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Alexander Rossi at the 2025 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
(Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)

‘Nothing Happens Overnight’ for Alexander Rossi at Ed Carpenter Racing

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When Alexander Rossi signed to drive for Ed Carpenter Racing in the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season, he was embracing the challenge of bringing Ed Carpenter’s team to the front of the IndyCar grid.

After winning eight races for Andretti Global and scoring two podiums with Arrow McLaren, the California native joined a team that last entered victory lane back in May of 2021 with Rinus VeeKay at Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

To get back to the front, many changes had to be made, including jettisoning VeeKay in favor of Rossi.

“It’s obviously a constant evolution,” Rossi said in a pre-event media availability ahead of the upcoming race weekend at The Thermal Club. “It takes a lot to make small gains. But I think we’re progressing forward at a rate that kind of far exceeded my expectations.

“I think there’s a lot of positivity around the team right now. The morale is pretty high. The momentum is kind of tending to shift toward the positive in a lot of ways on and off the track for ECR. It’s really exciting to be a part of. Can’t wait to get back on the track this weekend.”

ECR had a massive organizational change during the offseason when Ted Gelov became part-owner of the team, investing with his Heartland Food Products Group as a primary partner. The team now has additional resources to chase the front of the grid.

“I think this team has been afforded the opportunity over this offseason to really make some positive dents into things that maybe they couldn’t have touched in the past,” Rossi said. “That is all great and that is all super exciting. Also, that doesn’t mean immediate results in any way, shape or form.

“So yes, to get to the level that we as competitors and people that want to win, it’s going to be a project and it’s going to take time. Nothing happens overnight. That does not mean that I don’t think we can be extremely competitive and win races this year at tracks that suit us.”

ECR became a project for Rossi and his efforts were rewarded with a 10th place finish at the season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg. Street circuits have not been ECR’s strong suit with two top-10s on street tracks in the last three IndyCar seasons.

This makes Rossi’s St. Petersburg result more of a surprise after a 20th-place qualifying run. An alternate strategy allowed the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner to run near the front of the field, but an additional pit stop to run the softer alternate compound tires, which had a very limited lifespan around St. Petersburg, prevented Rossi from finishing any higher than 10th.

Still, there were many positives for the team to take away from their first race together.

“It was just a well-executed weekend for the most part,” Rossi said. “I think we’re pretty realistic in the sense we know street courses are not going to be our strong suit. Obviously you’re always hoping to find the big breakthrough and to be able to say that you can go into a weekend expecting to fight for a podium and a win.

“I think we realize that permanent road courses, obviously Thermal, Barber, Indy GP, heading into Indianapolis, those are the races that we have on our calendar that are races we know we can be competitive at and fight for something pretty cool. I think that St. Pete was one of those ones that as a group you want to get through together, kind of understand everyone’s roles, just diagnose things that need to be improved upon.”

Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.