Indy 500: J.R. Hildebrand working in harmony with pole sitter Ed Carpenter’s team

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J.R. Hildebrand would be excused if he looked upon racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a sense of dread.

In 2011, Hildebrand was on the verge of winning the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie when he crashed in Turn 4 of the final lap, giving the win to the late Dan Wheldon. And last year, the former Indy Lights champion was the first out of the race when he crashed on Lap 3. A few days later, he was out of a ride at Panther Racing.

But Hildebrand, who starts ninth in Sunday’s ‘500,’ looked every bit at ease yesterday when he spoke about working with polesitter Ed Carpenter this month.

“Right from the outset, we had similar styles and similar wants from the car, and very similar feedback about what was happening and maybe some different ways to go about attacking that,” Hildebrand said.

“…It really has been a team effort and I think qualifying was a good example of that – you wouldn’t be able to make a radio call up to your guy that’s gonna go out in ten minutes and have them make a change to the car based on something that we did unless the cars were that close together, and for us, fortunately, it happened.

“It’s been great. I’ve really enjoyed working with the team and I think Ed would probably tell you the same thing. Working together I think has put us in a situation where the cars are as good as they are, so it’s been a lot of fun.”

Considering Carpenter’s prowess on the ovals, you had to figure Hildebrand would stand a puncher’s chance for Indy when he signed on with ECR for the ‘500.’

But the California native brings lots of talent himself, and it bears noting that he was threatening to pull the upset for Bryan Herta Autosport at last year’s season finale on the two-mile Fontana oval until a late engine failure knocked him out.

Going into Sunday’s race, Hildebrand believes he is much more prepared for the race that he has been in previous years.

“It’s a long race, obviously,” he said. “You’ve got to stick it out and have a shot at it at the end but I feel like this team and the environment that we’ve sort of created has been a really good one for being in a position to do that.”

And should Hildebrand be able to capitalize, he’ll be able to completely put his heartbreaking finish in 2011 to rest. He touched on the incident yesterday, noting that while he quickly came to terms with it, his own confidence needed a little more time to recover.

“In terms of understanding what went on and being at peace with it, that happened quickly,” he said. “To get to the point where I am now, where I’m like, ‘Hell yeah, I want to get back in the car and show these guys what’s up.’  That definitely took a little longer to come around.”

But it has come around. And it’s looking more and more like he’ll be a dark horse on Sunday in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.

Seattle Supercross by the numbers: Three riders separated by 17 points

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Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.

Seattle Supercross numbers
Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports

For the fifth time in 10 rounds. Sexton, Webb, and Eli Tomac shared the podium in Detroit. Between them, the trio has taken 23 podiums, leaving only seven for the remainder of the field. Jason Anderson, Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia have two each with Aaron Plessinger scoring the other.

Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.

Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.

Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.

The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.

In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.

Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.

Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.

Last Five Seattle Winners

450s
2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto

250s
2022: Hunter Lawrence
2019: Dylan Ferrandis
2018: Aaron Plessinger
2017: Aaron Plessinger
2014: Cole Seely

By the Numbers

Detroit
Indianapolis
Daytona
Arlington
Oakland
Tampa
Houston
Anaheim 2
San Diego

More SuperMotocross coverage

How to Watch Seattle Supercross
Dylan Ferrandis may return before SX finale
SMX develops “Leader Lights”
Power Rankings after Detroit
Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan
Results and points after Detroit
Chase Sexton wins in Detroit, penalized seven points