Hildebrand Goes Flag to Flag in Dominant Long Beach Win

04.21.2009

J.R. Hildebrand, of Sausalito, California, led every lap after qualifying on the pole to take a dominant win on the streets of Long Beach in the Firestone Indy Lights race this past weekend. Hildebrand and his Andretti Green/AFS Racing #26 team are now squarely back in the title fight after a frustrating start to the season in St. Petersburg, just seven points out of the championship lead, in third place overall.

Hildebrand and his team were ready to get back on track heading into Fridays practice sessions, looking to finally make good on the speed that they had shown throughout the previous race weekend. He fought traffic for much of Practice One only posting the fifth fastest time, but got down to business in Practice Two, working with his team to top the charts comfortably.

Making only minor adjustments for qualifying, Hildebrand and his crew were confident that they had the speed to get onto the front row, but also knew that they were up against the prospects of a mere 20 minute session to get the job done. Hildebrand was further challenged by an immediate caution period and significant traffic, only allowing for a single clear lap that was only good for second in his group. He pitted early, put on a fresh set of Firestone Firehawks, and his team got him back out with just a few minutes to go. On his second timed lap of the run Hildebrand set the time to beat, followed shortly by a caution that would effectively end the session and leave him on the pole.

"We almost didn't make it happen in qualifying," related Hildebrand. "I couldn't really get a lap in early, so when we put the second set on with a few minute to go, I knew that I had to drive like hell on cold tires to do the time because I might only get a couple of laps. The car came in really quickly and I was able to squeak it out. Everybody did an awesome job to get the pitstop done and get me out with enough time left."

Hildebrand felt good about his prospects for the race. After having such a good car in the heat of the day in practice, he was very confident in the long-run pace that he and his car could maintain. He got a good start and lead into the first corner, but before he could finish a single lap, Hildebrand had made his life a bit more difficult already by running his right-rear wheel into the inside wall of the hairpin coming onto the front straight. Fortunately it only caused minor damage and Hildebrand was able to push all the way to the end. On the last lap of the race Hildebrand was leading by over five seconds and caught slower traffic, but had lost radio communication with his team. Knowing that he had a comfortable lead he followed them around to the stripe without risking an unnecessary pass and finished just under two seconds ahead of second place Richard Philippe.

"It was a great weekend for everyone and I'm ecstatic to have had such a great race here in Long Beach," a relieved Hildebrand said after the race. "Obviously I'm a native Californian myself, but we're also here in the backyard of Gary Peterson our team owner, and have a lot of friends, family and sponsors here for the event so it's a great way to end the weekend after clearly having the speed all along. I was panicking a little after hitting the wall on the first lap I must admit and saw my whole weekend flash before my eyes briefly, but it all ended up alright and sets us up pretty well for heading to Kansas next weekend."

Hildebrand will be on track again this upcoming weekend, returning to the site of his maiden Indy Lights Series victory at the Kansas Speedway. He and his team will look to build on their momentum and fine tune their already strong oval program for the rest of the season. J.R. would like to thank all of his Andretti Green/AFS Racing crew, along with sponsors ARPRO, Doug Mockett and Company, The Racemaker Press, and Bald Spot Sports for their continued support.