Unheralded Carpentier still endures despite the odds (cont'd)

His commitment is evident in the degree to which he's embraced his new calling. A driver who prefers ovals, Carpentier suffered through years of racing on road and street courses during his days in Champ Car and a season in the IRL. There were times when he dreaded leaving home. His wife Anick didn't even bother to make some trips. Now they travel together, and leave early. He'll spend a few days in New York after Watkins Glen and arrive at the site of next week's race, Michigan International Speedway, on Wednesday -- a full four days before the racetrack's Sprint Cup event.

“

There are some guys, to me, who are open-wheel style, and some who are NASCAR-style. I think I'm NASCAR-style more.

”

PATRICK CARPENTIER

And now, one year after he first stepped into a Sprint Cup car, he's finally starting to see results. His most recent start, July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- he skipped last week's race at Pocono to focus on the Nationwide event at Montreal -- brought an 18th-place finish, his second inside the top 20 in three weeks. Not including Watkins Glen, where Friday's qualifying session was rained out, he's started 15th or better in three of his last four races, a span that includes a pole at New Hampshire. Despite spending the entire season outside the top 35 in owner points, he's made every race in which he's been able to make a standard qualifying attempt. He missed California and Bristol because of rain, and was involved in an accident in a qualifying race prior to the Daytona 500.

"It's getting a lot better for me. The car is getting a lot smaller," Carpentier said. "It's all getting more comfortable. It takes a while, you know. It's a tough deal. I'm starting to lose all the habits I had with the open-wheel cars, to break really late and hard and abusing your cars, things you want to do with open-wheel cars but with these things you don't want to do. So it's starting to be a lot smoother and a lot better. To have a couple of good results, the pole at Loudon, 15th at Indy, it makes you feel lighter a little bit. And it's more fun. You're starting to enjoy it more."

But will it be enough? Carpentier doesn't have a guaranteed spot in Gillett Evernham's No. 10 car for next season, and his team's interest in free agent Ryan Newman has led some to speculate whether they're shopping the ride. Carpentier had said he wanted a decision by Aug. 15, but now there are no timelines. There were meetings with GEM officials last week at Montreal, more meetings this week at Watkins Glen. His future could hinge on the same thing that sidelined Franchitti and Villeneuve -- sponsorship. The No. 10 car has had no full-time primary sponsor this season, making due with a patchwork of smaller deals.

"Some of it is going to be a purely economic decision," GEM minority owner Ray Evernham said, when asked whether Carpentier's return is contingent upon sponsorship. "But I think everybody is kind of in that same boat when you have a car that's not fully sponsored."

The driver is hopeful. "Most of the sponsors I have this year are coming back, from what they've told me," Carpentier said. "I think we're going to be good. But the team is changing a lot of stuff and re-studying a few departments, and they just need time to put everything in place. But I have confidence. I'd be more surprised if I were not back. I think [GEM officials] are happy."

Evernham lauds Carpentier's work ethic, his qualifying record, his personality and his willingness to do anything necessary to succeed. But it's clear the jury is still out. "Gillett Evernham and Patrick and sponsors, we're all going to wait a little longer, because we don't think he's had enough time," Evernham said. "He's really done well in a lot of areas, but we really don't feel he's had enough time to judge his performance."

But no one questions his commitment, enthusiasm or desire. Carpentier was knocking on doors in NASCAR long before many of his peers in open-wheel racing began to consider the series as a viable option, and turned down what may have been a better opportunity in the IndyCar Series to get here. Few drivers in the Sprint Cup garage area truly revel in the NASCAR experience like this French-Canadian from Joilette, Quebec. And why not? After all, he wasn't supposed to make it this far. Even if he feels like this is where he's always belonged.

"I think maybe I didn't have the results I wanted in the past, and there are a lot of reasons for it. The major one was, I don't think I was at my place there," he said, looking back at his open-wheel career. "There are some guys, to me, who are open-wheel style, and some who are NASCAR-style. I think I'm NASCAR-style more."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.