Ed Carpenter Racing unveils U.S. Space Force sponsorship for Carpenter's Indy 500 ride
One IndyCar team is taking the battle for this month's Indy 500 to the skies - or even higher.
Friday morning, Ed Carpenter announced his No. 20 Chevy that will hit the track next Wednesday for the opening of practice for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing will be sponsored by the U.S. Space Force - the country's newest military branch.
The sponsorship comes alongside his teammate Conor Daly's well-known connection and sponsorship from the Air Force, which he's sported all year with Ed Carpenter Racing. For this year's 500, it involves a unique orange paint scheme on his own No. 47, dedicated to the Bell 1-X aircraft that broke the sound barrier in 1947.
Expect that military branch rivalry to bleed right into this year's 500 between the ECR teammates.
"I had a good conversation with Ed yesterday, and I told him 'We've got to win'," said Gen. John Raymond, the branch's Chief of Space Operations, on Fox & Friends Friday morning during the livery unveiling. "And I tell you, with the car that looks like that and driven by a driver as professional as Ed Carpenter, I'm pretty confident.
"If you're looking at how we're building this new information, to be high-tech, light, lean, lethal and fast and built to win, there's no better partner than Ed Carpenter."
Carpenter himself chimed in: "I get excited to hear the general speak like that. That's our focus, to be vicious and fast and lean.
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2020/08/07/ed-carpenter-reveals-us-space-force-sponsorship-indy-500-car/3316782001/
Introducing the No. 20
@SpaceForceDoD
Chevrolet, driven by
@EdCarpenter20
in the 2020 Indianapolis 500.
https://twitter.com/ECRIndy/status/1291709730281398272