Carpenter continuing with road/street course plan

Ed Carpenter Racing will seek a new road and street course driver to replace Spencer Pigot, who was promoted from that role into a full-time opportunity with ECR. Pigot, who shared the No. 20 Chevy with team owner Ed Carpenter last season, was elevated to drive the No. 21 ECR entry after the team parted ways with JR Hildebrand.

With questions surrounding ECR's plans for the No. 20 outside of Carpenter's oval program, the owner/driver confirmed his intentions to provide Pigot with a teammate for the rest of the races on IndyCar's schedule.

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"Our plan is to keep doing what we've been doing with the 20 car, no changes there" Carpenter told RACER. "We were happy to move Spencer to 21 car, and we've been actively looking at who would be the best fit, the best addition to the Fuzzy's Vodka program."

The two-time Indy 500 polesitter and three-time race winner had hoped to announce Pigot's successor by now, but the search is ongoing. With the potential availability of a Conor Daly, whose position at A.J. Foyt Racing is unconfirmed, and other young talent that could deliver wins for outfit, there's no reason to rush the process.

"I'd hoped to have a driver signed by now, but there's a lot to consider and I'm confident we'll get there sooner than later, but we aren't in a hurry," Carpenter added.

To ready itself for 2018, ECR has brought on two new engineers that should help the organization in its fight against the other leading programs. Former Andretti and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports race engineer Allen McDonald has been in-house for a few weeks, and the highly-rated simulation engineer Chris Abele, who left Chip Ganassi Racing, is another new recruit.

Along with ECR engineering veteran Matt Barnes and other members of that department, the team has been busy stockpiling talent early in the offseason.

"We had two vacancies to fill in the engineering group, and I've really enjoyed getting to know Allen since he came one," he said. "Chris just got started on Monday, so we are just starting that relationship, but he comes here with a great reputation and brings a lot of experience."