Christian Rasmussen reflects on career-best IndyCar finish despite a challenging weekend

On June 15, Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen achieved his first IndyCar podium finish at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 held at the World Wide Technology Raceway. After achieving the career milestone, Rasmussen reflected on his drive to the podium, where he rallied twice from the back of the field to effectively make up 22 positions.

During the race, despite incurring a penalty for pitting in a closed pit lane due to low fuel, which dropped him to 18th place, Rasmussen battled back to secure third place behind race winner Kyle Kirkwood and Pato O'Ward. His impressive performance was widely celebrated, with Ed Carpenter Racing's team owner praising his effort and resilience, especially after a pit lane fire incident earlier in the race.

Answering a post-race question regarding whether he thought he had a podium car, he replied in the negative and stated that their struggles in practice pushed them to make the right changes to the setup, which helped him make up 22 places.

"No, not really. Not really. Just way to turn this weekend around. I think we really, really struggled in practice 1 as well as qualifying, but knew what we needed out of the car, and obviously hit some good changes for the race. Yeah, as soon as I kind of found out how well my car worked on the high side, it was just game on," he said.

"I was able to pass cars -- we even got hosed one time with having to take emergency service because we were out of fuel, so I had to restart at the tail end, and that was kind of right at the point where I had kind of driven through most of the field and was up front but had to go to the back, drove through again, and man, we were just coming. It was awesome. I haven't done one of these in a while, so it's good," he added.

Christian Rasmussen is now 14th in the championship table, with a total of 138 points.

---

Christian Rasmussen reveals the trick that helped him end ECR's 3-year-long drought

109th Running Of The Indianapolis 500 - Practice and Previews - Source: Getty

In the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, Christian Rasmussen delivered a memorable performance while piloting the #21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. Later, Rasmussen shared the trick which helped him claim third place in the 260-lap race at the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway oval.

Christian Rasmussen fought back from the tail end of the grid twice. A critical moment came when he was forced to pit under a closed pit lane due to dangerously low fuel levels during an extended caution period, incurring a penalty that sent him down the order. His aggressive driving style saw him execute a staggering 62 overtakes, more than any other driver in the race. Later, he revealed how he found the sweet spot to make the said passes and delivered ECR's first podium since 2022.

“As soon as I found out that the high line was so effective, like my car was so good up there both in (Turns) 1 and 2 and 3 and 4,” he said. “I just started running high, and I could just pass people.”

Christian Rasmussen will next be in action at the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, which is scheduled for 22nd June at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.