Photo Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar
When the Verizon IndyCar series returns to the Streets of St. Petersburg in March 2017, Josef Newgarden will be with another team other than Ed Carpenter Racing. The American driver informed ECR on September 29 he would not be returning with them for the 2017 season.
“While it’s disappointing that Josef will not be returning, it’s also not a total surprise after all of the speculation the past few weeks,” team owner Ed Carpenter said. “I wish Josef the best in his future endeavors, but also remain focused on ECR’s continued success. We are positioned well moving into 2017 and I have total confidence that we will continue to deliver the high level of performance we expect as a team.”
ECR entered the IndyCar Series in 2012 and has seven victories amongst three different drivers, which includes the 1-2 finish last year on the streets of Toronto.
Three of the seven belong to Newgarden and they came after he signed with ECR in 2015. Newgarden ended the 2016 season with his best career points finish in fourth place.
Carpenter also stated ECR will begin evaluating all options for drivers for next season. Notably, Carpenter will continue to race the No.20 Fuzzy’s Ultra-Premium Vodka Chevrolet for the six oval races in 2017. The rest of the driver lineup will be announced at a future date.
