Third-place run a confidence booster for Hildebrand

J.R. Hildebrand drove an inspired race Saturday night, maybe the best of his IndyCar career considering that broken left hand, but after finishing third at Phoenix International Raceway he couldn't wait to give a shout out to his engineer.

Because it was Justin Taylor's introduction into oval-track racing.

"Justin's been awesome, man," said Hildebrand of the sports car veteran who came from the Audi LMP1 ALMS/Le Mans program after it shut down last November. "To come into this whole thing and not know the car, we're at a whole bunch of tracks that he's not seen. Certainly the oval aspect of it, it's a lot to get used to."

And while it was Taylor debut at all left turns, it was also Hildebrand's return to the cockpit after badly breaking his left hand at Long Beach. He raced with a plate and 10 screws but made some great passes in his Fuzzy's Chevrolet to earn the second podium of his seven years in IndyCar.

"It feels great for me and for I think on behalf of him (Taylor) and the team and some of the new guys that we've got to just be able to pull it out here," said Hildebrand (pictured), who posted the fastest speed in the open test and maintained that strong form in the race weekend. "We knew we had speed here. It's different to execute in the race in a way that you can stick it on the podium. I think it's definitely the start of good things to come for us. Hopefully we can get on a little bit of a roll heading into the thick of the season."

After sitting out Barber because his doctors said he could only make things worse, the former Indy Lights' champion wasn't about to miss PIR.

"Oh no, I told Ed (Carpenter) and the crew don't worry about finding somebody to drive this car here because I was not going to miss it," said the 29-year-old Californian who had been an Indy only and test driver for ECR before Ed Carpenter hired him to replace Josef Newgarden.
"It's obviously my first time back in the car full-time with aero kits and all this kind of stuff. We're all sort of learning a little bit still as we go along."

But Hildebrand came off the trailer strong and qualified third – splitting the four-car Team Penske armada – and did the same in the race.

"It starts with just the development work that the team has done as a whole. We come into these places feeling really confident that if we don't touch anything and roll the thing out in qualifying or race trim, that we'll be kind of in the window. That goes a long way."

"I think it's definitely just something that we needed in the team, to be able to come to somewhere we knew we'd be good at. The first couple of races have been a little bit challenging, just getting things dialed in. This is somewhere we looked at on the schedule and knew we would have a fighting chance at it."

So now it's on to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where J.R. incurred an unparalleled when he crashed in Turn 4 heading for the checkered flag in 2011. But it's also a place he's always run strong and Saturday night was good for momentum.

"I think sort of coming away with a good weekend, executing at a high level, getting through everything, definitely builds some confidence going into the month of May," he said. "I love that place."