Former Champ Car race winner Patrick Carpentier has made a shock return to Indy cars to try and help Dragon Racing get into the Indianapolis 500 field during today's final Bump Day session.
The 39-year-old Canadian has focused on stock cars since racing for Eddie Cheever's team in IndyCar in 2005. Dragon has endured a difficult month so far, with ex-Formula 1 and NASCAR racer Scott Speed struggling to get its car up to speed and not making a qualifying attempt yesterday.
It then had a further blow on Pole Day when Ho-Pin Tung – who it is running in collaboration with Sam Schmidt Motorsports – crashed heavily during his qualifying attempt. The Chinese driver sustained concussion and has not been given permission to drive today, although he could step in for the race if a substitute driver gets the car into the field.
It is not yet clear whether Carpentier is being lined up to race for the team or just to assist with qualification, but he has taken Speed's No. 20 car out for this morning's hour-long practice session.