Sausalito, Calfornia born JR Hildebrand will return to the IndyCar cockpit next weekend driving for Bryan Herta and Steve Newey owned Barracuda Racing at Sonoma Raceway and at the season ending MavTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway.
The track can be considered Hildebrand’s home track, as he began his racing career there when he was 14 years old.
“I’m really excited to join Barracuda Racing this year, and have to give a big thank you to Bryan and the team for the opportunity,” said Hildebrand. “Sonoma is where I got my racing start, so it’ll be great to have another new experience there with a new team, and one that I’ve heard nothing but great things about.”
“JR is an exciting prospect for us,” said team co-owner Bryan Herta. “He’s a talented driver and it made sense for him to be able to compete at his ‘home’ races in Sonoma and Fontana.”
Luca Filippi, who finished 16th in his debut with the team at Mid Ohio, will pilot the car at Baltimore and the Doubleheader at Houston.
Putting Hildebrand in the car at Fontana seems a perfect fit. Hildebrand has always been fast at the ovals and led 56 laps there last season. Whereas Filippi has not yet run on an oval and has a road course background and had a good pace at Mid-Ohio.
