J.R. Hildebrand is set to contest the oval portion of the 2022 schedule in the NTT IndyCar Series for A.J. Foyt Racing.
The 34-year-old Californian will share the No. 11 ROKiT Chevrolet with Tatiana Calderon, who is already contesting the road and street circuits of the calendar.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to get back in the car, do a little more racing, and work with the AJ Foyt Racing squad again,” said Hildebrand, via a team press release. “Although the results may not have looked special on paper, I was really impressed by what we accomplished last year at the 500 and look forward to attacking these other ovals on the IndyCar schedule alongside Kyle (Kirkwood) and Dalton (Kellett).”
While this announcement confirms Hildebrand for five races, including the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in May. Next up, though, will be the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway on March 20. Last week, he got a little more than a handful of laps in at the 1.5-mile oval as part of a shakedown for Kirkwood during the rookie test.
Hildebrand was part of Foyt’s four-car arsenal at the Indy 500 last year, where ended up finishing 15th – highest among the quartet – after qualifying 22nd. He has 11 starts at the Indy 500, with four top 10s that includes a career-best finish of second during his rookie year in 2011.
“We had a great experience working with J.R. last year, and there is no doubt he is very competitive at Indianapolis,” said Team President Larry Foyt. “He is still very motivated to drive Indy cars and is a setup-savvy, technical driver who will be a strong addition at our oval races this year.”
