The offseason in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES often brings new partnerships and a lot of work behind the scenes, and this time, a growing technical alliance between Ed Carpenter Racing and AVL RACETECH is officially moving into a deeper phase just as the 2026 season approaches.
The two sides have worked together since 2021, and now the collaboration has been formalized with AVL RACETECH becoming the team’s official dynamic vehicle simulation partner. That means more advanced tools, more data, and more preparation before the cars even roll onto the track, and in modern IndyCar racing, preparation often makes the difference.
This Partnership Matters for Ed Carpenter Racing
At the center of this new agreement is AVL’s simulation platform, AVL VSM RACE, which enables engineers to test race setups in a virtual world before they try them during a race weekend.
For a series like IndyCar, that is extremely valuable as the schedule includes street circuits, permanent road courses, and high-speed ovals, with each track demanding a different setup, and teams usually have limited time to figure things out once practice begins.
With the simulation tools provided by AVL RACETECH, ECR can now run a large number of virtual laps in a short time using cloud computing. Engineers can now analyze how the car might react and narrow down the best direction before unloading at the track.
Team founder and co-owner Ed Carpenter said the partnership strengthens multiple areas of the program, “Partnering with AVL RACETECH strengthens every part of our program. Their expertise gives us tools to push deeper, innovate faster, and elevate the performance standard we expect at ECR.”
Inside the competition department, the reaction has been similar: Vice President of Competition Matt Barnes explained that the team now has access to world-class simulation and development tools, “Partnering with AVL RACETECH gives us access to world-class simulation and development tools that elevate every aspect of our engineering program.”
Director Motorsport of AVL List GmGH, Ellen Lohr, highlighted how demanding IndyCar competition has become, “IndyCar represents one of the most demanding environments in global open-wheel racing. The fact that we are now transforming our collaboration with ECR into an official partnership underscores the mutual trust between us.”
ECR Looking to Build on Momentum
ECR is coming off a season that showed clear signs of progress from last year. Christian Rasmussen delivered his first career victory, which also marked the team’s first win since 2021.
That result gave the organization a confidence boost heading into the new year, and now, with stronger technical support and more advanced tools, the team hopes to continue moving forward.
For 2026, ECR will field a lineup that includes Alexander Rossi alongside Rasmussen, with team owner Carpenter also expected to return behind the wheel for the Indianapolis 500, which remains the biggest race on the calendar.
The season begins with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, one of the most challenging street races in the series, and this event often reveals which teams used the offseason wisely and which still have work to do.
ECR believes this technical step with AVL RACETECH will help them be better prepared but even with new technology and partnerships, success in IndyCar still depends on execution during race weekends..
However, improving the tools available to a team can change how efficiently it approaches the season, and for ECR, the hope is that this collaboration with AVL will translate into stronger results on track.
