Everette Edward Carpenter Jr. (born March 3, 1981) is an American auto racing driver, currently competing in the IndyCar Series for his team, Ed Carpenter Racing. He is the stepson of Indy Racing League founder Tony George. He holds the joint-record for most Indy 500 starts without a win along with George Snider.

Career history Carpenter was born in Paris, Illinois, and grew up in the town of Marshall until the age of eight. He then moved to Indianapolis. He is a graduate of Butler University.

Early career Carpenter has had a successful career in midget racing dating back to 1989. Carpenter would win national quarter-midget events in Xenia, Ohio and Hagerstown, Maryland in 1996.

United States Automobile Club

USAC Regional Series Carpenter drove in the USAC Regional Series in 1998 in the midget division. Carpenter drove the No. 3 TG Racing car at 16th Street Speedway. At the track event on June 27, 1998, Carpenter qualified with the eleventh fastest time. Carpenter won the third heat race and finished the feature in third place.

USAC National Midget Car Series Carpenter drove in the USAC National Midget Series in 1999 for TG Racing in the No. 3 Ed Pink Beast in fifteen races. Carpenter won a race at Louisville Motor Speedway and finished thirteenth in points. Carpenter returned in 2000 to drive the No. 3 TG Motorsports car. Carpenter achieved four top-five finishes with a best finish of second at the Belleville Nationals at the Belleville High Banks and finished ninth in the final point standings. In 2001, Carpenter drove the No. 2 Steele car at South Boston Speedway, where he started 11th and finished eighth. In 2002, Carpenter returned to the series to drive for Klatt Enterprises. Carpenter competed in three races and finished 44th in points.

USAC Silver Crown Series Carpenter competed in the USAC Silver Crown Series in 2000. Carpenter originally competed for former Indy car driver George Snider in car No. 111 at the season-opening Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway; Carpenter finished in ninth place to claim the Rookie of the Race award. Carpenter started driving for George Snider's relative Debbie Snider in the No. 7 Chevrolet-powered Beast, with George Snider and Jimmy Sills acting as mentors to him and giving him advice about tracks. Carpenter had a best finish of sixth in the Southern Illinoisan 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack. Carpenter started on the pole position in the A. J. Foyt's True Value Hulman Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway, the series' most prestigious race. Carpenter led the first eighty laps before crashing and finishing in twentieth place. Carpenter also won the Rookie of the Race award at Nazareth Speedway with a seventh-place finish. Carpenter finished twelfth in the final point standings. In 2001, Carpenter returned to drive for George Snider in the No. 11 – numbered 111 at Gateway International Raceway – car. Carpenter's best finish was sixth at the Coca-Cola 100 at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and he finished ninth in the final point standings.

In 2002, Carpenter drove the No. 44 Sinden Racing car. At the season-opening Little Trees 100 at Phoenix, Carpenter started second and finished 21st after suffering an engine failure after 85 laps. Carpenter also drove for Hoffman Auto Racing in the No. 69 Dynamics car at the Golden Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway – starting seventeenth and finishing 24th due to a crash after 59 laps – and the No. 67 Zarounian car at the Ted Horn 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack; Carpenter started from pole position and finished 25th due to an accident after 58 laps. Carpenter's best finish of the season was at the Dominic's of New York 100 at Richmond International Raceway where he started seventh and finished second, leading for twelve laps. Carpenter finished the season ranked 22nd in the final point standings. For 2003, Carpenter again drove for Hoffman Auto Racing in the No. 69 Dynamics car. Carpenter's best finish of 3rd place came at the Dominic's of New York 100 at Richmond after starting tenth. Carpenter finished 35th in the final point standings.

USAC Sprint Car Series In 2001, Carpenter began competing in the USAC Sprint Car Series in the No. 1111 TG Racing car. At the season-ending USAC Sprint Legends Classic at Salem Speedway, Carpenter had the 3rd fastest qualifying time, finished sixth in the first heat and won the "Semi" race. In the feature race, Carpenter took the lead with ten laps to go and won. Carpenter finished twelfth in the final point standings. In 2002, Carpenter drove for Sinden Racing, where he took one win during the season, and finished nineteenth in the final point standings.

North American Auto Racing Series In 2000, Carpenter competed in the North American Auto Racing Series-sanctioned NAMARS National Midget Championship series in the No. 3C TG Racing car. Carpenter attempted to qualify for the Chili Bowl at Tulsa Expo Center, considered to be the "biggest Midget race of the year". Carpenter failed to qualify for the qualifier and missed the feature race as a result.

IndyCar

Indy Lights Series Carpenter joined the then-new Indy Racing League sanctioned Infiniti Pro Series in 2002, driving the No. 2 Sinden Racing car. At the season-opening Kansas 100 at Kansas Speedway, Carpenter started and finished fifth. Carpenter's best finish of second came in the Kentucky 100 at Kentucky Speedway, and he also achieved a pair of third-place finishes in the Michigan 100 at Michigan International Speedway and the Gateway 100 at Gateway International Speedway. Carpenter finished out the season ranked third, with 226 points. In 2003 Carpenter moved to A. J. Foyt Enterprises to drive the No. 14 car. Carpenter won his only Indy Lights race at the series' most prestigious race, the Futaba Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Carpenter qualified on the pole position at the Aventis Racing for Kids 100 at Kansas Speedway and the Chicagoland 100 at Chicagoland Speedway, finishing second in each race. Carpenter again finished the season ranked third, with 377 points. In 2005 Carpenter returned to the series for Vision Racing to drive the No. 9 car on a one-off basis; he competed at the Liberty Challenge on the road course at Indianapolis. Carpenter qualified thirteenth out of fourteen cars and finished eleventh, the last car on the lead lap; the result saw him finish 26th in the drivers' championship, with nineteen points.

IndyCar Series Carpenter's first experience in the IndyCar Series came in 2001 at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he tested a car for Panther Racing.

2003–2005 In 2003, Carpenter began competing in the IndyCar Series for PDM Racing in the No. 18 Dallara-Chevrolet. Carpenter made his debut at the Delphi Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway; he started in sixteenth place and finished in thirteenth place. Carpenter then competed at the Toyota Indy 400 at California Speedway, starting in seventeenth place and finishing in thirteenth place, two laps down. At the season-ending Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, Carpenter started in 22nd place and finished in 21st place due to alternator problems after completing 69 laps. Carpenter finished the season ranked in 26th place, with 43 points. In 2004, Carpenter ran his first full-time season for Red Bull Cheever Racing in the No. 52 Dallara-Chevrolet. At the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Carpenter started in ninth place and finished in twelfth place. During the season, Carpenter struggled to match the results of teammate Alex Barron. Carpenter's best finish was eighth place at the Belterra Casino Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Carpenter qualified for the Indianapolis 500, starting in sixteenth place and finishing in 31st place due to a crash after 62 laps. Carpenter finished the season in sixteenth place, with 245 points. For 2005, Carpenter's stepfather Tony George started a new team called Vision Racing after purchasing the equipment from Kelley Racing. Carpenter drove for the team in the No. 20 Dallara-Toyota. During the year, Carpenter and the team struggled; his best start was sixteenth place at the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway. Carpenter's best finish was at the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway with a tenth-place finish, one lap down. Carpenter qualified for the Indianapolis 500, starting in 26th place and finishing in eleventh place, one lap down. Carpenter finished the season in eighteenth place, with 244 points.

2006 Carpenter returned with Vision Racing in 2006 in the No. 20 Dallara-Honda. On March 26, 2006, during the warmup practice session for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead, Carpenter was involved in a crash with Paul Dana, who died soon after from his injuries. Carpenter was reported to be "awake and alert," airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital and was released the next day suffering bruised lungs. Carpenter returned to the series for the third race of the season, the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi, starting in nineteenth place and finishing in twentieth place due to a crash after 25 laps. At the Indianapolis 500, Carpenter and his teammates acquired sponsorship from Rock and Republic for the race. Carpenter started in twelfth place and ran in the top-ten late in the race; he finished eleventh, a lap down, after a late-race pit stop. At the following race, the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International, Carpenter started in eighteenth place and finished in sixth place after his team decided to put on rain tires for the wet conditions. At the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Carpenter started in fourth place and finished in seventh place. At the season-ending Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland, Carpenter started in twelfth place and finished in fifth place. Carpenter finished the season ranked in fourteenth place, with 252 points.

2007 In 2007, Carpenter again competed with Vision Racing to drive the No. 20 Dallara-Honda. Carpenter started off the season with a sixth-place finish at the season-opening XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 at Homestead. The team acquired sponsorship from Hitachi Power Tools for the Indianapolis 500 onwards. At Indianapolis, Carpenter started in 14th place and finished in seventeenth place after being involved in a crash with Marco Andretti, Dan Wheldon and others which resulted in Andretti flipping down the back straightaway. Just after the crash, the race was stopped due to rain. Carpenter's best finish in the remaining races was at the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway with a sixth-place finish after starting fifth. Carpenter finished the season ranked in fifteenth place, with 309 points.

2008

For 2008, Carpenter returned with Vision Racing to drive the No. 20 Dallara-Honda. At the season-opening Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 at Homestead, Carpenter qualified in second place, but his time was nullified as his car – as well as the car of teammate A. J. Foyt IV – failed technical inspection. Despite starting at the rear, Carpenter worked his way through the order to finish in sixth place. Carpenter added another 6th-place finish at the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. At the Indianapolis 500, Carpenter qualified in tenth place and finished in fifth place, leading three laps. After eight races, Carpenter ranked eighth in points, however, Carpenter only achieved top-ten finishes in the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville and the Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky. Carpenter finished out the year with a fiery crash in the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland while running in the top five. Carpenter finished the season ranked in fifteenth place, with 320 points.

2009