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IndyCar
IN THE COCKPIT: JR Hildebrand: Indy-Milwaukee
I didn’t have to compete in the race to know that you don’t win the Indy 500 by just driving a good race in a good car.
J.R. Hildebrand  |  Posted June 23, 2011  
Hildebrand could use a strong result at Iowa this weekend to get the Panther Racing train back on track. (LAT)


Well, it’s been a little longer than anticipated to pump out another installation here on SPEED, but I’m stoked to be back on deck. There has been a crazy amount of action going down, both on AND off the racetrack lately, so I’ll just jump right in and fire away! First we’re going to back up a little though….

GREAT EXPECTATIONS AT INDY

I’ve always thought that as an athlete, student, or whatever that results-based expectations can be a little dangerous. Passion to succeed, willingness to commit, and putting forth maximum effort are all intangible ideals that have to exist in a competitive environment (in my opinion), but in terms of actually attaining a goal, I’ve often found number values to be deceptive.

Winning by itself is not always fulfilling if it isn’t done in a fashion that required maximum performance, while finishing 15th or getting a C+ can sometimes feel like the opposite. I’ve typically followed the logic that having performance goals is important, but beyond that, focusing on the processes by which one reaches them is what will inevitably determine one’s ability to succeed, and not the desire to achieve a quantitative result by itself.

That, for better or for worse, does not often seem to apply for circumstances in which one isn’t directly involved. I’d freely admit that I sit down to watch Baseball Tonight and get frustrated in how the San Francisco Giants have suddenly lost five straight, at their starting rotation’s issues and lack of offense. Is solving their problems more complicated than the team just needing to throw and hit better?

Yeah, it’s WAY more complicated than that, but does that really matter to me while I’m sitting on my couch eating dinner? Not really… It’s not for my lack of knowledge about the sport or situation; it’s really just because I lack interest in dissecting the circumstances or thinking too hard about what’s happening.

Expectations are impossible to avoid. I have certain expectations for the Giants based on their track record, so in the same vein, a lot of folks have certain expectations for Panther Racing at Indianapolis. It became laughable how many times I was posed with the task of “Just finishing one better than those boys have the last few years”…. Ummmm, right, yeah no biggie…

You are aware, however, that this involves WINNING THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 IN MY FIRST ATTEMPT, right? I didn’t have to compete in the race to know that you don’t win the Indy 500 by just driving a good race in a good car. It’s a conglomeration of situations and momentary decisions that decide where you end up, and as the driver, you are not entirely in control of all of those things. Driving a good race in a good car certainly adds to your chances, but as the saying goes, a lot can happen out there, so you have to be prepared and ready.

So we went about our business as a team, busting our asses to prepare to put ourselves in the best position possible. As the month went on, it felt increasingly good to see the No. 4 high on the scoring pole, because we knew that what we were doing was legitimate, and consequently congruent with what was expected of us. You know when expectations are realistic and when they are not, and as things started to take form through practice, qualifying, then finally the race, we all began to realize that the focus we had up until that point, and the belief that we could perform at a very high level were starting to converge. As you all well know by that point, HOLY SCHNIKIES, those boys at Panther Racing got me out front.

What happened from there is where the second piece of this Expectations bit comes into play. However, for me, it isn’t about what it was like with five to go, or how the last lap unfolded. It’s not about Turn Four, or yellow flags, or sliding across the finish line second. It’s not about what I did after I got out of the car or what I said to the media. It’s about what happened after all that.

Yes, ESPN’s Skip Bayless and Chris Broussard have their opinions (put me in studio with those fellas and I’ll give you a lesson in argumentative debate about auto racing), but on the whole, I experienced an anomaly for which I still cannot describe and don’t entirely understand. Rather than the focus of the attention directed at me being about the outcome of the race, it quickly shifted to the manner in which I had dealt with the aftermath…
Buddy Rice, left, was brought on at Indy to lead the team and mentor Hildebrand, right, but by the end of May, the rookie had asserted himself as the top dog in the team. (LAT)

And I guess to be entirely honest about it, I can’t manage to figure out what it was that people EXPECTED me to say. Was the expectation that I would want to blame someone else for what happened, or maybe that I would be too shocked by the situation to have not thought any of it through? Was it that I would forget about the team that made the call to pit for fuel and put me in the position to win the race? I spoke honestly and took ownership of the situation, which is what I was taught to do by my parents. It was certainly a refreshing basis for questioning after everything that happened, and I was humbled by the sincerity of so many people, but it was an unexpected response for me.

Don’t get me wrong. We are all very pleased at Panther Racing to have managed to represent ourselves well off the racetrack, but our job, MY job, is still to take full advantage of the cards we are dealt, plain and simple. So while I think all of us at Panther understand the complexity of the situation that unfolded at Indy, it will continue to be a battle scar that we will look to avenge. And THAT, now, has become OUR focus of attention.

LEARNING

Texas and Milwaukee were both disappointing weekends for us to say the least. Texas Motor Speedway is a track that Panther has had incredible success at in past years, and Milwaukee is a place, almost like Indy in some ways, that teams and drivers want to show well at just for bragging rights if nothing else.

Both tracks offered some promising signs for us at times, but eventually turned out to yield fairly challenging races for a variety of reasons. It can turn into kind of a tough deal when you can’t keep the momentum train rolling; you feel like you have to evaluate your methods and figure out if you need to change the way you do or look at things, while at the same time be capable of putting it behind you.

But as I was ruing some missed opportunities and thinking of things I might have been able to do differently after this weekend at the Mile, I naturally grabbed my phone to look at Twitter. I mean, isn’t that what everyone does when they’re about to go into deep thought? Contemplation averted!!

Anyway, I happened to be looking through the timeline and saw Tony Kanaan’s tweet following his early exit from the race. Paraphrasing slightly, he said, “Win or lose, it’s a part of the game. We always learn with days like this.” Somehow that seemed awfully fitting to what was going through my head.

Whether it’s been about the car, about the tracks, or just about how things work, it’s been a pretty serious learning process this year. In the end, I guess it really comes down to how effective you can be at putting that all to good use, while not forgetting about the things that you’ve been doing right all along.

So as we head toward the halfway point in the season, I certainly expect that process to continue, but at the same time, I’m pretty psyched to see how we can up our game to finish strong. Because there are a lot of things to work on and adjust, but one of the pieces of the puzzle that I think is right on the money is the attitude we have when the pressure is on.

Our mindset is “Go big or go home” from this point forward, and I think that will serve us well.

Learn more about JR Hildebrand, Panther Racing and the National Guard by visiting www.PantherRacing.com.
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