Christian Rasmussen has landed a part-time IndyCar seat with Ed Carpenter Racing for 2024, funded in part by the $850,000 he received for winning this year’s Indy Nxt championship.
That prize money goes towards Rasmussen’s debut race, the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and also the Indianapolis 500. But his ECR deal covers far more than that, as he will contest the 11 road and street course races on next year’s calendar.Rasmussen spent two years in Indy Nxt, the primary support series for IndyCar, winning two races in his rookie season then taking the 2023 title with five victories and five pole positions. He was also champion of the two rungs of the Road to Indy immediately below it, USF Pro 2000 and USF2000 in 2021 and 2020 respectively.
“It is a dream come true and something I’ve been working toward for a long time now. I want to thank Ed Carpenter and [ECR president] Tim Broyles for the opportunity and I’m ready to get to work and show everyone what we can do.”
The 23-year-old will be team mate to Rinus VeeKay, who is the team’s sole full-time driver. Team boss Ed Carpenter will take over Rasmussen’s car at all oval races, but the newcomer will drive a third car at the Indianapolis 500.
Carpenter said Rasmussen “is a driver that has really stood out during his climb through the Road to Indy programme, and he showed his ability to be a real closer in the second half of his Indy Nxt championship run.”
Rasmussen did an IndyCar test with ECR at Barber Motorsports Park last month, which helped convince the team to sign him.
“Christian is someone we have had our eye on for quite a while,” Broyles said. “He has proven that he is qualified to be a part of the IndyCar series, and we are pleased that ECR is able to provide him with this well-deserved opportunity.”
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Don
25th October 2023, 14:55
IndyCar may soon be called NordicCar :)