FORT WORTH, Texas – (June 10, 2011) – National Guard Panther Racing driver JR Hildebrand starting position of his young career Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, where the 23-year-old qualified 11th for the first of tomorrow’s Firestone Twin 275s. Hildebrand, who is driving with a stabilizing brace after suffering an injury to his left knee, upped his previous career best of 12th (Indianapolis) and will be making his first career start on the high-banked1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval.
The starting positions for the second race tomorrow night will be determined by a random draw.
Hildebrand posted lap speeds of 213.579 mph and 213.337 mph for a combined two-lap average of 213.458 mph. He will start on the inside of the sixth row alongside former Panther driver Vitor Meira. Buddy Rice had been brought in by the team in the event Hildebrand’s knee injury prevented him from racing, but the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner has flown home after Hildebrand was cleared by INDYCAR doctors this morning and had no issues in practice or qualifications. JR Hildebrand from Sausalito, CA in the National Guard Car.
Hildebrand finished third overall in the final practice of the day with a top speed of 213.82 mph.
Texas Motor Speedway is the one IZOD IndyCar Series mainstay where Panther has had the most success. The team has captured a total of five victories here: Scott Goodyear (1999, 2000); Sam Hornish Jr. (2001, 2002) and Tomas Scheckter (2005). Hornish won from the pole in 2001,much like Scheckter did in 2005, a year in which Panther qualified 1-2 withScheckter and former Panther driver Tomas Enge.
The team has a total of six podiums, nine Top Five and 15 Top Ten finishes at Texas and has led a total of 538 laps. Panther has finished inside the Top Ten in six straight starts on the 1.5-mile oval.
The Firestone Twin 275s will be broadcast live on VERSUS starting at 8:00 pm (ET) with additional coverage provided by the IMS Radio Network, XM channel 94 and Sirius channel 212.
JR Hildebrand, No. 4 National Guard Dallara Honda:
“We were pretty good. I was trying to get everything I could in the National Guard car because we didn’t work too much on the qualifying setup today in practice. But we’ve got a fast racecar and we’re looking alright going into tomorrow. It’s going to be a little bit of a different gig running the two shorter races tomorrow, but we’ll see what we get when it comes down to raceday. (On the knee injury) It’s fine. I’m not having any trouble getting in and out of the car, so it’s not going to be an issue.”
PLACERVILLE, CA (6-8-11) – The 2011 Fast and Furious Dirt Track Racing Season resumed at Placerville Speedway in weeknight fashion Wednesday evening as California’s best 360 sprint car drivers converged at the quarter-mile bullring for Wild Winged Wednesday featuring the Hoosier Racing Tires Civil War Sprint Car Series. Before an impressive crowd that packed the grandstands, Kyle Hirst of Loomis became the fourth winner of the traveling series. Kyle Hirst from Loomis, CA a winner in Placerville. Photo by Donna Peter.
“I really can’t thank my car owners and my team enough for the car they gave me here tonight, it’s always great and ready to run up front. We’re running here every Saturday night and hopefully when the Bullring Nationals come here in July we’ll have a good shot at beating those guys,” said Hirst. “I want to thank all the fans for coming out here on a Wednesday night, this is always a special race and it’s great to see the support like this.”
Hirst started the 30 lap feature event on the pole with Brett Miller of Chico on the outside of the front row. At the waving of the green flag the second generation wheelman muscled his Steve Smith owned #14s A.R.T Chassis ahead of Miller for the lead. Once in front, Hirst never relinquished the top position for the remaining 29-laps, despite several challenges by Miller and Princeton’s Mason Moore in the early laps.
Until he reached lapped traffic, Hirst maintained a lead of several car lengths over Miller. The two first encountered lapped traffic at the 10-lap mark which allowed Miller to close in on the lead until a caution flag paused the race and ultimately cleared the lapped cars from the leader’s path. The cautions included a pair of red flags. The first came on the second lap when B feature winner James Sweeney of Placerville rolled over in traffic in the second turn. The second flew for Placerville’s Jimmy Trulli when he was collected by Chico’s John Michael Bunch in the fourth turn and both drivers went upside down with heavy damage.
In the last 10-laps of the race, Hirst approached lapped traffic once again and Miller was able to close in with the likes of Sacramento’s Herman Klein who started 8th in the field. Just as Miller and Klein would close the gap on Hirst, another yellow flag paused the race and cleared the route for the leader all the way to checkered flag. Hirst picked up his first Civil War win of the season and his second Placerville win of the year. Miller finished a career best second place at Placerville. Klein snatched the third place position while Moore finished in fourth ahead of Steven Tiner of Visalia who rounded out the top five.
Entering Wednesday’s race, two time series champion Sean Becker held a 10-point advantage over defending five time champion Andy Forsberg of Auburn. In heat race competition, Becker suffered a wicked rollover in the third and fourth turns. The Scott Miller crew rebuilt the car and entered the B feature. Becker was unable to transfer out of the last chance event, finishing 8th. Forsberg went on to finish 9th in the A feature so a dramatic change is expected in the point standings. Sean Becker from Antelope upside down in a Heat race at Placerville Speedway.
Heat races on Wednesday we claimed by Hirst, Jeff Parady of Pope Valley, Billy Strange Jr. of Elk Grove and Miller. Klein was the fast qualifier of the night, posting a 10:571 second lap. The Civil War Series will now head to American Valley Speedway in Quincy on June 18th for the sixth segment of the 14 race campaign.
Racing resumes this Saturday night at Placerville Speedway with the return of the 360 Sprint Cars and the Pure Stocks. The mighty midgets of the Bay Cities Racing Association will join the program as well for an exciting night of racing on the clay bullring.
In the Sprint Car Division, Andy Forsberg of Auburn will continue to look for his first Placerville victory of the season. The driver known as Mr. Excitement leads the standings by a 10-point margin over Placerville driver Scott “Wreckin’ Ball” Russell. Race fans will have the opportunity to meet Russell and his team on Saturday in a pre-race autograph session at Food 4 Less in Cameron Park between the hours of 10 am and 1 pm.
Becker is third in the standings now, just 17-points behind his arch rival Forsberg. Local fast man Jimmy Trulli of Placerville is fourth, just one point behind Becker. It is unknown if Trulli will make the field on Saturday night after the rollover that caused significant damage to his car and was the third consecutive night of bad luck. The veteran driver was looking to assess the damage and available sponsorship funds prior to Saturday. Former champion Mike Henry of Citrus Heights rounds out the top five, just 20-points behind the leader.
In the Pure Stock division, Clarence Holbrook III of Galt is the current point leader with a four point advantage over Rick Grunert of Woodland. Dennis Armstrong of El Dorado is in third place, five points out of the lead. Burney McClure of Nevada City is fourth ahead of Woodland’s Scotty Grunert who rounds out the top five.
The grandstands of Placerville Speedway will open at 5 p.m. on Saturday night. Adult tickets will be $13. Seniors will be $11, Juniors $11 and Children will be $6. For further information on these events visit www.placervillespeedway.com. Saturday’s race will mark the final night of action prior to a week off to allow for the upcoming county fair.
After the longest rain season anyone can remember it looks like summer has actually arrived and the racing season can really get going. On June 11th, Stockton 99 Speedway presents the NASCAR Whelen All American Series on USG Night at the Races with the Western Late Models in Twin 50s, Grand American Modifieds, Super Stocks, Bombers and Basically-4- Cylinders. Also of note on this night: Since the schedule had to be reshuffled to accommodate the SRL Southwest Tour’s rain-out, Father’s Day at the Speedway will be observed this weekend, which equates to all fathers being admitted free of charge. That, alone, is worth the price of admission. And, of course, this promises to be a great night of racing as well.
In the Western Late Models, Modesto’s second generation driver Jeff Belletto (12) continues to ride high at the top of the Charts. His lead has grown, if only slightly, to 14 points over third generation driver and 2009 WLM Champ, Justin Philpott (05) of Tracy (190-176). Seaside’s Legendary driver, Dave Byrd (78), sits another 6 points back in third. However, with Twin 50’s on the card, anything can happen and everything can change in the blink of an eye. Expect the same great, hard-nosed racing we’ve become accustomed to with the Top Ten separated by only 74 points. Jeff Belletto from Modesto at the New Stockton 99 Speedway. Photo by Jessica McAnelly.
With car-counts up this year, the Grand American Modified Division is enjoying some of the best racing over the last three years. Modified Sensation, Wes Miller (57) of Turlock boasts a great Season so far with two wins and a 30 point lead over second place Nicholas Lyons (11x) of Lincoln (176-146). On the podium in third, Andy Vanderveer (49) of Santa Rosa sits, minus another 16 points. These drivers have some catching up to do, but it is still early in the Season and the possibilities are endless.
Stockton’s own Richard Harper (5) has raised himself to the top tier of the podium in the Super Stocks by his undeniable consistency. His lead over West Modesto’s Garland Tyler (73) now rests at a close 10 points (386-376). Mike Graham (93) of Hughson sits another 16 points down in third. These racers put on an absolutely great show, and anyone can win on any given week. Look for the points in this Division to continue to fluctuate, but remain extremely tight.
In the Bombers, Jeremy Tucker (351) of Stockton, by virtue of his two wins, remains on the top rung in this Division. His lead is now 10 points over second place driver Mike Massone (007) of Linden (213-203). Stockton’s Tony Karsting (312) is perched firmly on the third rung another 10 points back. This is another Division where the points will remain tight all the way through to the end, barring catastrophe.
What a wonderful surprise the Basically-4-Cylinders have been this year. Car-counts are up and so is the competition. Joseph Reichmuth (6) of Manteca heads the field with a perfect four for four on the Season. He leads up-and-coming young star and third generation driver from Manteca, Matt Anderson (5) by 19 points (239-210). Sitting another 4 points back, 2010 Champ Larry Toon (88) of Modesto, driving a new car this year, is starting to shake out the handling kinks and is coming on strong. With Reichmuth’s dominance so far this year, someone will have to step up to the plate and, at the same time, hope the #6 falters or this might just be a long year for the rest of the pack.
Pit Gates open and registration begins at noon with practice commencing at 2:00 PM. The Grandstands open at 4:00 PM with qualifying set for 4:00 PM and green flag racing slated for 6:00 PM. Ticket prices for the evening will be as follows:
General Admission (16+) $15
Juniors (11-15) $10
Kids 10 & Under FREE
Seniors (60+) $10
Military (W/ Military ID) $10
Family $40
(2 General + 2 Junior’s)
