectively was his best race?
I think it is Gateway, but Phoenix was a race it felt like Rasmussen controlled. David Malukas led the first 73 laps, but Rasmussen led 69 laps through the entire race, and it felt like the way the race cycled out, it was his for the taking. Then he made contact with Will Power, who was on an alternate strategy, while battling for the lead. Rasmussen remained in first after the contact, but his car was not perfect, and other drivers took tires. Rasmussen held the lead for much of the final stint, but tires won out, and Rasmussen had another brush with the barrier, causing him to slip further down the order. What could have been a victory unravelled to a 14th-place finish.
What objectively was his worst race?
Ed Carpenter Racing did not have a great Indianapolis 500. Ed Carpenter himself was done after 26 laps due to an accident. Rossi made it 91 laps. A mechanical issue ended Rasmussen's race after 144 laps and the Dane was classified in 27th.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It is hard not to say Indianapolis, but it is really Phoenix because that race was in his hand. Rasmussen was likely going to find a way pass Power in the final 43 laps. The contact not only damaged Rasmussen's car, but it allowed the field to go off strategy and Josef Newgarden could drive to the front on fresh tires. Without that caution, Rasmussen wins the race going away.
Beyond Phoenix and Indianapolis, Rasmussen had nine finishes outside the top twenty this season. He had four mechanical-related retirements, but that doesn't explain the other five results. Three were due to accidents. Two were poor pace.
Christian Rasmussen's 2026 Statistics
Championship Position: 27th (123 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 4
Laps Led: 83
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 4
Average Start: 14.388
Average Finish: 17.777
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 4
Laps Led: 83
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 4
Average Start: 14.388
Average Finish: 17.777
An Early Look Ahead
Is it going to get better next year?
Ed Carpenter Racing feels like the IndyCar of race teams. It is always 18 months away from being great.
For over a decade we have spoken about how great ECR is at Indianapolis, and outside of 2018, it hasn't been that close to winning the race. Its victory last year at Milwaukee feels kind of flukey, and it will continue to feel that way until it does it again, but especially on a day where one of its cars is firmly at the front and the car to beat, not a race where a car benefitted from a caution for a brief rain shower out-of-the-blue and the leaders decide not to stop to get tires.
We see the limits of Alexander Rossi. This was his 11th season in IndyCar. Prior to finishing 15th in consecutive seasons at ECR, he was ninth, tenth, ninth and ninth in the championship. His two championship-contending seasons of 2018 and 2019 are becoming greater exceptions to his ability than a true showing of his capabilities. In two seasons at ECR, he has started in the top five twice. He was one race away from going an entire season without a top five finish. We know how good he is at Indianapolis, but the team hasn't brought a car that can go the distance in either of Rossi's two years at ECR.
The problems are greater than the drivers. The team had seven combined mechanical retirements this season, two of which were in the most important race of the season. ECR isn't always getting the bad hybrid. At some point, the issues aren't IndyCar faults or Chevrolet's fault or Dallara's fault, but fault falls on the team putting together and servicing the car. If it cannot solve that problem, the results will never be much better than where they currently stand.
Christian Rasmussen's greatest problem is what he is best at only exists for a third of the schedule, and he is dreadful on the other two-thirds of the schedule. In 49 starts, he has started a race in the top ten only five times. He has started outside the top fifteen in 35 of his 49 starts. His average street course starting position is worse than 22nd and his best street course finish is 14th. Unless you are winning two-to-four oval races a season, this kind of form will not hold up in IndyCar.
As much as Ed Carpenter Racing, like a handful of other teams in IndyCar, says the only race the team cares about is the Indianapolis 500, there comes a point where it must at least look competitive at the rest of the calendar. A top ten finish at Mid-Ohio or a string of top five finishes at Portland, Barber and Road America go a lot further than finishing 27th at the Indianapolis 500. We are seeing A.J. Foyt Racing recognize this with its hire of Dennis Hauger over Santino Ferrucci.
The Indianapolis 500 matters, but a team cannot afford to be irrelevant in the other 16 or 17 races even if it those races are dwarfed in comparison. Someone must sponsor those races. They matter to someone and the team should maximize scoring its best results to justify the sponsor's time and investment.
Rasmussen has been with ECR for three years. This is who he is. He cannot afford another year like this. Rossi is in a similar boat. ECR canned Rinus VeeKay because VeeKay kept finishing between 12th and 14th in the championship. Rossi cannot do better than 15th. The potential doesn't matter if never yields results. Another year like we just saw and ECR should be considering a wholesale change, which likely will not happen with a new car coming in 2028, but the status quo is not good enough for it to continue for another year longer. A fresh start with an entirely new car could be the right choice when 2027 is done.
