Jordan King named to fill No. 20 seat for Ed Carpenter Racing on road/street courses - MotorSportsTalk

Ed Carpenter Racing on Thursday morning announced Jordan King will drive the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet in 11 of this season’s 17 races in the Verizon IndyCar Series.

King, who turns 24 on February 26, competed in Formula 2 (formerly GP2) the last three seasons, was named FIA Institute’s 2015 Driver of the year and won the 2013 British Formula 3 championship.

King will drive in 11 road/street course races for ECR, starting with the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Florida). Carpenter, the only owner/driver in the series, will drive in the six oval-track races on the 2018 IndyCar schedule.

I'm hugely proud to announce that I will be joining forces with @ECRIndy for the 2018 season as the #20 road and street course driver! I'm beyond excited to get started in @IndyCar and to have @edcarpenter20 showing me the ropes 🙌🏻🏎🏁 #TheAllies

📰 https://t.co/iwd4yZwBWW pic.twitter.com/l4hMW9mmeg

— Jordan King (@42jordanking) January 4, 2018

“Sharing the No. 20 seat with Ed gives me a great opportunity to learn from him and the team, while racing at the road and street courses will let me put into practice what I have learned,”King said in a ECR media release.

“I am beyond excited to get started in the Verizon IndyCar Series. After winning at Silverstone in 2016 and being able to drive in F1 practice, 2017 was not what I was hoping for. Going into the new season, I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity with ECR to work towards our collective goals. I believe that together, both of us have the capability to do well!”

King, a native of Warwickshire, England, has been racing since 2005, when he began competing in kart competition. He won three races and had eight podium finishes en route to the 2013 British Formula 3 championship in his rookie season.

King’s last three seasons in F2 included several tests and drove in practice sessions at the 2016 United States Grand Prix and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Last season, he raced for MP Motorsport in F2, with top 10 finishes in over half of the races.

“We are very excited to welcome Jordan to the ECR family and to have him in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet for the 2018 road and street course races,” Carpenter said. “I first met Jordan at Sonoma Raceway in 2016 as he was exploring opportunities in INDYCAR.

“He is a very motivated, intelligent and hungry driver, which is exactly what we are looking for at ECR. Jordan has had a lot of success and experience in Europe and I can’t wait to see what he is capable of with ECR in the Verizon IndyCar Series.”

King will race alongside teammate, 24-year-old American driver Spencer Pigot, who will drive ECR’s No. 21 Chevy for the 2018 season.

King will climb behind the wheel of the No. 20 for his first test on February 5 at Sonoma Raceway.

Coming off his best Supercross season to date, Enzo Lopes has re-signed with Muc-Off / ClubMX Yamaha and will race for the team in 2024. The deal is for Supercross only.

*Enzo Lopes won his heat race in Denver and finished fourth in the Main. – Feld Motor Sports*

Lopes debuted in the Supercross series in 2019 on a Suzuki and scored his first top-10 finishes in his last two starts of that season. Showing consistent improvement, he earned six top-10s in eight Main events the following year and finished fifth in the 250 East standings. In 2022, he scored his first top-five at Daytona and finished in the top five in points again.

“I am happy to be returning to ClubMX for another season,” Lopes said in a press release. “It is like family to me there and that is very important. Although I had many options, staying where I am makes the most sense for many reasons. The bikes are great, the people are great, the tracks are amazing, and I am surrounded by people that care about me. We all want to win and together we will get there.”

While he improved his season-best performance by only one position this year, it was nevertheless a breakout season. Lopes barely missed the podium three times in 2023 with fourth-place finishes at San Diego, Seattle, and Denver.

His strong performance him rumored to be speaking with factory teams.

“We could see the growth from Enzo every time he gets on the bike,” said team owner Brandon Haas. “We all knew it was just a matter of time before he would be noticed by everyone, and we are proud of him on many levels. He had some heat race wins and qualified fastest at three events this season. It would be hard not to be noticed going that fast. He had a big decision to make and we are glad he chose to stay with us at ClubMX.”

Lopes had three podium finishes in heat races this year, including a win preceding his fourth-place finish in Denver.

Lopes will join Jeremy Martin, Phil Nicoletti and Garrett Marchbanks, who announced a two-year extension with the team in January, at the ClubMX team.

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