Ed Carpenter Racing announced today that Mike Conway will drive the number 20 car for the team next year on all road and street course races. Ed will continue to pilot the machine on all of the ovals, and he described this move as a “business decision” for his team. Conway will be in the car for 12 races next season, beginning with the season-opening race in St. Petersburg.

Carpenter will drive in six oval races, the first being the Indianapolis 500, where he won the pole last season. The move makes perfect sense for both sides, with both playing to their strengths. Conway won at Belle Isle last year driving for Dale Coyne Racing, and was always one of the strongest drivers on the road and street course events. Ed’s success has always come on the oval tracks.

I actually wrote a story about this very scenario possibly playing out back on June 20th of this year. You can find that story here. It was a monumental decision for Ed to have to make, and one that really shows that he cares about his business, and his employees.

Looking over that article, I think there are a couple of things that resonate still today. One is that the hardest thing for a driver to do is watch someone else drive their car, especially when you consider that the driver is the owner in this case. The second is that with this move, Ed has elevated his team into a Championship contender, and a team that contend for a win at every race track on the schedule. In the end, that’s all you can really ask for.