AJ Foyt Racing has announced that IndyCar veteran JR Hildebrand will drive the team’s #11 entry for the oval races this season.
Hildebrand will be piloting the car that is driven by Tatiana Calderon for the reminder of the schedule, with the two trading duties as the series visits each track.
Calderon is one of six rookie running in the series this season, but is the only one that is only running the road and street courses.
The team said from the outset that it planned to run the #11 entry for all races, but it did not announce a driver for the other half of the role until today.
“I’m excited to have this opportunity to get back in the car, do a little more racing, and work with the AJ Foyt Racing squad again,” said Hildebrand.
“Although the results may not have looked special on paper, I was really impressed by what we accomplished last year at the [Indy] 500 and look forward to attacking these other ovals on the IndyCar schedule alongside Kyle [Kirkwood] and Dalton [Kellett].”
Hildebrand has not run any races besides the Indy 500 since 2017, but has 66 races under his belt and should be able to jump into the seat with no issues.
The 34-year-old was also seen recently at the rookie test at Texas Motor Speedway, helping his now team-mate Kyle Kirkwood get up to speed in his first outing on the high-speed oval.
Hildebrand will run alongside rookie Kyle Kirkwood and Dalton Kellett for the oval rounds, including the Indy 500 and the race from Texas Motor Speedway next weekend.