Sausalito's JR Hildebrand is determined to add his name to the list of Indianapolis 500 winners, and he's going to have a good start on Sunday, May 26.
Hildebrand qualified 10th Sunday at the Brickyard. Ed Carpenter will start in the pole position after posting a fast lap of 228.762 mph during the Fast Nine Shootout.
“I’m really happy for all the Panther guys and the National Guard crew to be where we’re at,” the Redwood High grad said on his Panther Racing Team's website. “And being able to start 10th will be just fine for race day. We worked super hard at this, and everybody on the National Guard crew knows that next weekend is what matters.”
Hildebrand posted qualifications laps of 227.704, 227.532, 227.511 and 227.016 mph for a four-lap average of 227.441 mph during the weekend.
“And at the end of the day being 10th versus being up there in seventh or eighth doesn’t make that big of a difference,” Hildebrand said. “But we are little bit bummed that we didn’t make it into the Top Nine. Especially when we’re as close as we were to Hinch, and we were right there until that last lap. We worked all week on our racecar, and we feel like that is super quick, so we’ll see what we’ve got next week when it really matters.”
Hildebrand is looking for his first Indianapolis 500 victory. He nearly took the checkered flag there in 2011, but finished second after a last-lap crash.
Los Gatos native AJ Allmendinger will start fifth on Sunday.
The IZOD IndyCar Series will return to Sonoma Raceway on August 25.
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