At the season-ending IZOD IndyCar World Championship at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Carpenter started in 3rd place and was soon running in 2nd place to pole sitter Tony Kanaan after 11 laps, when a major accident occurred in turn 1. Dan Wheldon was fatally injured during the crash. The race was canceled afterwards, and with the results expunged, Carpenter finished the season ranked in 26th place, with 175 points. In the separate sub-classification for the oval races, Carpenter ranked 6th with 141 points.