Six Team USA Scholarship Alumni Among Historic 100th Indianapolis 500 Field

Vasser, Herta Serve as Car Owners; Five Others Competed in Mazda Road to Indy Support Series

SPEEDWAY, Ind.  – Sunday, May 29 is shaping up as one of the most significant days in the history of American auto racing with the 100th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race set to take place in front of a sell-out crowd at the hallowed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It will be milestone, too, for the Team USA Scholarship, which has been providing opportunities for talented young American drivers since 1990, with no fewer than six alumni among the 33-car field for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

Josef Newgarden, a Team USA Scholarship winner in 2008, will start from the front row of the grid for Ed Carpenter Racing after posting the second-fastest speed during Pole Day qualifying last Sunday. The personable 25-year-old from Hendersonville, Tenn., who won two races during the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series, carries the same No. 21 he used to win the 2008 Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, England, in Team USA colors.

J.R. Hildebrand (2005), from Sausalito, Calif., who came agonizingly close to winning the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie in 2011, qualified 15th fastest and will start from the outside of the fifth row in a second Ed Carpenter Racing entry, one position ahead of Verizon IndyCar Series race winner and 2003 Team USA grad Charlie Kimball (Chip Ganassi Racing).

Conor Daly, from Noblesville, Ind., will start from Row Eight for Dale Coyne Racing. Daly joined Newgarden in the 2008 Team USA trip to England and also returned with a significant feather in his cap after winning the Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Ford race at Silverstone.

The next two rows of the grid also will feature Team USA Scholarship drivers, with Matthew Brabham (2012) lining up 27th for PIRTEK Team Murray and Spencer Pigot (2010/2011) starting 29th for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

All are seeking to emulate the feats of 1997 Team USA winner Buddy Rice, who won the Indy 500 in 2004, and Phil Giebler (1999) and Hildebrand, who secured Rookie of the Year honors in 2007 in 2011, respectively..

The first two Team USA Scholarship winners, Jimmy Vasser (1990) and Bryan Herta (1991), also will be chasing glory at Indianapolis as car owners – each for the second time. Vasser, part of the KVSH/KVRT ownership group that won the 2013 Indy 500 with Tony Kanaan, will field cars for Sebastien Bourdais and Stefan Wilson, while Herta, who guided Dan Wheldon to Victory Lane in 2011, has joined forces with Michael Andretti to enter Alexander Rossi.

Top row l. to r: Matthew Brabham, Joel Miller, Team USA founder Jeremy Shaw, Charlie Kimball, Bryan Herta and Spencer Pigot took the time to join (front row l. to r.) Aaron Telitz, Dakota Dickerson and Michai Stephens during the Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend.

Several more Team USA alum have been competing in Indianapolis this week as part of the Mazda Road to Indy open-wheel development ladder. Felix Serralles (2010) and Neil Alberico (2001/2013) finished sixth and seventh in yesterday’s prestigious Mazda Freedom 100 Presented by Cooper Tires at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of a massive Carb Day crowd, with Alberico also posting a new Indy Lights lap record average speed of 198.008 mph. Later in the evening, Jake Eidson (2013), Aaron Telitz (2014) and Dakota Dickerson (2015) also claimed top-10 finishes in their Pro Mazda and USF2000 races at Lucas Oil Raceway as part of the Carb Night Classic “The Race Before the 500.”

About Team USA Scholarship:
The program has been providing opportunities for talented American race car drivers at an early stage in their careers since 1990. Supporters include Doug Mockett & Company, the Road Racing Drivers Club and SAFEisFAST.com, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, Team Penske, Blackdog Speed Shop, Mazda, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda Performance Development, Robertson Racing, Afterburner Autosport, Allen Berg Racing Schools, CXC Simulations, Auto Club Speedway, PitFit Training, RaceCraft1, Sparco USA, RACER Magazine, Speedstar Management, Styled Aesthetic and Manifest Group.

Photo (left to right): Matthew Brabham, Conor Daly, Josef Newgarden, Spencer Pigot, J.R. Hildebrand and Charlie Kimball with the Borg-Warner Trophy.