Team: Panther Racing
Driver: J.R. Hildebrand
Car No.: 4
Engine: Chevrolet
Chief Mechanic: Dan Miller
Engineer: David Cripps
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 11th

Pruett Says: Two things that might surprise you: Hildebrand and Panther had their best finishes of 2012 on road and street courses. Hildebrand also finished ahead of notables like Barrichello, Sato, Wilson and Andretti in the championship.
Despite have a better, sneakier season than some might recall, there’s still a lot of room for growth by the team and its young driver.

Hildebrand is as fiery and competitive as they come, and his team wants to win now. Right now. Adding Andretti Autosport technical director Tino Belli to perform the same role for Panther (and Panther DRR) will only strengthen what engineer David Cripps and the 25-year-old Californian have developed since 2011.

With a more traditional engineering structure in place, the team should improve its overall results, but it won’t happen overnight. The R&D items Belli and Cripps will set in motion take time to bear fruit, but in the meantime, giving Hildebrand a more compliant car to drive is Job 1. The kid has shown he can drive at 200% to try and overcome handling deficiencies, but that’s not a normal state to place a driver or his team in from round to round.

If Hildebrand can push back when the car isn’t feeling right, rather than drive around the issue, progress will be accelerated. It’s a hard position to be in: pressure to win immediately is only going to increase, but it’s almost impossible to win without going through the growing pains that come with the process.

Hildebrand could have won Fontana, and I’d put money on him vying for the victory when the series returns to the 2.0-mile oval. Whether the team is in a position to win before that will be a function of how quickly Panther’s R&D efforts translate into faster lap times that are easier to set.

Miller Says: It's been puzzling why this kid who was an accomplished road racer has been nowhere for two years except on ovals. A teammate would help, certainly, and he's got ex-Andretti leader Tino Belli in his corner but something has to change because this is Year 3 and J.R. needs results.

What Hildebrand Says Needs Improving This Year: “Over the last two years have been four races probably that I think we legitimately had good enough cars to win the race. And I think in all of those instances I've somehow managed to not close the deal by just pushing too hard, by being too flat out for the entire event. In a couple of those instances you definitely look at them and go, all right, I was halfway through the race and made a mistake by being overly aggressive and it didn’t need to happen. And so I think for me it's just dialing in an attitude that's required to be able to hanging the thing out and be on the limit but maybe be a little bit more cognizant of the little decisions that you need to be willing to make a compromise on to get it to the end.”

Team: Panther DRR
Driver: Oriol Servia
Car No.: 22
Engine: Chevrolet
Chief Mechanic: Derek Davidson
Engineer: Jeff Britton
2012 Driver’s Championship Finish: 13th

Pruett Says: Servia, along with Justin Wilson and Sebastien Bourdais, play vital roles in their respective teams. With the wee Spaniard, The Team Formerly Known As Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has gone through a serious change in personality since his arrival in 2012. The team still has miles to go to become a legitimate contender, but Servia knows what buttons to push and how hard to push them. Like the other veterans I mentioned, Servia is the engine that power the team’s progress and his effort behind the steering wheel can never be questioned.

With Jeff Britton now responsible for engineering the No. 22, Servia has been enthusiastic about his chances and looking at how strong the Panther DRR program has been since joining forces with Panther Racing and Chevrolet, this is one of very few sleeper teams in the paddock.

I don’t have a good feel for how well the No. 22 car will fare this season, but do expect Servia to be a frequent visitor inside the top 8. Give the team another year, and this old school IRL entrant could be ready to mingle with the bigger names on the grid.

Miller Says: The perfect teammate could use one in DRR's quest to battle the big boys and maybe four Top 5s (his stats in 2012) is about all anyone can expect. Qualifying must improve but Servia always seems to get whatever the car has in it and a podium would be like a win.

What Servia Says Needs Improving This Year: “For sure, qualifying. I was the best qualifier just a few years ago with Newman Haas. We were making the top six regularly. This year I think I know why, but we didn't qualify well. I'm the driver at the end of the day. For sure, I'm pushing myself to be qualifying regularly inside the top six. So I hope I can definitely find my magic again in qualifying and make it happen. So if we do that we’ll be in good shape because we do race well, we have good pit stops and I think my experience shines its best in, either you call it race craft or just on Sunday. I'm definitely focusing on trying to qualify much further ahead.”

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. Now in his 27th year in the sport, Pruett was an open-wheel mechanic, engineer and manager before joining SPEED. He also contributes to RACER, Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett.

Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.