Ed Carpenter Racing and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing announce team merger

Ed Carpenter Racing and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing announced on Saturday that the two teams will merge in 2015 to form a multi-car team called CFH Racing. The team will be headquartered out of SFHR’s current shop. The teams added that additional details such as sponsors, personnel and suppliers will be announced in the future.

ECR was established in 2012 and has captured three victories this season with Mike Conway winning Long Beach and Toronto, while Ed Carpenter won at Texas. Carpenter has also won the pole for the Indianapolis 500 the past two years.

“I am very excited about this new opportunity to merge Ed Carpenter Racing with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in CFH Racing,” Carpenter said. “We had success together in 2011 and have always had a great relationship. It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago that we won our first race together at Kentucky Speedway.

“I look forward to getting started with this new team and continuing to add to the success that each of our teams have had in the past. There will be a lot of work to do this offseason to bring the two teams together to form one new team, but we feel that it is a great opportunity for all of us to grow and reach new heights of success. There are a lot of details we will need to finalize after the season comes to a close, so for now we are focusing on finishing this season on a high note for Ed Carpenter Racing.”

SFHR was founded in 2008 and is co-owned by Sarah Fisher and Wink Hartman. The team won their first race in 2011 with Carpenter behind the wheel and has been in contention to win races this year with Josef Newgarden at the wheel. Fisher became the first female team owner in the IndyCar Series in 2008; she retired from driving in 2010.

“The merger of the two teams is a big-picture plan,” she said. “At the nucleus of all parties, there is a lot of synergy that has great potential for the future. Working with Ed, and capturing that first win, was a foothold in our team, and I look forward to the many more that will come as a result of bringing all the parties together.”

Hartman, a successful businessman in Wichita, Kan., and owner of Hartman Oil, joined Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing as co-owner in December 2011.

“I am excited about the opportunity for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing to join with Ed Carpenter Racing to create a top-tier Verizon IndyCar Series team,” he said. “The newly formed collaboration as CFH Racing will allow us to double down on our commitment to be successful on and off the track.”