The magnetism of the Indianapolis 500 -- the grand scale, speed, pageantry
and history -- has drawn competitors ranging from engine designers to
thoroughbred motorsports drivers since 1911. Now Patrick Carpentier has answered
its callsource:
indyracingleague.com - Dave Lewandowski
Carpentier on Nov. 11 joined Red Bull Cheever Racing, where he'll drive the No.
83 Toyota-powered Dallara. The 1996 Toyota-Atlantic champion will team with Alex
Barron, the 1997 Toyota-Atlantic champ who will re-acquaint himself with the No.
51 entry. Barron had five top-10 finishes last season, including a high of third
at Texas Motor Speedway in June.
It is his affinity for competing on ovals -- and especially on the grandest of
them all -- that played into Carpentier's decision to move from the Champ Car
World Series after eight years to the IRL IndyCar® Series.
"(Racing at Indianapolis) it's something that I've wanted for quite a long time
actually," he said. "I was watching the race when I was still in (Toyota)
Atlantic, back when Jacques Villeneuve and Scott Goodyear went at it. I guess
Jacques won the Indy (500). It was a great race.
"Everybody always watched the race back in Canada. It's a race that I've come to
see and look at many, many times. It's a track I would like to race on and in
front of the giant crowd, the people. It's a different race.
"When I came into open-wheel racing, that's the year that I guess the two series
went separate ways. I never had the opportunity to do it. So, for me, it's
something that I've been wanting to do for quite awhile."