Christian Rasmussen was given an amazing endorsement by his boss Ed Carpenter, who asked the Danish rookie to step in and take his place over the last three oval events and move the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy into contention for a Leaders …
Christian Rasmussen was given an amazing endorsement by his boss Ed Carpenter, who asked the Danish rookie to step in and take his place over the last three oval events and move the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy into contention for a Leaders Circle contract.
The prize money program, devised in the 2000s where the vast majority of the season’s prize fund is split evenly among the top finishers in the entrants’ championship, rewards those who place inside the top 22 in the entrants’ standings, and with the No. 20 sitting 23rd entering the season finale, Rasmussen was focused on finishing ahead of the 22nd-place No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy driven by Sting Ray Robb.
It was looking dicey for the first half of the 206-lap race as Robb held the upper hand, but Rasmussen—the 2023 Indy NXT champion—was able to rally and improve to 14th at the checkered flag, six spots ahead of Robb, who was dealing with food poisoning all day.
Moments after climbing from the car, Rasmussen was being celebrated by his crew and ECR’s leadership for delivering a $1 million payday for the team.
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“Good day, a good day,” the Dane told RACER. “I felt like the race for me was very up and down. I didn’t really know where we were, and I don’t know if we made a little mistake on the pit stop, which sent us to the back, so I made up spots, and then we got sent to the back. I felt like I did that a few times.”
ECR asked Rasmussen to conserve fuel to finish the race, and once he had enough in reserve, it was time to go on the attack.
“Once we got kicked loose and I got off my fuel number, we had a lot of pace, and we basically put a lap on Sting Ray in a very short time,” he said. “We were flying, so that was super fun. There was one objective today and we got it.”
The faith placed by Carpenter in Rasmussen was duly rewarded. With one IndyCar oval race to his credit, taking the reins from an oval expert like Carpenter came with lofty expectations.
“It’s a huge trust,” Rasmussen said. “I got presented with the opportunity and went to it very humbly. I know we had an objective, but I just wanted to do the best I could for the team. It was the right choice. It was not an easy task, coming to two new ovals without any test days or anything on a short oval, but it worked out pretty well — P11, P16 and P13 in my first three ovals in an IndyCar other than the Indy 500 — so I’m happy with that.”
IndyCar has added two more entries to the list of those taking nine-position starting grid penalties for this afternoon’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. The No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci …
IndyCar has added two more entries to the list of those taking nine-position starting grid penalties for this afternoon’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. The No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci made an unapproved engine change following final practice Saturday, while the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy of Christian Rasmussen made a similar change following qualifying. They drop to 14th and 25th respectively as a result.
The new additions bring the total number of entries getting grid penalties for the season finale to six, joining those driven by Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Alexander Rossi and Nolan Siegel.
Danish drivers are having quite a moment in the NTT IndyCar Series. Last week’s big news involved the signing of Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard by Arrow McLaren, winners of Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio with team leader Pato O’Ward. In his third full …
Danish drivers are having quite a moment in the NTT IndyCar Series. Last week’s big news involved the signing of Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard by Arrow McLaren, winners of Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio with team leader Pato O’Ward. In his third full season, Lundgaard has become Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s top driver and turned in another best-in-team performance for RLL with a run to seventh at the Honda Indy 200.
And while most of the Danish spotlight is cast on Lundgaard, and deservedly so, the newest Dane in the series, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen, is also making his presence felt while taking a run at Rookie of the Year honors.
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For Rasmussen, the 2023 Indy NXT champion, that’s back-to-back finishes of 13th in Monterey and ninth at Mid-Ohio, who’s starting to shine for ECR at the midway point of his debut IndyCar campaign. Moreover, the 24-year-old has been the team’s first driver to reach the finish line for three races in a row, and thanks to his midseason rise in competitiveness and consistency, Rasmussen provided some sunshine during a disappointing year for ECR.
The start to the season had more bumps and bruised than quality finishes as the rookie made plenty of mistakes, but something finally clicked for him in recent weeks. His starring effort in Mid-Ohio qualifying where Rasmussen made it inside the Firestone Fast 12 for the first time and captured ninth on the grid spoke to the talent and speed he unleashed in NXT. In the race, he kept putting those skills to work once more and took ninth, two spots shy from Lundgaard in seventh.
Holding 19th in the championship leaving Mid-Ohio, Rasmussen has used his recent form to move forward and sits directly behind 18th-place teammate Rinus VeeKay. Despite his ascension, Rasmussen’s season is winding down starting this weekend in Iowa where he’ll step aside for team owner Ed Carpenter for the remainder of the oval-heavy calendar.
Returns at Toronto later in July and once in August at Portland will cap his season, and while Rasmussen’s strong run and closing of the gap to his teammate in the standings will cease, he has every reason to celebrate how far he’s come since the first race in March.
“Just a strong, well-executed weekend!” Rasmussen said. “It looked a little tough in practices, but we made good changes and had our best qualifying attempt with my first time in the Fast 12. I qualified P9 and I finished the race P9. It was kind of a boring race for me, but that’s what we needed.
“Just super proud of where this is headed. We have shown good pace on multiple occasions but haven’t been able to translate that into a good race result. Being able to do that today for everyone and also myself was really awesome.”
RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps race day at the Indy 500 and interviews Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Santino Ferrucci and Newgarden superfan Greg Dixon. Presented by RACER’s Indy 500 Trackside Report is presented by The American …
RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps race day at the Indy 500 and interviews Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Santino Ferrucci and Newgarden superfan Greg Dixon.
Presented by
RACER’s Indy 500 Trackside Report is presented by The American Legion. 90 Minutes to Save a Life – Sign up for FREE Suicide Prevention Training from American Legion and Columbia University Lighthouse Project at BeTheOne.org.
Sadness and a sigh of relief were my two main responses to Ed Carpenter Racing’s announcement of 2023 Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen as its newest IndyCar driver. The sigh of relief was for the NXT series and Rasmussen. With Linus Lundqvist …
Sadness and a sigh of relief were my two main responses to Ed Carpenter Racing’s announcement of 2023 Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen as its newest IndyCar driver.
The sigh of relief was for the NXT series and Rasmussen. With Linus Lundqvist dominating the championship in 2022 and finding no takers for his services until a seat opened late last season at Meyer Shank Racing due to injury, there was a sizable concern that Rasmussen would also be passed over for an IndyCar opportunity.
Although he was drawing interest elsewhere in the paddock, Carpenter was the only team owner who was serious about giving the kid a shot, and if he wasn’t selected to drive its No. 20 Chevy, Rasmussen was at risk of being passed over in the same vein as Lundqvist and having to fight among a half-dozen other names chasing similar or lesser seats.
Thankfully, ECR chose the fiery 23-year-old Dane, who has all the markings of a seriously fast and formidable talent to develop, and because of that choice, Penske Entertainment has avoided seeing back-to-back NXT champions relegated to the sidelines to open the following season. What a relief.
Rasmussen’s addition adds to a strong contingent of Indy NXT grads in the IndyCar lineup. Gavin Baker/Motorsport Images
Rasmussen’s nomination by ECR means IndyCar will have every Indy Lights/NXT champion since 2018 in the field next year, led by Pato O’Ward at Arrow McLaren, Kyle Kirkwood at Andretti Global, and Lundqvist at Chip Ganassi Racing. The only exception — bearing in mind the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID — is 2019 title winner Olver Askew, and that’s where the sadness comes in.
If you were fortunate to see Askew in action during his mollywhopping Mazda Road to Indy years, there was no doubt as to whether the lanky kid from Florida — just like his friend and in-state rival Kirkwood — was destined for IndyCar stardom. However, a rough introductory season in the big leagues with Arrow McLaren rarely went according to plan, and to be honest, he wasn’t viewed or signed with the same enthusiasm as O’Ward.
His McLaren stablemate thrived while he found the car a handful to drive, and with a mid-season crash that left Askew with a concussion and a need to step out of the cockpit for a few races, the wave of momentum he rode into IndyCar was lost.
Since then, Askew’s gone wherever the opportunities have presented themselves in IMSA, Formula E, and on occasion in IndyCar. The chance to land the No. 20 ECR Chevy was an important one for Askew, which makes its loss a sad outcome for the 26-year-old. Partnering with Rinus VeeKay was his best chance of returning to IndyCar, but like Rasmussen, it wasn’t his only option. I’m aware of at least one other team that has an interest in Askew, but now he’s in that same multi-driver fight to find his way into the series.
Also, Askew turns 27 in December, and while he’s far from old, the door to IndyCar won’t remain open forever — not with so many other young and funded drivers waiting to fill any available openings. If Askew isn’t on the grid next year, the IndyCar chapter of his life might be over.
I had a third reaction to Rasmussen’s signing, and it was concern. VeeKay ran a close second to Askew in that 2019 Lights championship, and in the four seasons he’s spent with ECR, the Dutchman has matured into one of IndyCar’s finest young talents. His talents have also been largely wasted by ECR. It’s here where I hope the story changes with the kid nicknamed “Razz.”
Since Josef Newgarden’s departure from ECR for Team Penske in 2017, the team has attracted significant talent and burrowed itself into IndyCar’s midfield pack with alarming consistency. JR Hildebrand, the 2009 Indy Lights champion, ran 15th in the 2017 championship for ECR, and his full-time replacement, 2015 Indy Lights champion Spencer Pigot, led the team in 2018 and 2019 with runs to 14th. Upon VeeKay’s arrival in 2020, the rookie maintained Pigot’s form and finished 14th in the standings.
He’d earn his first and only win to date in 2021 and carried the No. 21 to 12th, its best championship placing since Newgarden captured fourth overall in 2016. VeeKay held station in 2022 with another strong effort to hold onto 12th in the standings, and despite a truly impressive sequence of performances to close the 2023 season, ECR regressed, with the No. 21 falling back to a familiar 14th in the championship.
Rinus VeeKay’s fluctuating form with Ed Carpenter Racing is cause for both optimism and concern for new ECR recruit Rasmussen. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
As a whole, the team has gone from being a contender to fluctuating between 12th and 14th with its best entry. And that’s not the car Rasmussen will be driving, which is where the concern is formed.
Under the rideshare program with the No. 20 where he’s headed, the likes of Jordan King, Ed Jones and Conor Daly were occasionally competitive on road and street courses, and as we saw last season, Daly and his replacement Ryan Hunter-Reay were rarely in the hunt for quality finishes. On the ovals, Carpenter was the car’s most effective driver, earning second-place finishes at the Indy 500 in 2018 and Gateway in 2019.
Since then, the best oval outing for the No. 20 with Carpenter behind the wheel was a fifth at Indy in 2021, and with his move to the No. 33 Chevy on the ovals from 2022-23, the results were consistently dreadful. Parking the No. 33 as a part-time third ECR entry makes plenty of sense, but it also takes the team back to a practice with the No. 20 that has rarely benefited the road and street course driver.
To find the last — and only period — where ECR’s rideshare plan worked, we need to say hello to 2014, the amazing Mike Conway and the infancy of the Dallara DW12 chassis when the Briton captured wins at Long Beach and Toronto in the No. 20 while Carpenter added a third win for the entry at Texas and placed third at Fontana to close the season.
Since then, the last decade has offered glimpses of potential during ECR’s two-drivers-for-one-car routine, but the results haven’t been flattering for the No. 20’s revolving door of road racers. And so, after a two-year experiment of running the No. 20 as a full-time entry for one driver, Rasmussen and Carpenter will take turns in 2024, with the 42-year-old American in for six races and the Dane in for 11, with a third entry due for him to drive at Indy 500.
It’s not a bad deal for Rasmussen by any means, but he also enters a team that needs to make vast improvements to challenge for meaningful results. After making no changes to its team in 2023 and paying the price for standing still, ECR is said to have Indy 500-winning race engineer Eric Cowdin on his way there once he completes a non-compete period with Chip Ganassi Racing. Assuming he’s eventually confirmed, Cowdin would be a powerful addition to the group of veteran engineers on ECR’s staff.
VeeKay, its best driver, heads into the final year of his contract with ECR, and unless the team takes a big leap forward in 2024, his tenure in the No. 21 Chevy is likely to reach its end. One team came close to making it happen for next season, and with potential openings at two top 10 contenders for 2025, we can expect the 23-year-old newlywed to attract quality offers to upgrade his personal and competitive fortunes.
That might benefit Rasmussen who, in the absence of VeeKay, could have a full-time seat in the No. 21 on the horizon, and with the talented and well-funded NXT racer Josh Pierson signed as ECR’s development driver, the team should have another young driver to integrate into its IndyCar program in the near future.
After two seasons of being routinely lapped and forgotten in the No. 33 entry, getting back into the No. 20 should be a palate cleanser for Carpenter. He’ll embark on his 21st consecutive attempt to win the Indy 500, and although I’m less than fond of Rasmussen being hired as a part-timer, Carpenter’s call to ditch the No. 33, rely on the stronger engineering team supporting the No. 20, and get back to being relevant on ovals is what’s best for him in the twilight of his career.
A reset in the No. 20 could be just what owner/driver Ed Carpenter needs while also serving his young teammates well. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
Other than his 13th at Texas, Carpenter finished 20th or worse at every other oval last season, and that’s no way for a three-time Indy 500 polesitter to head into the sunset. NXT held two oval races in 2023, and Rasmussen won both with HMD Motorsports, so while he only has the Indy 500 on his oval schedule during his rookie IndyCar campaign, he should complement the team at the Speedway.
If ECR can break free from the midfield and fire VeeKay in and among the Penskes and Ganassis and McLarens on a semi-regular basis, its odds of keeping him will improve. And if that doesn’t happen, Rasmussen could be the beneficiary, if being handed the keys to the midfield during an ongoing rebuild is considered a gift.
ECR deserves a lot of credit for hiring top talent from Indy Lights and NXT. Other than Andretti Global, no team comes close to ECR’s efforts in signing the best prospects from American junior open-wheel racing, and we’re fortunate to have Carpenter’s ongoing commitment in this regard. We’re less fortunate to watch many of those top-tier drivers languish as their stars fade while in the program.
The upcoming season is a pivotal one for Carpenter, VeeKay and Rasmussen. The young ones need to receive consistent speed and competitiveness from ECR to make the most of their prodigious talent. The veteran needs to feel fast and significant in the oval discipline he mastered long ago.
For most of the teams ECR hopes to catch, 2024 will be business as usual as they trade wins and podiums at each round. And for ECR, another season of “business as usual” is the last thing it can afford.
Reigning Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen has been chosen by Ed Carpenter Racing as its newest driver for the No. 20 Chevy, and in a twist, the team will revert to its former practice of ride sharing with the car. Rather than place the …
Reigning Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen has been chosen by Ed Carpenter Racing as its newest driver for the No. 20 Chevy, and in a twist, the team will revert to its former practice of ride sharing with the car.
Rather than place the 23-year-old from Denmark in the No. 20 as Rinus VeeKay’s full-time teammate, ECR will park the uncompetitive No. 33 Chevy driven by Carpenter on the ovals and pair the team owner with Rasmussen, with the newcomer handling road and street courses and his team owner stepping into handle the oval in the No. 20.
The only exception will take place in May when Rasmussen is placed in a third ECR entry to make his Indianapolis 500 debut.
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“I am very excited to join Ed Carpenter Racing for the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season.” Rasmussen said. “It is a dream come true and something I’ve been working towards for a long time now. I want to thank Ed Carpenter and Tim Broyles for the opportunity and I’m ready to get to work and show everyone what we can do!”
Rasmussen and 2019 Indy Lights champion Oliver Askew took part in a shootout for the seat, which led to almost a month of analysis before a decision was made.
“He did an excellent job when we tested him at Barber Motorsports Park last month and showed that he is fully ready to take the next step into the NTT IndyCar Series,” Carpenter said. “We are excited to add him to our lineup and we are anticipating a successful 2024 season.”
A pair of junior-open wheel champions left Barber Motorsports Park on Monday feeling pleased about their performances during Ed Carpenter Racing’s shootout to see who’ll get the nod to become IndyCar’s newest full-time driver. Oliver Askew, the 2019 …
A pair of junior-open wheel champions left Barber Motorsports Park on Monday feeling pleased about their performances during Ed Carpenter Racing’s shootout to see who’ll get the nod to become IndyCar’s newest full-time driver.
Oliver Askew, the 2019 Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) title winner and Christian Rasmussen, crowned two weeks ago as the 2023 NXT champ, were given their own Chevy-powered Indy cars to drive at the high-speed and high-commitment road course in Alabama, and according to multiple sources, Rasmussen was the faster of the two at the 2.4-mile, 16-turn facility.
But outright lap speed wasn’t the only point of evaluation as ECR seeks the right driver to complement its race-winning incumbent Rinus VeeKay. Everything from the quality of their engineering feedback to average pace on used tires was taken into account by the team as it pursues a significant increase in competitiveness at all the unique tracks on the IndyCar calendar.
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Where Carpenter and the team’s top brass will lean is unknown; that will take a few days, at minimum, to process. In the case of Askew, who has 17 IndyCar races to his credit across 2020-21, and has been out of open-wheel racing since completing the 2022 FIA Formula E championship with Andretti Global, and Rasmussen, who put five big NXT wins on the board with HMD Motorsports, both say the chance to drive for ECR brought out their best.
“In the beginning, it was expected that I’d be a little bit rusty,” Florida’s Askew told RACER. “So in the morning, I just wanted to make sure that I got myself grounded and understood what I need to do to get the most out of the car again, and to get that blood pumping. It’s a beast of a car, and I felt like I was able to find my mojo again in the afternoon.
“I was really happy with my long-run pace, and my pace on old tires when the track got a little bit hotter as well. I felt like I was pretty strong and in a rhythm then. And we got through so many setup changes — more than I can ever recall doing in a one-day test. I love everything about it.”
Denmark’s Rasmussen was all smiles after his outing with ECR.
“I think the day went super well,” the 23-year-old said. “I got very comfortable and got up to speed super, super quick. Obviously, it’s a new car for me and you can definitely feel it’s a step up in terms of the physical challenge. I was fast, which is really all I can ask for on my first full day in an Indy car, especially with the experience that [Askew] has. I’m hungry for more, so hopefully we can figure something out and I can be the driver next year. I feel like I’m in a good spot right now. I feel ready, I feel fast, and think that it could be good.”
As the veteran driver at the test, 26-year-old Askew focused on playing that role throughout the day.
“We tried to go on track at the same time with the same tire strategy so we could compare some things more easily, and my approach was to come in and be as much of a leader as I can,” he said. “I naturally want to help Christian and the team out as a whole and I think that’s what I did. I was very open with what I was feeling with the car throughout this whole experience and I was helping Christian where I can — it was important for me to do that because I have that extra experience. That was my mindset going into the day, and we were pretty closely matched. In the afternoon, there wasn’t much between us at all.”
Rasmussen loved pulling into the pits and having a full timing stand of ECR engineers to interact with and to watch all the mechanics envelope his car as different setups were applied to his ride.
“To all of a sudden have that crew around you is a pretty cool feeling, and I think we all worked super well together,” he said. “Because this was my first real go in an Indy car, a lot of my time to start was on learning the car, and I did the best I could. On the feedback side, we went through some changes and got the car into a good window and made some improvements. But for sure there’s improvements to be made there from me with giving better feedback with more time in the car when everything is not new to me. I think some of that is to be expected, but I know I can be better.”
With the test completed, Askew and Rasmussen will wait by their phones and hope to receive a life-changing call from ECR with an invite to partner with VeeKay in 2024.
“Honestly, that’s something that I’m concerned about because it’s out of my control,” Askew said. “I’m proud of my performance today, felt like I got the most out of myself and I was proud of the effort that I put forward. I can be a leader for the team with Rinus, and he and I have shared countless podiums together, like 30 or 40 podiums throughout our years karting and through the Road to Indy as well, so I know that I can push him in ways that he hasn’t been over the last couple of years, and he can do the same for me in return.”
Rasmussen added: “I feel like I have shown everything that I needed to show now, and I can’t really ask for much more than being quickest. I have done everything that I can do to show them that it is me that they should choose. I just need to keep the phone charged and see where it goes with Ed and his team.”
Ed Carpenter Racing has narrowed its shortlist of candidates to a pair of Indy NXT champions to take over the No. 20 Chevy. After parting with Conor Daly after the Detroit round in June and replacing him with Ryan Hunter-Reay for the rest of the …
Ed Carpenter Racing has narrowed its shortlist of candidates to a pair of Indy NXT champions to take over the No. 20 Chevy.
After parting with Conor Daly after the Detroit round in June and replacing him with Ryan Hunter-Reay for the rest of the championship, ECR spent the final weeks of the season developing a cast of contenders to join Rinus VeeKay in 2024. That roster has been defined as 2019 NXT title winner Oliver Askew and new NXT champion Christian Rasmussen.
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The pair recently shared a day on Chevrolet’s driver-in-the-loop simulator in North Carolina ahead of an upcoming test at Barber Motorsports Park where ECR is expected to evaluate the results and choose Askew or Rasmussen as the full-time driver for the No. 20 entry.
“We’re testing both of those guys on Monday at Barber,” Carpenter told RACER. “That’s where our plan lies now.”
For Florida’s Askew, who completed his rookie IndyCar season with Arrow McLaren in 2020 and subbed for an injured VeeKay and placed 12th at Road America for ECR in 2021, there’s a familiarity with the team that drew the interest of Carpenter, general manager Tim Broyles, and the rest of ECR’s leadership.
With Denmark’s Rasmussen, the team sees a bright young talent who took command of the NXT championship with five wins and seven podiums for the HMD Motorsports team.
“I’m excited to see both of them in the car,” Carpenter said. “With Christian, for the first time, and with Oliver, we have one race of experience with him when he filled in for Rinus and we want to give him another look, especially since he’s been more so on the sidelines than doing what he should be doing.
“He made a good impression back then, so we’ll see how things go at the test with him and Christian and have conversations and see what we can put together from there.”
Questions remain as to whether ECR would take whoever does not earn the full-season contract and pair them alongside Carpenter to drive his No. 33 Chevy on road and street courses. Carpenter says it isn’t ECR’s first priority, but it isn’t an impossibility.
“I wouldn’t say I think that’s highly likely, but at this point [we’re] just trying to get the 20 car fully put together,” he added. “And then we’ll go to the next phase from there.”
Denmark’s Christian Rasmussen clinched the 2023 Indy NXT title in dominating style at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and told RACER about the achievement that should land him in IndyCar. Or click HERE to watch on YouTube. Presented by: RACER’s …
Denmark’s Christian Rasmussen clinched the 2023 Indy NXT title in dominating style at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and told RACER about the achievement that should land him in IndyCar.
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Christian Rasmussen of HMD Motorsports demolished the opposition in race two at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, defeating his fastest opponents from Andretti Global by almost 18s. New champion Rasmussen, who only needed to start the race to clinch …
Christian Rasmussen of HMD Motorsports demolished the opposition in race two at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, defeating his fastest opponents from Andretti Global by almost 18s.
New champion Rasmussen, who only needed to start the race to clinch the title, took off from pole but Hunter McElrea — Saturday’s race winner — wheelspun on the curbs out of Turn 11 when the green waved and lost out to Andretti teammate Louis Foster through the Turn 2-3 sequence.
McElrea, though, got him at the same place next time by to begin his pursuit of Rasmussen. Kyffin Simpson (HMD) moved up to challenge Foster, chased by his teammates Reece Gold and Danial Frost. At the end of lap two, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Matt Brabham outbraked Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports at Turn 11 to take seventh.
Gold had taken fourth, when Simpson tried to retaliate down the inside at Turn 5 and knocked his teammate into a spin. Gold just got his car started when the caution came out to rescue him. Brabham had taken advantage of the collision to move past the pair of them into fifth place, but he’d have gained that spot anyway since Simpson had to serve a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
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The lap eight restart saw Rasmussen again jump away, and McElrea had to get defensive to keep Foster behind him. By lap 10, the leader had a 2s margin over McElrea who was a similar distance ahead of his teammate Foster. There was a change for fourth on lap 12, however, as both Brabham and Abel got around Frost. Further back, Ernie Francis Jr (HMD Force Indy) passed Yuven Sundaramoorthy to snatch ninth. Later Nolan Siegel would also demote Sundaramoorthy.
Rasmussen’s lead on lap 23 of 35 was 6s, with Foster 3.7s behind McElrea but 5.3s ahead of Brabham, who was beginning to come under pressure from Abel and Frost.
On lap 25, James Roe spun away his distant seventh place, promoting Francesco Pizzi (Abel) and Siegel, who had earlier gotten around Francis Jr. Sadly for Pizzi, his left-front wing was damaged from an attempted pass on Roe that ended up with him going through the rough at the Corkscrew, thus netting a black flag ordering him to the pits for repair.
Now Siegel, Francis Jr, Sundaramoorthy and Jagger Jones (Cape Motorsports) ran seventh through 10th.
With five laps to go, Rasmussen’s lead was over 11s, with two to go it was 15s, and finally it was over 17s — a rout by the new champion. His fastest lap, set on lap 13, had been 0.5s faster than McElrea’s best effort.
Foster was only 2s adrift of McElrea, but also only 1s ahead of Brabham. Abel just held off Frost for fifth.
