Hildebrand maintains points lead

J.R. Hildebrand Credit: Jim Haines/Indy Lights

J.R. Hildebrand needed some luck to maintain the point lead in the chase for the Firestone Firehawk Cup.

The driver of the No. 26 ARPRO machine was penalized for blocking while running in second position, but was able to stay on the lead lap as the caution flag flew as he was heading to pit lane to serve a drive-through penalty.

After restarting as the final car on the lead lap, Hildebrand, the race's polesitter, was able to pass several cars to finish sixth and maintain a 16-point lead over Mario Romancini.

"(The) race was definitely frustrating for us," Hildebrand said. "We started on the pole, so we knew we had a good car. We also knew we were fighting a bit of understeer in qualifying. With such big condition changes before the race, it made it really tough to get the car set up, and the understeer continued to get worse throughout the race. After the drive-through penalty, we lost position and had to fight our way back up. It's difficult to pass here, and the understeer wouldn't allow us to get close enough to other cars."

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