Rossi thrilled for Milwaukee end result after “missed alternatives”

When Christian Rasmussen emerged from his No. 21 Chevrolet to have fun his first NTT IndyCar Collection victory on Sunday, the primary one to greet him was teammate Alexander Rossi.

It was a uncommon second of bliss for 2 drivers and a corporation which have had combined leads to 2025.
“Your first-career win is a second you’ll clearly always remember,” Rossi stated afterward. “It’s enormous to your profession, and he’s been so good on the ovals this 12 months.

“It’s been a very long time coming for ECR as effectively. It’s been a troublesome couple years for them. … It’s by no means a simple street and there’s a whole lot of work nonetheless in entrance of us. However it’s simply an incredible accomplishment for the group at present.”

Ed Carpenter Racing entered 2025 anticipating rising pains. The corporate had an enormous new presence, bringing in Rossi – the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2018 championship runner-up – to interchange Rinus VeeKay. However Rossi arrived with one win from the prior 5 seasons and was getting into at a corporation with only one podium within the three years prior.

Rossi informed IndyCar.com in January that he knew the group was “not going to go from the outcomes which have existed the previous couple of years to rapidly successful each race,” however felt there was “potential to shock lots of people at factors.”

That proved true Sunday on the Milwaukee Mile, as the corporate put each vehicles within the top-four with an aggressive technique that noticed Rossi’s teammate, Rasmussen, shock the sector for his maiden sequence triumph.

Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing

Photograph by: Penske Leisure

When Rasmussen first arrived at Ed Carpenter Racing in 2024, the 2023 Indy NXT champion was solely meant to contest road-and-street course races within the No. 20 Chevrolet. Ed Carpenter himself was nonetheless piloting the machine for ovals, so exterior of a run within the Indianapolis 500, the Dane was meant to keep away from the ovals.

Carpenter stepped out of the cockpit exterior of Indianapolis in August 2024. Within the 12 months since, Rasmussen has emerged as one in every of IndyCar’s high brief oval drivers – a truth he was in a position to placed on show in dramatic vogue within the closing levels of the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.

Rossi was the lead ECR driver for the majority of Sunday’s race, rising from twelfth into the top-five by short-pitting the whole area on the opening pit sequence. However when a quick rain bathe opened the door for each drivers to pit for recent rubber heading right into a 28-lap closing sequence, it opened the door for Rasmussen to surge from sixth to first.

Sadly for Rossi, he didn’t have the identical brief run tempo. The Californian may solely rise to fourth earlier than the checkered flag flew, crossing the road 11.45s behind his teammate.

“We saved tires by means of apply for that situation,” Rossi stated. “I simply want we have been in a position to be a bit of bit stronger on that restart. Received caught up combating Pato (O’Ward) a bit of bit.

“It’s what it’s. I imply, it nonetheless was the precise name, clearly. It received the race.”

Even with out the win, Rossi was all smiles on pit street after a uncommon second of shared success for each ECR groups. Every driver has proven glimmers of promise at completely different instances this 12 months. Rossi opened the season with three high 10s in 4 races and earned his second-straight top-five Sunday. Rasmussen had come residence third at World Experience Expertise Raceway and had three high 10s in 5 races heading into Wisconsin.
ECR had tempo. However the firm had but to see each groups excel in the identical weekend. That lastly modified Sunday. It marked the primary race in 2025 the place each drivers completed within the top-five, and even high 10.

The Milwaukee end result was a breakthrough. And with only one race left within the 2025 season, it provides Rossi, Rasmussen and Carpenter a collective success to construct on after a 12 months beforehand highlighted by particular person moments.

“There was a whole lot of missed alternatives this 12 months,” Rossi admitted. “… There’s been some actually good moments and actually disappointing moments, however finally I feel we knew that, particularly on the ovals, the tempo was within the automobile. We confirmed that at present.”