About ECR

A new team arrived on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES grid in 2012: ECR. Ed Carpenter, only driver who owns and operates his own team, led his team to victory in its first year as he took the checkered flag in the season finale. Now with over 430 race starts, 2026 will mark ECR’s 15th season of competition.

ECR’s ownership group is comprised of four Indianapolis businessmen: Carpenter, Ted Gelov, Tony George and Stuart Reed. Gelov, owner of Heartland Food Products Group, joined the team prior to the 2025 season and guided the organization into a rejuvenated new era. Heartland FPG is best known for their consumer brands Splenda and Java House Coffee.  ECR will begin construction on a brand new facility in the coming year which will be located on the Grand Park  Campus in Westfield, Indiana.

ECR began as a single car team with Carpenter himself behind the wheel. After driving full time in 2012 and 2013, he shifted his focus exclusively to ovals. Carpenter, an Indianapolis native, solidified his status as a hometown favorite when he won back-to-back pole positions for the 2013 and 2014 Indianapolis 500s. The team grew to two full-time entries in 2015 while competing as CFH Racing; prior to the 2016 season, Carpenter resumed ownership and ECR returned to the grid with the Nos. 20 and 21.

In recent years, ECR has expanded to three cars for the Indianapolis 500. For 12 of the team’s 14 Indy 500 appearances, ECR has had at least one car qualify in the first three rows, including nine front row starts. Carpenter earned his third Indy 500 pole position in 2018 and led the most laps of all drivers before a runner-up finish. ECR has proven its versatility by collecting nine wins across each type of track the series competes on – street and road courses, short ovals and speedways.

ECR’s 2025 campaign was its best in several years, highlighted by Christian Rasmussen’s victory in the second-to-last race of the season at the Milwaukee Mile. Rasmussen’s win returned ECR to Victory Lane for the first time since 2021. Coupled with teammate Alexander Rossi’s season-best 4th place result in the same race, it was the first time ECR placed both cars in the Top 5 since 2015. The duo brought home a combined 13 Top 10 finishes in 2025, Rossi’s first with ECR and Rasmussen’s second. Both will continue with the team in 2026 while Carpenter will round out the team’s three-car lineup in the Indianapolis 500.

Beginning in 2026, ECR will partner with Cape Motorsports in INDY NXT and Jay Howard Driver Development in the USF Pro Championships to establish a direct pathway to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. “Powered by ECR” entries will carry ECR’s team colors of Carpenter Blue and Indiana Gold and teams collaborate to provide technical support, testing opportunities for emerging drivers, and career development for engineers and mechanics.