Ed Carpenter Racing found some new life in recent weeks. Rinus VeeKay comes to Sunday’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland on the heels of a pair of 11th place finishes in consecutive races. Ryan Hunter-Reay is entering the race after scoring a season-best result since he’s driven this No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet of 14th last Sunday at the World Wide Technology Raceway. As a result, Hunter-Reay has built a cushion on the leaders circle cutline going from +3 to +11.

His plight took him from 23rd at the start to 14th.

“I am looking forward to getting back on a classic road course,” said Hunter-Reay via the weekly team release. “I’ve been racing at Portland International Raceway since 2003 and it remains basically the same. Portland is notorious for wild starts and restarts in the first corner chicane. Hopefully, we can take advantage of those situations and have a strong, clean weekend for BITNILE.COM in the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland!”

Hunter-Reay’s history at Portland International Raceway dates back farther than almost every driver in this weekend’s field. He competed in his first top-level open wheel racing event in Portland in 2003, which was then part of the Champ Car World Series calendar. When the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned to Portland in 2018, Hunter-Reay leaned into his prior experience at the circuit and qualified 5th. He went on to finish 2nd, missing the top step of the podium by only six-tenths of second. 

VeeKay has only competed in two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Portland International Raceway, his history with ECR at the track goes back to the beginning of his career. In August of 2019, ECR selected VeeKay for an evaluation test at Portland. It was the first of two successful tests before he was named full-time driver of the team’s No. 21 Chevrolet prior to the 2020 season. In the 2021 Grand Prix of Portland, his first at the track, he gained an astonishing 16 positions on the opening lap. Last year, he finished 20th after serving a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact late in the race.

“Happy BITNILE.COM Grand Prix race week,” VeeKay said. “I am very excited, I love the race in Portland. It’s a cool track, it’s almost like a European road course I feel like. Talk about variables during a race though! The weekend last year went pretty well but the end result does not show that. This year, our sponsor BITNILE.COM is the sponsor of the race! It’s going to be a great weekend!”