If They Only Gave a Prize for Most Cars Passed or Best Drive . . .

08.11.2008

J.R. Hildebrand must have had a "deja vu" experience this weekend, as it was like Indy all over again. Suffering from a flat engine in qualifying, the team decided to change motors and take the "back of the grid" penalty, placing reliance on their car setup and J.R.'s talent. They were rewarded by watching a great drive by J.R. as he passed 18 cars by the 35th of 67 laps, only to have contact with the fifth place car as he attempted to put it behind him a few laps later.

"I owe it all to the guys. We had a lot of little, unexpected problems here this weekend, but they gave me an awesome race car. We were just hauling through the field. Once I got about halfway through the field the air wasn't so turbulent, and I was going to the front with the Allied Building Products car."

"I had been running side-by-side with Ana for a couple laps, but I couldn't pull the right gear to get around her. I was on the outside and she was on the inside. I tracked way out coming out of Turn 4 to try to get a run by her. I thought there was enough room but I guess we were both going for the same spot coming onto the front stretch and unfortunately we came together."

"I had a puncture from the contact, and some of the alignment was off so after that the car was quite loose. There was not much I could do except try to finish the race after that.

"Infineon is my home track. I know the place like the back of my hand. Luckily we have some time to sort a few things out, and I'm looking forward to it.

"We've been fast at every big oval we've been at, so Chicagoland should be no different. If we can qualify better we'll finish well."