Wikipedia

Vision Racing

Not to be confused with Vision Racing (NASCAR).
For the NASCAR team called Vizion Motorsports, see Vizion Motorsports.

Vision Racing was a racing team in the Indy Racing League founded in 2005 when Tony George purchased the assets of the defunct Kelley Racing and hired his stepson Ed Carpenter to be the driver. The team has previously raced in the Izod IndyCar Series, Firestone Indy Lights and the Grand-Am Sports Car Series. The team suspended operations in January 2010.[1]

Townsend Bell driving the No. 90 Rock & Republic Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone entry during practice for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500

George and Carpenter formed a new race team in 2012, Ed Carpenter Racing.[2]

Season history

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2005

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In its first season in the IRL the team was consistently one of the slowest on the track. Although, Carpenter finished 11th in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 and added the team's first top-10 finish at Nashville Superspeedway. Carpenter ended the season eighteenth in driver points and the team finished a disappointing twentieth in entrant points. The team also fielded Nick Bussell and Jay Drake in the Indy Pro Series. Drake picked up five top five finishes and ended up ninth in points while Bussell had eleven top five finishes and finished an impressive fourth in points. Though both drivers did very well the team did not return to the Pro Series the following year.

2006

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The team returned in 2006 hiring of a new team engineer and expansion to two cars with veteran race winner Tomas Scheckter. The team fared much better with Scheckter capturing a 3rd-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile and finishing 10th in points while Carpenter improved from 18th to 14th in points and captured his first top-five. The team also fielded the number 90 Rock & Republic car driven by Townsend Bell for the Indy 500. Bell retired early from the race as did Scheckter, but Carpenter finished in eleventh. Actor Patrick Dempsey also joined the team in 2006 as co-owner.

 
A. J. Foyt IV driving Vision's #22 car at the Milwaukee Mile in 2007

2007

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In 2007 the team expanded to three cars with the addition of A. J. Foyt IV and picked up Hitachi, Lowe's and Joost as sponsors. Foyt matched Scheckter's team-best 3rd-place finish with a race-leading run at Kentucky Speedway. Vision fielded a fourth car driven by veteran Davey Hamilton and sponsored by HP for the Indy 500. Hamilton finished an impressive ninth just two spots behind teammate Thomas Scheckter in seventh. Scheckter finished tenth in points with Foyt finishing fourteenth and Carpenter finishing in fifteenth.

2008

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The team returned to 2 cars in 2008 with Carpenter and Foyt IV sponsored by Menards, DirecTV, and CardioCheck. Vision looked strong at Homestead Miami Speedway posting impressive speeds during practice. Carpenter qualified second and Foyt qualified third. However, the team was penalized and had to start in the last two positions after failing technical inspection. The IRL confiscated all the team's rear wings but did not specify on the problem. The team later fired team manager Larry Curry because of the incident. Carpenter finished the season fifteenth in points and his teammate Foyt finished nineteenth. Vision Racing entered a third car for the Indy 500 and ran Davey Hamilton as the driver and HP as a sponsor. They ran a third car for Paul Tracy at the Rexall Edmonton Indy in conjunction with Walker Racing with Subway Restaurants as the sponsor.

2009

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In 2009 Ryan Hunter-Reay joined the team alongside the returning Carpenter, and immediately posted the team's best ever finish with a 2nd place at the opening St. Petersburg race. Carpenter matched the result by taking his best career finish of 2nd at Kentucky Speedway in an exciting duel with Ryan Briscoe, with Briscoe edging him at the line.

2010

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On January 28, George was forced to suspend operations due to lack of sponsorship. George later paired up with Panther Racing for a part-time program for his stepson, Ed Carpenter.

Drivers who have driven for Vision Racing

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Racing results

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Complete IRL IndyCar Series results

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(key)

Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Pts Pos Pts
2005 HMS PHX STP MOT INDY TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY PPIR SNM CHI WGL FON
Dallara IR-05 Toyota Indy V8 F   Ed Carpenter 20 18 16 19 16 11 20 12 17 10 12 23 22 19 15 17 14 20 18th 244
  Jeff Ward 22 27 35th 10
2006 HMS STP MOT INDY WGL TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MCH KTY SNM CHI
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI6R V8 F   Tomas Scheckter 2 9 12 13 27 10 10 7 7 15 3 5 7 17 10 10th 298
  Ed Carpenter 20 DNS 20 11 6 9 8 16 10 16 7 11 12 5 14th 252
  Roberto Moreno 18 30th 12
  Townsend Bell 90 22 34th 12
2007 HMS STP MOT KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO MCH KTY SNM DET CHI
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   Tomas Scheckter 2 8 6 9 5 7 17 14 19 7 13 11 9 11 5 8 13 20 10th 357
  Ed Carpenter 20 6 18 15 17 17 7 18 6 10 12 13 16 14 7 13 10 16 15th 309
  A. J. Foyt IV 22 18 13 13 9 14 13 17 12 13 15 12 13 8 3 15 9 10 14th 315
  Davey Hamilton 02 9 26th 22
2008 HMS STP MOT LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO EDM KTY SNM DET CHI SRF1
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   A. J. Foyt IV 2 9 11 15 8 21 17 12 5 24 19 22 18 12 20 20 10 13 17 19th 280
  Ed Carpenter 20 5 18 6 10 5 20 9 23 11 17 8 15 13 6 23 14 28 20 15th 320
  Davey Hamilton 22 14 36th 16
  Paul Tracy 42 33rd 51
2009 STP LBH KAN INDY MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL TOR EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI MOT HMS
Dallara IR-05 Honda HI7R V8 F   Ed Carpenter 20 18 18 9 8 16 9 10 13 16 15 16 2 17 11 6 13 12 12th 321
  Ryan Hunter-Reay 21 2 11 15 32 12 16 15th 298
  1. ^ Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
  2. ^ Run in conjunction with Walker Racing.

References

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  1. ^ "AUTO-RACING - INDYCAR: Vision Suspends Operations - SPEEDtv.com". Archived from the original on 2010-03-04. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
  2. ^ "Notes: Carpenter's team hits ground running - IndyCar.com". Archived from the original on 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
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