JR Hildebrand, who suffered an injury on one of his hands after a crash in the last lap of the Long Beach GP, will miss the upcoming race in Alabama due to this. His replacement in ECR will be Zach Veach, who was set to make his debut in the Indianapolis 500.
At the last lap of the Long Beach GP, held two weeks ago, JR Hildebrand couldn’t avoid contact with Mikhail Aleshin while he was trying to overtake the Russian. Despite ECR driver’s final position was 11th, his race actually ended in the wall.
It seemed that it wasn’t a hard crash, but a few moments after the race, it was known that the driver sustained injuries on his left hand. Today, it’s been confirmed that the American driver won’t take part at the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama, which will be held this weekend in Barber Motorsports Park.
His replacement at the nº. 20 Chevrolet car will be Zach Veach, six-time Indylights race winner. It will be the first on the Series for the Ohio driver. His debut, anyway, was previously scheduled for May, when he will drive in the 101st edition of the Indianapolis 500 for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
“My heart goes out to Hildebrand as I suffered a broken hand a couple years ago and I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone,” Veach said. “This isn’t how any driver wants to get his first race, but with that said, I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity to sub for JR.”
The Honda Grand Prix of Alabama will be held between 21st and 23rd of April. With the race set to begin on Sunday 23rd at 2:30 PM local time.