After Tough Qualifying Session, Carpenter Fastest in Final Practice; JR Hildebrand 4th Overall

(FORT WORTH, Texas) June 9, 2017 – Practice and Qualifying Notes

– Ed Carpenter and JR Hildebrand showed the speed they are known for in tonight’s final practice session at Texas Motor Speedway with Carpenter turning the fastest lap of the day and Hildebrand just behind in 4th. During qualifications earlier this afternoon, both struggled as Carpenter qualified 14th and Hildebrand 18th for tomorrow night’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600. Things turned around during race preparations this evening, with both landing back at the top of the time sheets.

– Heavy rains this morning delayed track activity until the afternoon. Carpenter, Hildebrand and the rest of the Verizon IndyCar Series field were able to hit the track for one hour of practice around 1 p.m. CT. Carpenter had tested on the newly-configured and repaved track during an open test in April; Hildebrand’s first time on the new track surface was today. Carpenter turned 40 laps in first practice with the 7th fastest lap of the session at 220.824 miles per hour. Hildebrand’s quick lap of 219.955 miles per hour was one of the 44 that he ran and 15th overall.

– After first practice, Carpenter welcomed Dallas Mavericks guard Yogi Ferrell to Texas Motor Speedway. Both are graduates of Park Tudor High School in Indianapolis, Carpenter in 1999 and Ferrell in 2012. After taking a two-seater ride with the Indy Racing Experience, Ferrell sat in on ECR’s pre-qualifying engineering meeting, then supported Carpenter during his qualifying run from pit road.

– Carpenter was the first of ECR’s two Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolets to qualify. His two laps averaged out to 220.487 mph, giving him the 14th starting position for tomorrow night’s race. Hildebrand’s two-lap average of 218.960 miles per hour will have him rolling 18th in the 248-lap event.

– Taking what they learned from qualifying, the team made changes to the Fuzzy’s Vodka cars before the final half hour practice session this evening. Carpenter shot to the top of the scoring pylon with a lap of 224.682 mph, the fastest turned today. Hildebrand upped his top speed to 222.303 mph, the 4th-quickest lap of the day. Tonight’s practice session is the last time they will turn laps at speed before the race.

– Team owner Carpenter is back at the site of his most recent win. The No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet was the car to beat at Texas Motor Speedway in 2014, with Carpenter leading 66 of the final 67 laps. At one point, he had stretched his lead to over 14 seconds. His victory that night was his was his third career win in the Verizon IndyCar Series. Saturday night’s Rainguard Water Sealers 600 will be the 36-year-old’s 16th race at Texas Motor Speedway.

– Hildebrand has three previous starts at Texas Motor Speedway, most recently in 2012 when he finished 5th. The 29-year-old was on track for a Top 5 finish two weeks ago at the Indianapolis 500 before a drive-through penalty with nine laps to go relegated him to a 16th place finish. Hildebrand already has one podium finish this year in his No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet after scoring a third place at Phoenix Raceway at the end of April.

– The Rainguard Water Sealers 600 will be shown live on NBC Sports Network, starting at 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) on Saturday, June 10.

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet): “At the end there, I was in the back of the line and put up a big number. It doesn’t necessarily mean a whole lot of anything, but at the same time I’m pretty happy with my car. It felt pretty good relative to what I was seeing from other cars. It gave me confidence that we can make a good run tomorrow night. It’s still a tricky place. It’s a harder to pass because the top lane hasn’t come in yet (Turns 1-2) but maybe we’ll work it in over the course of the race. If not, I still think you’ll be able to get around people because Turn 2 from mid to exit is a lot harder with the new configuration. I still think it will be a good race, but I do think it will be different than the ones we’ve had the last couple of years.”

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 21 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka Chevrolet): “I’m still disappointed in where we qualified. It wasn’t because the car wasn’t handling well, but that’s behind us now. At the end of the final practice we were in a huge pack of cars and we were able to work our way through it pretty effectively. I’m definitely encouraged by that heading into tomorrow. We’ve made some changes between the two cars that have improved how we can run in traffic. Tomorrow is going to be a long race, but after that final practice session I feel like we’ve got something to haul up towards the front.”