Carpentier keeping the faith despite move
FONTANA, Calif. – Patrick Carpentier has been a racer plenty long enough to know that there are going to be great weeks and not so great weeks. The week leading up to last Saturday's Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol, he says, definitely falls in the latter category.
“The whole week didn’t start too good,” the Gillett Evernham Motorsports driver said Friday at Auto Club Speedway.
It began with news that the team had signed fellow driver Reed Sorenson to join the organization in 2009 – to field the No. 10 Dodge currently driven by Carpentier. It ended a handful of days later, when Carpentier failed to qualify for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The hiccup brought to a close a run of 17 consecutive starts Carpentier had made by racing his way into the field.
“I knew that was a possibility,” Carpentier, 37, said of the move to sign Sorenson. “[NASCAR] is a sport that is sponsor dependent. I know [GEM] has been working hard to find sponsorship; I’m amazed that they found all the sponsorship this year.
“ ... For sure, it’s a shock to learn someone else is taking your spot. But they are still working to get a fourth car ... A lot of teams want to go to four cars, and this is one of them. Hopefully, it works out. If it doesn’t, for me it’s a bonus. I’ve enjoyed the year very much [and] I hope to [drive] for many years.”
Carpentier has logged a top finish of 18th this year in 19 starts, and has one pole and four top-10 starts. Such qualifying numbers, he says, could help him land another ride if a fourth team fails to materialize at GEM.
“All the guys who aren’t in the top 35 [in owner points] are going to have high interest, but we’ll see what happens,” he said. “In this sport, you never know. Every ride is sponsorship dependent now. Teams are searching for sponsors and are a little bit hungrier because money is a little bit [more scarce] than what it’s been before because of the economy.
“Last year we had really good timing with [majority owner George] Gillett and the Canadiens and the car, so everything worked out. This year, timing isn’t as good, but hopefully we’ll get to work it out.”
Carpentier enters Sunday's Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway 37th in points. Teammates Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler are 14th and 21st, respectively.
“I’ve been on the other side with Player’s,” he said of the sponsorship situation. “They use to sponsor me in Champ car and because of my personality and where I was from, it fit the bill perfectly. So I got a ride for nine years. ... This time, I’m on the other side and I’m the one getting the boot. It’s part of racing. I’m not pissed off. I kind of expected it.
" ... With the economy and the way things are, Reed just fits the bill better. That’s fine, too.”
