Crash ’n’ learn: J.R. is ready
Hildebrand has a chance to put past in rear-view mirror
INDIANAPOLIS — Surprisingly, J.R. Hildebrand isn’t sick of talking about it.
Hildebrand, 26, from Sausalito, Calif., nearly leaped from obscurity to Indianapolis 500 winner as a rookie three years ago. But hemadea stunning mistake.
Leading comfortably on the last lap, Hildebrand lost control of his car on the final turn — just a few hundred yards from the checkered flag — and the right side slammed into the wall at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
As the car skidded along the wall, Dan Wheldon swept past for his second Indy 500 victory, leaving more than 200,000 spectators at Indy — and millions more watching on television— stunned.
Last year, Hildebrand crashed again on only the fourth lap of the Indy 500 and, in short order, was fired by his team, Panther Racing.
Instead of having his face engraved on the BorgWarner Trophy with other Indy 500 winners, Hildebrand and his career in the IndyCar Series were defined not by victory but by loss.
OnSunday, however, Hildebrand has another shot at redemption with the 98th running of the Indy 500. Hired by owner-driver Ed Carpenter for just this race, Hildebrand has been fast all month and qualified to start ninth in the 33-car field.
Carpenter will start on the pole after posting the fastest qualifying time of 231.067 mph at the 2.5-mile track.
Hildebrand not only takes it in stride that others constantly remind him of that fateful day in 2011, he uses it as motivation.
“I knowthat I’m going to get asked about (the wreck) all the time,” Hildebrand said. “But I want to be the guy who had to deal with answering this question year after year and then added a chapter to this story.”
Can Hildebrand win? “Absolutely,” Carpenter said. “I look at the upside (from 2011) and say he ran 199 good laps to be in position to win this race. He was one corner from winning.”
Hildebrand is a thoughtful and articulate driver whoexcelled in school as he pursued a racing career. He graduated from high school in Corte Madera, Calif., with a 4.12 GPA, was a National Merit Scholar and was accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He chose racing instead.
Hildebrand won the championship in IndyCar’s second-level series, Indy Lights, in 2009, and reached the IndyCar series full time in 2011.
After losing his job with Panther Racing, Hildebrand was contacted by Carpenter, the stepson of Tony George, the former head of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“I didn’t think he deserved to lose his job,” Carpenter said. “I reached out to him just to tell him that I was confident that better things would be ahead for him ... and see if we could ever work anything out.
“Even in back in his Indy Lights day he was a talented, well-rounded racer, smart guy.”
Carpenter, 33, also has unfinished business in Indianapolis, his hometown. He wonthe pole for the500last year as well and led a race-high 37 of 200 laps, only to finish a disappointing 10th.
So he and Hildebrand are focused on staying up front until the final laps Sunday. They’ve set up their cars “to allow ourselves the strategy to run hard but in a way that’s not overly aggressive” and risk a wreck, Hildebrand said.
Hildebrand hopes to compete in additional races for Carpenter — if Carpenter’s team can find the sponsorship money.
“When this weekend’s over I’m not trying to leave my options open,” Hildebrand said. “I want to be here with these (Carpenter) guys and this team.”
In his news conference after the 2011 crash— one in which the moderator said, “(I) don’t even know where to start” — Hildebrand spoke with a composure that surprised many.
“He handled it better than I would have,” Carpenter said. “I felt like he dealt with everything in 2011 reallywell.”
On Sunday, Hildebrand will try to make people forget his costly mistake once and for all.
“I don’t try to ignore what happened; it’s part of my story,” Hildebrand said. “I choose to look at it as one of many things that drives me towant to win the race.”
A 25-year-old Kokomo, Ind., man died Saturday after being shot in a campground parking lot near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Police saidMax Levine was pronounced dead at the scene, the Indianapolis Star reported. Avory Johnson, 19, of Indianapolis, was charged with murder, police said.