[6] Carpenter competed in the United States Auto Club#USAC Silver Crown Series in 2000.

111 at the season-opening Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway; Carpenter finished in 9th place to claim the Rookie of the Race award.

7 Chevrolet-powered Beast, with George Snider and Jimmy Sills acting as mentors to him and giving him advice about tracks.

Carpenter started on the pole position in the A. J. Foyt's True Value Hulman Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway, the series' most prestigious race.

69 Dynamics car at the Golden Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds Speedway – starting 17th and finishing 24th due to a crash after 59 laps – and the No.

67 Zarounian car at the Ted Horn 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack; Carpenter started from pole position and finished 25th due to an accident after 58 laps.

At the season-ending USAC Sprint Legends Classic at Salem Speedway, Carpenter had the 3rd fastest qualifying time, finished 6th in the first heat and won the "Semi" race.

[6] In 2000 Carpenter competed in the North American Auto Racing Series-sanctioned NAMARS National Midget Championship series in the No.

Carpenter attempted to qualify for the Chili Bowl at Tulsa Expo Center, considered to be the "biggest Midget race of the year".

Carpenter joined the then-new Indy Racing League sanctioned Infiniti Pro Series in 2002, driving the No.

Carpenter's first experience in the IndyCar Series came in 2001 at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he tested a car for Panther Racing.

During the year, Carpenter and the team struggled; his best start was 16th place at the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway.

On March 26, 2006, during the warmup practice session for the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead, Carpenter was involved in a crash with Paul Dana, who died soon after from his injuries.

Carpenter was reported to be "awake and alert," airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital and was released the next day suffering bruised lungs.

Carpenter started in 12th place and ran in the top 10 late in the race; he finished 11th, a lap down, after a late-race pit stop.

Carpenter finished out the year with a fiery crash in the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland while running in the top five.

At Kentucky, Carpenter qualified on pole and led a front-row sweep with teammate Dan Wheldon.

Carpenter led for 11 laps and almost achieved his first victory when cars ahead of him had to make pit stops late in the race; he ultimately finished in 2nd place as Hélio Castroneves managed to conserve fuel to the end of the race without making another pit stop.

The race was canceled afterward, and with the results expunged, Carpenter finished the season ranked in 26th place, with 175 points.

For the season-ending MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway, Carpenter started in 5th place and quickly challenged for the lead, which he held for 62 laps.

Going into the last lap, Carpenter attempted to pass leader Dario Franchitti just as Takuma Sato lost control in turn 4.

Despite this, Carpenter struggled away from the ovals, achieving a best start of 14th at the Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300, and a best finish of 13th in the opening race of the double-header in Toronto.

Carpenter and 2nd place driver Juan Pablo Montoya stayed out while the remaining lead lap cars – Power, Simon Pagenaud, Dixon and Tony Kanaan – pitted to get new tires.

During the caution period, Carpenter, Hunter-Reay, Newgarden, and Graham Rahal all made pit stops for new tires.

On the restart, Hunter-Reay and Newgarden passed Kanaan, who had dominated the race up to that point, while Carpenter was able to finish up in the fifth position.

At the season-ending MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships at Auto Club Speedway, Carpenter nearly crashed on both of his laps in qualifying and therefore started in 14th place.

On the morning of Pole Day qualifying, Carpenter half-spun in turn 2, and the left side of the car hit the outside wall.

Carpenter qualified 12th for the race, in which he struggled and was running in the top 15 when he attempted to pass Oriol Servià for the position on lap 113.

00 Porsche-Crawford with Tomas Scheckter, Tony George, A. J. Foyt IV and Stéphan Grégoire in the Daytona Prototype class.

03 Vision Racing Porsche-Crawford with George, Foyt, Vítor Meira and John Andretti in the Daytona Prototype class.