Panther Racing Has Led in 14 Races at TMS, Captured a Team-High Five Wins on 1.5-mile Oval
FORT WORTH, Texas – (June 8, 2012) – National Guard Panther Racing driver JR Hildebrand knew he had his hands full on this warm-up lap during qualifications for tomorrow night’s Firestone 550k at Texas Motor Speedway, where Hildebrand will start from the 24th position. The 24-year-old American had to save his car from swapping-ends during his qualification warm-up lap and had to remain conservative for the rest of the run to bring the No. 4 car home in one piece so the team could make changes before tonight’s final practice.
Hildebrand posted lap speeds of 202.678 and 202.513 mph, for a combined two-lap average of 202.596 mph. The pole for tomorrow’s 228-lap event was captured by Alex Tagliani, who will be joined on the front row by Ganassi Racing driver Dario Franchitti.
Tomorrow’s Firestone 550k from Texas Motor Speedway will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network, with additional coverage provided by the IMS Radio Network, XM Channel 94 and Sirius Channel 212. Practice, qualifying and race coverage is also available on the new IndyCarMobile app from Verizon.
Texas Motor Speedway: Host to Some of Panther’s Best IndyCar Moments
In a career that includes 15 race victories and two IndyCar Series championships, a large chuck of Panther’s best moments have been hosted at Texas’s high-banked 1.5-mile oval. The team’s first pilot, veteran Canadian Scott Goodyear captured two victories at TMS in the No. 4 car (1999, 2000) and he was followed by Sam Hornish Jr., the 2001 Texas winner – who helped produce one of the IndyCar Series’ most thrilling races in a duel with Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves in 2002.
Hornish, who was in a tight battle with Castroneves for the league crown that year, went side-by-side with Castroneves for the final 15-laps of the race to determine both the race winner and league champion. Hornish edged Castroneves at the finish line, putting Panther’s No. 4 Pennzoil entry just ahead of the Penske machine by just 0.0096 of a second – which still ranks as the fifth-closest finish in league history.
Since its first race at Texas in 1998, Panther has collected five victories, two poles, nine Top Fives, 15 Top Tens at TMS. The team has led a total of 14 races at Texas for a combined 538 laps.
“We love this place,” Panther co-owner John Barnes said. “You can’t tell much about Panther’s history without talking about Texas Motor Speedway. I think what (TMS President) Eddie Gossage has done here speaks for itself and he’s the best promoter in our sport. He’s an unbelievable asset to IndyCar racing and we thank him for his support.”
Panther added its fifth victory at the track in 2005, when polesitter Tomas Scheckter led 119 laps en route to a dominant win at TMS. The race was also noteworthy because it was the only time in team history Panther teammates have swept the front row in qualifications, as Scheckter was joined by then-teammate Tomas Enge for the 1-2 sweep. Enge had an electrical problem in the race that dropped him from contention, but the former Formula One driver set the fastest lap of the race.
“Texas Motor Speedway has obviously been a track where Panther has had plenty of success,” Hildebrand added. “And even with the new car and the new formula, we can certainly take some things we’ve learned from year’s past and hopefully have another successful run with Panther, the National Guard and Chevrolet.”
QUOTABLE:
JR Hildebrand, No. 4 National Guard Chevrolet:
“Speed isn’t the problem in the National Guard Chevy, we’re just jammed up here without a lot of time and we made a bunch of adjustments to make the car better and I had a huge moment on the warm-up lap. It’s a tough deal, but we’ll go back and figure out what’s going on. It’s obviously just a one-time thing. We’ve certainly got our work cut out for us tomorrow, but the National Guard car has always been good at Texas and the guys at Panther Racing do a greatjob. It’s certainly frustrating to have qualifying go down like that but we’ve got some time to figure it out.”
www.JRHildebrandRacing.com – www.pantherracing.com – www.NationalGuard.com
