Filippi gets his chance; JR awaits his next opportunity - MotorSportsTalk

A couple months ago when the Verizon IndyCar Series news cycle was at a standstill – some might say after the events of this week it almost would be better to have no news than bad news – I pondered the possibility of CFH Racing having an all-American team of drivers for 2015.

It was a nice idea at the time, but it has now come to pass without that being the case.

Indeed JR Hildebrand, Conor Daly or whoever else was a potential candidate for the vacant road/street course seat alongside CFH team co-owner Ed Carpenter in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet would have made a lot of sense from a red, white and blue standpoint, but not necessarily a green one.

In Luca Filippi, CFH has a bona fide road and street course ace who hasn’t had a season set in stone in January for years, and someone who is well-positioned to add to the team’s win totals as a potential first-time winner in 2015.

Filippi could well be the Italian incarnation of his predecessor, Englishman Mike Conway – a Jedi knight behind the wheel whose raw speed and high ceiling masks an otherwise quiet, humble, focused and genial demeanor outside the cockpit.

He grew to excel in GP2, particularly in the 2011 season when he switched to the Coloni team midseason and won four races en route to finishing second in points. His test and development skills, which he has showcased for Pirelli and Honda in the past, will also be an asset in 2015.

It didn’t get much press, but Filippi qualifying in the Firestone Fast Six in his first day in an IndyCar in nine months at Houston last June was one of the standout performances of the season, particularly as there were fewer one-off appearances during the year.

With time and proper testing, something Filippi hasn’t enjoyed in his two prior opportunities with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing last year and Bryan Herta Autosport in 2013, he is already a contender to be one of the surprise stars of the season.

The other thing this confirmation provides Filippi is peace of mind as he worked toward this chance. He made a number of mistakes in his first eight IndyCar starts and he only has one top-10 finish to show for it, but consider as a driver looking to prove his worth to the field, he needed to “go big or go home” for the most part. You can rein in a driver who’s got speed to burn and makes the occasional mistake, but you can’t necessarily speed up a guy who is easier on equipment and, detrimentally, easier on the gas pedal.

I’d be surprised if we don’t see him on the podium at least twice in 2015, and if the cards fall correctly as they did for Conway a year ago, in victory lane on the odd occasion.

As for Hildebrand, it’s hard not to feel sorry for him after what was his best potential opportunity fell through once again, and ironically to a driver who he’s linked to more than you might think.

Hildebrand and Filippi split the balance of the 2013 season for BHA after the team and Alex Tagliani went their separate ways, and it was Filippi who had the inside line on that seat all winter before that fell through.

Now it’s Hildebrand, having tested once with the team at Barber last fall, who seemed the perfect fit as a blue-blood, STEM-teaching, MIT-accepted American in the potential all-American driver lineup at CFH, on the outside looking in. He could still be in play for an extra car at the Indianapolis 500, as he was a year ago – CFH will run three cars for that race.

This signing is one of those classic good news/bad news cases that seems to be a common thread in IndyCar these days. Hildebrand has the hard luck story that has befallen others, while Filippi has a long overdue shot beyond a one-off weekend or two.

It is now the Italian’s moment to seize the opportunity he has received.

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(Editor’s note: This story on the Heart of Racing sports cars shootout for women is one in an occasional Motorsports Talk series focusing on women in racing during March, which is Women’s History Month.)

Heart of Racing driver and team manager Ian James says his daughter, Gabby, isn’t so interested in auto racing. But she is interested (as a New York-based journalist) in writing about the sport’s efforts and growth in gender equality

It’s a topic that also was brought up by James’ wife, Kim.

“They’re always saying, ‘Hey, you manage all these guys, and you help them, so why not a woman?’ ” Ian James told NBC Sports. “And I feel like there are a lot of women that haven’t had a fair crack at it in sports car racing.

“Our whole DNA at Heart of Racing is we give people opportunities in all types of situations where there’s been crew personnel or drivers. And I felt like we hadn’t really addressed the female driver situation. I felt like there was a void to give somebody a chance to really prove themselves.”

During the offseason, the team took a major step toward remedying that.

Heart of Racing held its first female driver shootout last November at the APEX Motor Club in Phoenix, Arizona, to select two women who will co-drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the SRO SprintX Championship.

The season will begin this weekend at Sonoma Raceway with Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt behind the wheel. The team also picked a third driver, 17-year-old Annie Rhule, for a 2023 testing program.

The Phoenix audition included 10 finalists who were selected from 130 applicants to the program, which has been fully underwritten by Heart of Racing’s sponsors.

“We didn’t want it to be someone who just comes from a socio-economic background that could afford to do it on their own course,” James said. “We can pick on pure talent. We’re committed to three years to do this and see if we can find the right person. I’m very hopeful.”

So is Grisham, a Southern California native who has been racing since she was 6 in go-karts and since has won championships in Mazda and Miata ladder series. She has several victories in the World Racing League GP2 (an amateur sports car endurance series). The last two years, Grisham has worked as a test driver for the Pirelli tire company (she lives near Pirelli’s U.S. headquarters in Rome, Georgia, and tests about 30 times a year).

Starting with the Sonoma during SprintX event weekends (which feature races Saturday and Sunday), she will split the Heart of Racing car with O’Meara-Hunt (a New Zealand native she got to know at the shootout).

“It’s huge; the biggest opportunity I’ve had in this sport,” Grisham, 23, told NBC Sports. “Now it’s up to me to perform how I know I can. But I’m super lucky to be with such an amazing team and have a good teammate. The Heart of Racing has a family vibe and energy to it that’s really amazing. It’s super exciting. It’s hard to put into words.”

Grisham is hopeful that a strong performance eventually could lead to a full-time ride with Heart of Racing. The team has full-time entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and won the GTD category of the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona with the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 piloted by James, Darren Turner, Roman DeAngelis and Marco Sorensen.

James said “there’s no guarantee” of placement in an IMSA entry for Grisham and O’Meara-Hunt, but “if they prove themselves, we’ll continue to help them throughout their career and our team. The GT3 program is an obvious home for that. If they get the opportunity and don’t quite make it, we’ll be looking for the next two. The next three years, we’ll cycle through drivers until we find the right one.”

Grisham described the two-day shootout as a friendly but intense environment. After a day of getting acclimated to their cars, drivers qualified on new tires the second day and then did two 25-minute stints to simulate a race.

“Everyone was super nice,” she said. “Once everyone gets in the car, it’s a different level. A different switch gets turned on. Everyone was super nice; everyone was quick. I feel we had an adequate amount of seat time, which is definitely helpful.

“It’s always cool to meet more women in the sport because there’s not too many of us, even though there’s more and more. It’s always cool to meet really talented women, especially there were so many from all over the world.”

IMSA has celebrated female champions and race winners, notably Katherine Legge (who is running GTD full time this season with Sheena Monk for Gradient Racing). The field at Sebring and Daytona also included the Iron Dames Lamborghini (a female-dominated team).

James believes “a breakout female driver will be competing with the best of them” in the next five years as gender barriers slowly recede in motorsports.

“It’s been a male-dominated sport,” James said. “It’s still a very minute number of women drivers compared to the guys. I’m sure back in the day there were physical hurdles about it that were judged. But now the cars are not very physical to drive, and it’s more about technique and mental strength and stuff like that, and there’s no reason a girl shouldn’t do just as well as a guy. What we’re just trying to achieve is that there isn’t an obvious barrier to saying ‘Hey, I can’t hire a guy or a girl.’ We just want to put girls in front of people and our own program that are legitimate choices going forward for people.”

“There’s been some really good female drivers, but a lot of them just haven’t been able to sustain it, and a lot of that comes from sponsorship. I think (with the shootout), there’s no pressure of raising money and worrying about crash damage. We’ve taken care of all that so they can really focus on the job at hand.”

Funding always has been a hurdle for Grisham, who caught the racing bug from her father, Tom, an off-road driver who raced the Baja 1000 several times.

“I don’t come from a lot of money by any means,” she said. “So since a young age, I’ve always had to find sponsorships and get people to help me, whether it was buying tires, paying for entry fees, paying for the shipment of a car to an actual race. Literally knocking on doors of people or businesses in my town. So yeah, it’s definitely something I’ve always struggled with and held me back because the sport revolves so much around money. So again to get this opportunity is insane.”

Grisham credits racing pioneer Lyn St. James (an Indy 500 veteran and sports car champion) as a role model who has helped propel her career. She was hooked by the sights, smells and sounds of racing but also its competitive fire.

“There’s a zone you get in, that subconscious state of mind when you’re driving. It’s like addictive almost. I love it. Also I’m just a very competitive person as I think most race car drivers are.

“For sure I want to stay with the Heart of Racing. Obviously, I’m still getting to know everyone, but it’s a super family vibe. That’s how I grew up in the sport with just my dad and I wrenching on the cars. That’s what I love about this sport is all the amazing people you meet. And I think this is one of the most promising teams in this country. For sure, I want to learn as much as I can from them and hopefully continue. I feel so lucky and grateful to be one of those chosen.”