Ed Carpenter the driver is hungry, and Ed Carpenter the team owner is a smart business man. Now he just might have the missing ingredient to finally find victory lane at Indianapolis.

Carpenter announced the creation of Ed Carpenter Racing in 2011. The single-car team expanded in 2014, and has run at least three cars at Indianapolis since the 2018 season. In the offseason, Ed hired Alexander Rossi to take over the No. 20 Chevrolet. For the first time ever, ECR has an Indy 500 winner behind the wheel.

The last few years have been tough for ECR as a whole. They have just one race win since 2016 and that came in 2021 on the IMS road course. That was a great day for the team, but what they really want is that victory on the famed 2.5-mile oval. That is why they signed Rossi.

Carpenter is a three-time pole sitter for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. He has also qualified 2nd on two other occasions. The team as a whole has been sensational in Indy 500 qualifying. From 2016-2023, at least one ECR car has qualified in the first two rows. Last year, they missed it by one spot, but Rinus VeeKay qualified 7th after the team rebuilt his crashed car from earlier in the morning.

Rossi is aiming to make his 10th Indy 500 start this month. While nothing will ever compare to his first, getting another win would be a monumental achievement. He was one of the favorites with Andretti, and was just as strong each of the last two with Arrow McLaren. Now, he wants to carry over that success to his new home.

The first five races have gone fairly well for this new pairing. Rossi has three top-fives and has finished inside the top 15 in all five races. He has already led a lap with the No. 20 ECR machine but sits 11th in the championship standings. Oddly enough, he is two points behind VeeKay, the driver he replaced.

In his nine starts, Rossi has only finished worse than 7th on two occasions. His last three finishes here are 5th, 5th, and 4th. Both Rossi and Carpenter have the experience and the knowledge to find victory lane, but winning at Indianapolis always requires a bit of luck.

The organization got its first taste of IMS last month at the Open Test, where all three cars were quick. Rossi began the season with a pair of top-ten finishes at St Petersburg and Thermal. He is aiming to end his winless streak, and there would be no better place to do that than Indianapolis.

One thing Rossi has never done? Start the Indy 500 from pole position. He could finally check that off his bucket list, but he will have to beat his boss to do so.