“A woman pulled in to the driveway and said her friend was getting married this weekend, she’d seen me driving my car around town and wanted to know if I’d pick up her friend and chauffeur her to her wedding. It was such a bizarre situation.”

The winding tale that followed, shared by Verizon IndyCar Series driver JR Hildebrand, is a gem.

As someone who makes a healthy living in one of the rarest jobs on the planet, Hildebrand is normally called upon to fly around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 230mph in his Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy Indy car. Or pull 5Gs around the daunting Mid-Ohio road course, lap after lap without passing out. It makes the impromptu request involving Hildebrand, his 1960 Cadillac Deville—nicknamed “Rosie” for her unique hue—and a free weekend at home in Colorado between IndyCar races a perfect mash-up of time and opportunity.

The 2011 Indy 500 runner-up, who finished second in the recent IndyCar event at Iowa Speedway, was happy to oblige. Even better, the bride and groom, along with her friend who asked the favor, had no idea Hildebrand was anything other than a cool local with a sweet ride.

“I asked her if she was wanting to borrow my car, but she said, ‘No, we’d like you to be the driver,’ and it took me a second, but then I realized, how cool is that?” he told RoadandTrack.com. “Here’s someone that thinks my car is fucking awesome, and it would be the thing that made their wedding experience come to life, so I couldn’t say no. I felt honored they chose my car for their special day.”

Courtesy JR Hildebrand

The Caddy, a project Hildebrand bought for himself in 2013, underwent a modest restoration, had the interior redone, a drivetrain overhaul performed, and air bags were installed to give the Sausalito, Ca.-native the cruiser of his dreams.

“Outside of a daily driver, if you want another car, you should want it for a reason, and I always loved the idea of having a Cadillac Deville. A land yacht,” he said. “The speedo doesn’t work and it doesn’t matter; I’ll never get pulled over because we’re always going slow. It’s just a different mindset and mood it puts you in for a drive. It’s the total opposite of what I’m normally doing in a car.”

After moving from the Bay Area to Colorado last year, Hildebrand had Rosie shipped out for his own wedding in October.



“It was an awesome wedding prop,” he continued. “A buddy of mine who is a comic book artist wrote the ‘Just Married’ in chalk on the rear window, and it was a great experience. I left the chalk there for a few weeks after our wedding, and the Caddy’s too long to fit in our garage, so I park it outside and keep it covered. At some point, they must have seen me driving it in the area where we live and seen the ‘Just Married’ on it and got the idea…”

As the newest member of the Sherrie and Eric Figueroa wedding party, Hildebrand cleaned himself up, gave Rosie a nice makeover, and dove headfirst into his new challenge.



“I got the Caddy cleaned up, cruised down, picked Sherrie up and then got her husband-to-be Eric, drove them from where they were getting ready, delivered them to the site of their wedding, and did the whole song and dance” he said.

And the best part?

Courtesy Eric and Sherrie Figueroa

“I did it all without them knowing I’m a professional racecar driver!” he laughed. “I figured if I told them, it would make it weird. So I just went with it…’yeah, I’m just a car guy, happy to help…’ But I thought it was awesome and liked that they didn’t know I was an IndyCar driver because I didn’t want it to get in the way of them enjoying the day. I got some advice on how to drive it and where to turn and stuff like that, and in the back of my head, I’m like, ‘yep, got it, this is kinda’ my thing,’ but it was super fun.”

Always up for something new and interesting, the good-natured Hildebrand says his encounter with the Figueroas could have opened the door to a second career if and when he grows tired of life at 200mph.

“I got a text the next day with some photos from their photographer, and she threw out that hey, there’s probably a bunch of other brides that would love getting dropped off in your ride, and she’d be happy to give my name to her wedding planner...” he said with another laugh.

“I said ‘go for it, but I’m not always available on the weekends…I have this other job I do going on a lot of the time…’ Maybe it can become my charitable contribution from the auto racing community. I’d definitely do it again if the situation comes up.”

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