Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen gears up for his first full IndyCar season, discussing team changes, learning from Alexander Rossi, and his goals for 2025.
Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) has finalised its 2025 NTT IndyCar Series line up, with Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi joining the team. Christian Rasmussen steps up to a full-time seat in the No. 21 Chevrolet.
As the team undergoes significant changes, the 2023 IndyNXT champion is eager to build on his rookie season and make the most of the new opportunities ahead.
A new chapter for Rasmussen
Speaking to media outlets including Pit Debrief about his second season in the series, Rasmussen expressed enthusiasm for what lies ahead.
“A lot of cool things are happening within the ECR organisation, so it’s super cool to have been a part of during the winter and seeing the change kind of happen. I think we have a super exciting year ahead of us.”
Reflecting on the adjustments within the team, he added, “Just all the stuff that we’ve been able to do with the extra funding that we haven’t been able to do previously. Just more opportunity for us, so it’ll be interesting to see if that amounts into a lifetime. Obviously, we hope that’s the case.”
Growth and experience from year one
Rasmussen acknowledged that his rookie season came with its share of challenges but believes the experience gained will be invaluable.
“Just having a year under your belt is a huge change. Instead of going into St. Pete with no IndyCar experience, I have a year under my belt, and I felt like towards the end of the year, I think that things just started to click,” he said.
“The results were kind of reflecting that as well. We’ll just try and start where we left off and then see where we can go.”
Pressure is nothing new to the Danish driver.
“In racing, there’s always pressure. I’ve been very used to that my whole career.
“Coming up through the ladder system, it’s very much been either I win this year or there’s a good chance I won’t race the next year. I’ve kind of been exposed to that pressure through my whole career, and I think I kind of just leaned on that experience from previously to kind of get through it.”
The importance of INDYNXT and Ovals
As a former INDYNXT champion, Rasmussen takes pride in being a product of the Road to Indy system. Louis Foster and Jacob Abel have made the jump this time around.
“It’s good to be a product of the ladder system to show that it works because I would not be in IndyCar today or last year without that. It’s that simple,” he explained.
“It’s the only open-wheel junior category where you do ovals. I think ovals is a huge — I know ovals is a huge part of being fast in IndyCar. You need to be able to do that. Yeah, it’s a good training ground.”
Gaining additional oval experience last year will be beneficial for the full 2025 season. He ran at Milwaukee and Nashville at the end of the last campaign.
“It was a good opportunity for me to practice and get a feel for what the ovals outside of the 500 feels like because the 500 is kind of a different beast compared to all the other speedways. It was good to kind of figure out what I need to do better, what I did well, and then kind of take that experience into 2025 so that we can be even better.”
Team confidence
With ECR undergoing multiple changes, Rasmussen highlighted the renewed sense of belief within the organisation.
“I think there’s a lot of hope within the team. I think a lot of the team members are really believing in what we’re doing, that it’ll make a difference.
“There’s good spirit within the team. Again, it’s cool to be a part of. Excited to get started, get back in the race car and see where we can go because I also personally think that ECR is on the rise for sure.”
Having signed a multi-year deal with the team, Rasmussen remains focused on delivering results but refuses to take anything for granted. He explained, “It’s nice to know in the back of your mind that there’s some sort of security going forward, but it’s racing. Everything can happen.”
“You’re never 100 percent secure. You always have to perform to stay. That’s kind of the mindset that I’m going in with. Again, doing the best job on each weekend that I can and see where we end up.”
Working with Alexander Rossi
In response to a question from Pit Debrief, Rasmussen is excited to work alongside the experienced Alexander Rossi, seeing him as both a mentor and a benchmark.
“He’s going into his, what, ninth season of INDYCAR, and I’m only going into my second. To say that I have nothing to learn from him would definitely be a lie,” said Rasmussen.
“I’m excited to work more with Alex. We’ve only really worked together on the sim days so far. It’ll be good to get out on the track and really work together, drive alongside each other and kind of see how we will work together.
“He’s been very valuable in the sim so far — he’s had some good feedback. He’s a good guy to lean on. Obviously he’s super fast. He’s won the 500. He has a lot of experience that he brings to the team. It’ll be a good pair, I think.”
Expectations for 2025
With a full season ahead, Rasmussen has clear goals for improvement. In 2024, he showed promise with his speed. A best result of P9 at Mid-Ohio is proof he can cut it at this level.
“I obviously want to do better than I did last year, and I think the expectations from the team is definitely higher with how much has been invested,” he reflected.
“It’s hard to kind of set a number of it, but eventually, obviously, the goal is to compete for wins, podiums, and frequent top 10s. I think if we can get a little bit of that, I think it’ll be a successful year.”
ECR’s new sponsorship deal with Splenda has also added another layer of excitement.
“I think it’s super cool that we get more consumer brands into IndyCar.
“I think it’s super important for the sport, as well, that people that are looking at the cars are seeing brands that they know. It’s cool to be representing a brand like Splenda that are that recognisable, and I think it’s good for the sport, as well.”
Rasmussen remains determined to push himself and the team forward.
“The first guy you want to beat is your teammate. That’s always the case.”
With Rossi alongside him and ECR’s renewed focus, Rasmussen is ready to take the next step.
