top 10 for most of the day. Late in the race, his right front tire blew, sending him into the backstretch wall. Carpentier was running in third place of the drivers not locked into the Daytona 500 based on owner points. The Joliette driver had not seen New Hampshire Motor Speedway before visiting for track for the 2008 Lenox Industrial Tools 301. On June 27, 2008, in just his 17th NASCAR race, he became only the second non-American driver to qualify on pole. He was the first by a foreign born in NASCAR's top division since Lloyd Shaw (from Toronto, Ontario, Canada) won the pole at Langhorne Speedway in June 1953. Come race day, he didn't give up the lead easily as he led the first four laps. "That was a heck of a thrill," Carpentier said after the race. "Winning the pole on Friday was certainly a highlight of my career. But leading those laps was unbelievable. It's hard to put into words." He would later be hit by brakes problems and would finish down in 31st place. On July 5, 2008, Carpentier earned his best career Sprint Cup finish by finishing 14th in the Coke Zero 400. On August 30, 2008, Carpentier announced that he would be a free agent for the 2009 Sprint Cup Series, leaving Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Four days prior to Carpentier's announcement Gillett Evernham Motorsports had announced that they would hire driver Reed Sorenson for 2009 making Carpentier's future uncertain. On October 7, Carpentier was released by GEM. Former Team Red Bull driver A. J. Allmendinger finished out the year. On June 9, 2009, Michael Waltrip Racing announced that Carpentier would replace team owner, Michael Waltrip in the No. 55 NAPA-sponsored Toyota for the two road course races on the 2009 Sprint Cup schedule: Infineon on June 21 and Watkins Glen on August 9. Carpentier competed in a number of races for Tommy Baldwin Racing in events that conflict with Mike Skinner's truck series schedule. In 2010, Carpentier ran a number of races for Latitude 43 Motorsports. In 2011, Carpentier returned to his open-wheel roots, attempting to qualify for the 95th Indianapolis 500 for Dragon Racing after former Red Bull driver Scott Speed was unable to get the car up to speed on bump day. Carpentier was unable to get the car in the race. On the stock car side, Carpentier drove a few