Hildebrand Starts and Ends on Top at Road America

09.26.2006

Newly crowned Cooper Tires Formula Ford 2000 Champion J.R. Hildebrand did double duty last weekend at Road America, contesting both of the Cooper Series races as well as making his series debut in the Champ Car Atlantic Series for Newman Wachs Racing. Having clinched the Cooper Series title, setting a new mark for wins in a season one week ago at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, Hildebrand focused his efforts on the Atlantic program, and gained a great deal of experience through adverse conditions over the weekend.

J.R. started out on a high note, posting what would end up being the second fastest time in Fridays very wet Atlantic practice after being at the top of the charts for most of the session. He then followed that up by posting the fastest time overall in the consequent F2000 practice. Later that day, Hildebrand started the Atlantic Provisional Qualifying session in the top three, but as the track dried out, he got caught in traffic for most of the end of the session and could only manage 11th.

As the track dried out, I think that I suffered from a bit of a lack of experience in those conditions in the Atlantic car, on top of the fact that the team and I didnt compensate enough for the track getting as dry as it did, stated Hildebrand. Even so, had I caught a couple of breaks with traffic, I would have easily been in the top five.

He then qualified on the pole for the first of the Cooper Series races after Atlantic Provisional Qualifying, so going into Saturday, he was still upbeat about his chances in both series. In Saturdays Atlantic practice, J.R. missed a significant amount of time at the start of the session due to a problem with his gearbox, and in the remaining time made a tremendous number of changes to get the car ready for the second qualifying later that day, never getting a real read on how fast he was capable of going. In qualifying, J.R. was caught out first by the unpredictable weather, and then later by a red flag to end up an extremely disappointing 16th on the final grid.

In the F2000 race later that day, he got out to an astounding lead of nearly 10 seconds by the end of just the first lap in a torrential rain, but proceeded to mix up his braking references from the Atlantic and Zetec cars, braking much too late in Turn Five on the third lap. He rejoined in last and made his way to seventh before the race ended under caution for the conditions.

Saturday was pretty dismal, all things considered, relayed Hildebrand. I had high hopes for Atlantic Qualifying that were dashed by the conditions, and then I gave away the F2000 race which I should have won handily.

The frustration didnt stop there, however. In the Warm Up session for Atlantic on Sunday morning, the car was unpredictable at best, but by the race it seemed that it was close. Getting off to a fair start, sliding into 13th by turn five, he was punted off, shuffling him back to last of the cars still running. His race was shaping up to be a promising one as he clawed back through the field past several competitors, including teammate Joe DAgostino. Setting up for a pass on Tim Bridgman, Hildebrand didnt realize that the no blocking rule somehow didnt apply to Tim, and they tangled, ending both of their races.

With one last event for the weekend, Hildebrand started 13th for the Cooper Series race due to a penalty from Saturday. Driving with a vengeance, he was in fourth by the end of the first lap, and led by lap three, pulling away to a comfortable 10.6 second win. This was his record 12th win in 14 races, and ended his 2006 racing season on a suitably high note.

J.R. would like to thank those that helped him throughout the year. At the top of the list are Cape Motorsports, for their season long excellence, and Newman Wachs Racing, particularly Eddie Wachs, for giving him a fantastic opportunity at Road America. He also would like to recognize Formotion, Spy Optics, Mockett.com, and Jim Russell Racing Schools for their continued support of his program. Please see www.JRHildebrandracing.com for more information on his future plans.