Carl Edwards’ run at Texas ends in engine failure

By Nov 4, 2013, 2:45 PM EST
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This was not the way Carl Edwards wanted to start closing out his Chase.

After starting on pole for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Edwards was quickly swallowed up by eventual winner Jimmie Johnson. But the Roush Fenway Racing driver was still putting in a decent afternoon until Lap 187, when the engine let go on his No. 99 Ford.

The 37th-place finish had to be tough for him to swallow after he showed confidence in his chances this weekend. Upon claiming the pole on Friday, he mentioned that he couldn’t have chosen a better trio of tracks to end 2013 on than Texas, Phoenix and Homestead-Miami, which host the final three post-season events.

But Edwards now finds himself out of the Top 10 in the Sprint Cup championship after the blown motor on Sunday (something he wryly noted that his sponsor, insurance company Aflac, couldn’t cover).

Being in the Top 10 is particularly important to Edwards, as only the Top 10 will be honored on stage during the Dec. 6 Sprint Cup awards ceremony in Las Vegas; he’s now 11th in the standings, 20 points behind 10th-place Kurt Busch, with two races left.

“I think a valve spring broke and now they can’t get the spark plug out or anything, so it beat up that cylinder pretty bad,” he said on Sunday. “We don’t usually have a lot of engine trouble. Doug Yates and the guys at Roush Yates Engines build great engines.

“We had such a great weekend going. The car – during the middle part of the race, we were struggling but we were starting to get it worked out…We will just go on to Phoenix and hopefully get another win there and go to Homestead. We gotta get in the Top-10 so we can go to Vegas one way or another.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay hired as replacement for Conor Daly at Ed Carpenter Racing

By Jun 8, 2023, 9:05 AM EDT
Ryan Hunter-Reay Carpenter
Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
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Ryan Hunter-Reay was named to replace Conor Daly in Ed Carpenter Racing’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet, starting in the NTT IndyCar Series event next week at Road America.

Hunter-Reay is the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner. He finished 11th for Dreyer & Reinbold last month in the 107th Indy 500, his first start since the 2021 season finale. He drove full time for Andretti Autosport from 2010-21.

“We need to improve our competitiveness and I wanted to add a fresh perspective from a driver like Ryan who has a massive amount of experience and success as well as a reputation as a team leader. I am excited to welcome Ryan to the team,” team owner Ed Carpenter said in a team release. “We have worked together in the past as teammates and he tested for ECR at Barber Motorsports Park in October 2021, where he made an immediate impact as we were able to qualify one of our cars on the pole following that test. I am confident that his experience and technical abilities will be an asset to ECR as we move forward toward our goals as a team.”

Hunter-Reay has 18 IndyCar victories, most recently in 2018. He also is a winner in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having been a part of winning entries in the 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring and 2018 Petit Le Mans. Last year, he was an endurance driver for Cadillac Racing while being on standby for Chip Ganassi Racing.

He replaces Daly, whose departure was announced a day earlier in what the driver and team said was a mutual decision.

“I was surprised when I got the call from Ed,” Hunter-Reay said in a team release. “He described how frustrated he was that his team has not been able to realize its potential despite their efforts, investments, as well as technical and personnel changes over the past few years and asked for my help. Ed and I are very close friends and have been for a long time. I’ve worked with the team in the past and they are a very talented group with high expectations and a committed partner in BITNILE.COM.

“This will certainly be a challenge for me as well. It’s a tough situation jumping in a car in the middle of the season without any testing in what I believe to be the most competitive series in the world. Certainly, part of my motivation in saying ‘yes’ to Ed is the great challenge ahead. The last time I turned right driving an NTT IndyCar Series car was in October of 2021 with this team at Barber. However, I remain very confident in both my driving and technical abilities and believe by working with the talented people at ECR and Team Chevy, while representing BITNILE.COM, we will make progress. I am going to do everything I can do to help the team achieve its long-term objectives.”

Said Milton “Todd” Ault, the chairman of sponsor BitNile.com: “It is great for BitNile.com to be aligned with an Indy 500 Winner and an NTT IndyCar Series champion. I have followed Ryan’s career for years and I am confident he will challenge the entire ECR team to perform at higher levels. I wish everyone luck at Road America.”