There’s no doubt that the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season has been a stressful one for driver-owner Ed Carpenter. His team isn’t performing the way that he had envisioned and as a result already had to make the difficult decision to make a driver change on one ride. His car has been up-and-down itself when he’s brought it out.

This weekend at the World Wide Technology Raceway, will mark the fifth and final race of the season for him wearing the driver hat, well helmet in this scenario. The final two weeks he’ll put back on the owners hat.

“I am always excited for WWT Raceway,” Carpenter said. “It has been such a great event since it came back on the schedule. I have had highs and lows at this track, just as this season as been one of highs and lows.

“I am extremely motivated to end my season on a high note for myself and for the team! We have been working harder than ever to get our trajectory back on the upswing, so I am ready to get to work.”

Carpenter competes exclusively in the oval events, the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 will be his final race of 2023. He has led his own team since ECR was formed prior to the 2012 season and is the only active owner/driver in the field. In 2014, he began to focus exclusively on driving in the oval races and split the No. 20 with a second driver for the road and street course events.

Last year, Carpenter transitioned to the No. 33 and ECR expanded to a three-car program for the ovals.

Carpenter’s 2023 campaign has included Texas Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and a doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. Last month at Iowa, he reached a career milestone as he competed in his 200th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race. He made his debut at Chicagoland Speedway in 2003 and will conclude his 21st season of competition this weekend at WWT Raceway. Earlier this year, he also raced in his 20th Indianapolis 500.

Carpenter has competed in each NTT INDYCAR SERIES event since the it returned to WWT Raceway in 2017. The short oval is home to his most recent podium finish. In 2019, Carpenter worked his way through the entire field to earn a runner-up finish, missing the top step of the podium by a mere .0399 of a second. While his 2022 season finale was challenging, Carpenter persevered through the difficult conditions to the checkered flag.

They’ll use Ryan Hunter-Reay’s car this weekend to try out some things with results and performance thrown out the window in hopes of finding a better direction to take over to 2024.

“World Wide Technology Raceway presents us with another opportunity to test some experimental short oval setups,” Hunter-Reay admitted. “This track is quite different than Iowa Speedway, our last oval. WWT Raceway is relatively smooth versus Iowa’s bumpiness, so hopefully that will allow us to find some positive setup changes.”

Hunter-Reay was in the field for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES return to WWT Raceway in 2017 and competed in each race through 2021. In five of his seven starts, he qualified inside the Top 10. Most recently at WWT Raceway, he finished 7th which is tied for his best finish at the 1.25-mile oval. Sunday’s race will be Hunter-Reay’s third oval event with ECR, including the Iowa doubleheader last month.

For Rinus VeeKay, he’s hopeful of a solid outing in Sunday’s race.

“After a pretty good last race at IMS, I am super excited to get to WWT Raceway,” he said. “The first year I raced there in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, I finished P4 so that was pretty cool! It’s a great track and I’ve had some great passes and moments there. It’s such an interesting oval, it’s a lot different from the rest of the calendar so it should be a really interesting race. It will be fun! I am excited to get there and hopefully myself and the team to do well!”

When VeeKay competed in his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at WWT Raceway in 2020, the weekend was the best of his career to that point. He drove up to 6th in Race 1, which was his highest finish on an oval until the next day. At the start of Race 2, VeeKay went four-wide down the backstretch and gained seven positions in the first lap. He continued a spirited charge through the field for the duration of the event, eventually climbing to 4th place. In last year’s event, an electrical issue ended VeeKay’s night just 53 laps into the 260-lap event.