Vision Racing

Townsend Bell driving the No. 90 Rock & Republic Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone entry during practice for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500

Vision Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League founded in 2005 when Tony George purchased the assets of the defunct Kelley Racing and hired his stepson Ed Carpenter to be the driver. The team has previously raced in the Izod IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and the Grand-Am Sports Car Series. The team suspended operations in January 2010.[1]

George and Carpenter formed a new race team in 2012, Ed Carpenter Racing, which is run out of the Walker Racing facility with Derrick Walker as team manager.[2]

Season history

2005

In its first season in the IRL the team was consistently one of the slowest on the track. Although, Carpenter finished 11th in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and added the team's first top-10 finish at Nashville Superspeedway. Carpenter ended the season eighteenth in driver points and the team finished a disappointing twentieth in entrant points. The team also fielded Nick Bussell and Jay Drake in the Indy Pro Series. Drake picked up five top five finishes and ended up ninth in points while Bussell had eleven top five finishes and finished an impressive fourth in points. Though both drivers did very well the team did not return to the Pro Series the following year.

2006

The team returned in 2006 hiring of a new team engineer and expansion to two cars with veteran race winner Tomas Scheckter. The team fared much better with Scheckter capturing a 3rd place finish at the Milwaukee Mile and finishing 10th in points while Carpenter improved from 18th to 14th in points and captured his first top-five. The team also fielded the number 90 Rock & Republic car driven by Townsend Bell for the Indy 500. Bell retired early from the race as did Scheckter, but Carpenter finished in eleventh. Actor Patrick Dempsey also joined the team in 2006 as co-owner.

A. J. Foyt IV driving Vision's #22 car at the Milwaukee Mile in 2007

2007

In 2007 the team expanded to three cars with the addition of A. J. Foyt IV and picked up Hitachi, Lowe's and Joost as sponsors. Foyt matched Scheckter's team-best 3rd place finish with a race-leading run at Kentucky Speedway. Vision fielded a fourth car driven by veteran Davey Hamilton and sponsored by HP for the Indy 500. Hamilton finished an impressive ninth just two spots behind teammate Thomas Scheckter in seventh. Scheckter finished tenth in points with Foyt finishing fourteenth and Carpenter finishing in fifteenth.

2008

The team returned to 2 cars in 2008 with Carpenter and Foyt IV sponsored by Menards, Direct TV, and CardioCheck. Vision looked strong at Homestead Miami Speedway posting impressive speeds during practice. Carpenter qualified second and Foyt qualified third. However,the team was penalized and had to start in the last two positions after failing technical inspection. The IRL confiscated all the team's rear wings but did not specify on the problem. The team later fired team manager Larry Curry because of the incident. Carpenter is currently tenth in points and his teammate Foyt ranks thirteenth . Vision Racing entered a third car for the Indy 500 and ran Davey Hamilton as the driver and HP as a sponsor. They ran a third car for Paul Tracy at the Rexall Edmonton Indy in conjunction with Walker Racing with Subway Restaurants as the sponsor.

2009

In 2009 Ryan Hunter-Reay joined the team alongside the returning Carpenter, and immediately posted the team's best ever finish with a 2nd place at the opening St. Petersburg race. Carpenter matched the result by taking his best career finish of 2nd at Kentucky Speedway in an exciting duel with Ryan Briscoe, with Briscoe edging him at the line.

2010

On January 28, George was forced to suspend operations due to lack of sponsorship. George later paired up with Panther Racing for a part-time program for his stepson, Ed Carpenter.

Drivers who have driven for Vision Racing

Racing results

Complete IRL IndyCar Series results

(key)

Year Chassis Engine Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
2005 Dallara IR-05 Toyota Indy V8 HMS PHX STP MOT INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY PPIR SNM CHI WGL FON
United States Ed Carpenter 20 18 16 19 16 11 20 12 17 10 12 23 22 19 15 17 14 20
United States Jeff Ward 22 27
2006 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI6R V8 HMS STP MOT INDY WGL TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY SNM CHI
South Africa Tomas Scheckter 2 9 12 13 27 10 10 7 7 15 3 5 7 17 10
United States Ed Carpenter 20 DNS 20 11 6 9 8 16 10 16 7 11 12 5
Brazil Roberto Moreno 18
United States Townsend Bell 90 22
2007 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 HMS STP MOT KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO MCH KTY SNM DET CHI
South Africa Tomas Scheckter 2 8 6 9 5 7 17 14 19 7 13 11 9 11 5 8 13 20
United States Ed Carpenter 20 6 18 15 17 17 7 18 6 10 12 13 16 14 7 13 10 16
United States A. J. Foyt IV 22 18 13 13 9 14 13 17 12 13 15 12 13 8 3 15 9 10
United States Davey Hamilton 02 9
2008 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 HMS STP MOT LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM DET CHI SRF1
United States A. J. Foyt IV 2 9 11 15 8 21 17 12 5 24 19 22 18 12 20 20 10 13 17
United States Ed Carpenter 20 5 18 6 10 5 20 9 23 11 17 8 15 13 6 23 14 28 20
United States Davey Hamilton 22 14
Canada Paul Tracy 42
2009 Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 STP LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL TOR EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI MOT HMS
United States Ed Carpenter 20 18 18 9 8 16 9 10 13 16 15 16 2 17 11 6 13 12
United States Ryan Hunter-Reay 21 2 11 15 32 12 16
1 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
2 Run in conjunction with Walker Racing.

References

  1. ↑ http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-vision-suspends-operations/
  2. ↑ http://www.indycar.com/news/show/55-izod-indycar-series/50960-notes-carpenterand-39-s-team-hits-ground-running/

External links

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