IndyCar

Ed Carpenter Racing enter technical partnership with AVL RACETECH

A collaboration that began in 2021 has moved into the next phase

Joey Barnes

Published: Feb 25, 2026, 4:53 PM

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Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images

Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) and AVL RACETECH have entered into a technical partnership ahead of the 2026 IndyCar Series season.

In what began as a collaboration in 2021, the new phase of the alliance sees AVL RACETECH as the Official Dynamic Vehicle Simulation Partner for ECR. Through the partnership, ECR’s engineering capabilities receive a boost with the increased usage of AVL’s simulation technologies. At the core of the cooperation is AVL VSM™ RACE, AVL RACETECH’s fully dynamic vehicle simulation platform.

“Partnering with AVL RACETECH strengthens every part of our program,” said ECR founder and co-owner Ed Carpenter.

“Their expertise gives us tools to push deeper, innovate faster, and elevate the performance standard we expect at ECR.”

At ECR’s fingertips is a software system that will allow the team to evaluate setup concepts for upcoming races in a precise, data-driven virtual environment. By leveraging AVL’s cloud computing capabilities, large volumes of laps can be simulated within a very short time.

“Partnering with AVL RACETECH gives us access to world class simulation and development tools that elevate every aspect of our engineering program,” said Matt Barnes, Vice President of Competition for ECR. Their expertise aligns perfectly with our commitment to continuous improvement, and together we’re unlocking performance gains that will make a real difference on track.”

Last year saw a resurgence at ECR, Christian Rasmussen earning his first career win - and first for the team since 2021 (Rinus VeeKay, Indianapolis road course) in North America’s premier open-wheel championship. Both Rasmussen and 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi will look to further that as the season gets underway at this weekend’s Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

“IndyCar represents one of the most demanding environments in global open-wheel racing,” said Ellen Lohr, Director Motorsport, AVL List GmGH. “The fact that we are now transforming our collaboration with ECR into an official partnership underscores the mutual trust between us. Together, we want to achieve measurable performance advantages on the track with state-of-the-art vehicle simulation.”

Michael Peinsitt, Team Leader Racing, AVL List GmbH, added, “With AVL VSM™ RACE, we offer ECR a precise, fully dynamic simulation environment to validate setup decisions based on high quality simulation data, and to make development processes more efficient. Especially considering the huge variety of tracks IndyCar races on, demanding vastly different setups, and the very limited track time, this is a clear competitive advantage.”

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