James Hinchcliffe

James Hinchcliffe
Hinchcliffe at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021
Nationality	Canadian
Born	(1986-12-05) December 5, 1986 North York, Ontario, Canada
Racing licence	FIA Gold
Previous series
2009–10 2006–08 2006–07 2005 2004	Indy Lights Atlantic Championship A1 Grand Prix Star Mazda Series Formula BMW USA
Awards
2010 2011 2024	Greg Moore Legacy Award IndyCar Rookie of the Year Tony Renna Rising Star Award CMHF Inductee
IndyCar Series career
161 races run over 11 years
2020 position	23rd
Best finish	8th (2012, 2013)
First race	2011 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber)
Last race	2021 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (Long Beach)
First win	2013 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Last win	2018 Iowa Corn 300 (Iowa)
Wins Podiums Poles 6 18 1

James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series.

Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

In 2015, his first year driving for Schmidt Peterson, he suffered life-threatening blood loss when he was impaled in a crash when his suspension failed while practicing for the Indianapolis 500. He would recover and win the pole position for the following year's race where he finished in sixth position.

Also, in 2016, he appeared on season 23 of the ABC series Dancing with the Stars, finishing in second place. He is often called by his nicknames "Hinch" and "the Mayor of Hinchtown".

Racing career

Early racing

Born in North York, Ontario, and raised in Oakville, Ontario, Hinchcliffe started his career when he received a go kart for his 9th birthday and began car racing in 2003, when he finished third in Bridgestone Racing Academy F2000 series. Next year, he was top rookie in Formula BMW USA, winning three races. In 2005, he raced in the Star Mazda Series, finishing third overall with three wins. In 2006 he moved to the Champ Car Atlantic Series with Forsythe Racing. He won one race at Portland and scored two other podiums, but was only able to finish 10th in the overall standings. Hinchcliffe also provided commentary for the Eurosport coverage of Champ Car events during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.

A1 Grand Prix

He then joined A1 Team Canada in A1 Grand Prix. He finished eighth in the sprint race and 13th in the feature in his first race at Zandvoort, then had a stunning weekend in Brno. He scored second in the sprint race at the Czech round and led the feature for the majority of the race, but clashed with eventual winner Alex Yoong which dropped him down to fifth. He raced next at the Beijing round, finishing fourth in the sprint race and 10th in the feature race – which he could have won but for a team pitstop strategy error – and then returned after two races out at the New Zealand round, where he finished sixth in both races.

Hinchcliffe once again raced in the Champ Car Atlantic Series in 2007, this time with the Sierra Sierra team. He finished fourth in points without a win. During the season he was also a guest commentator on the international feed for Champ Car races. He returned to Forsythe Racing for the 2008 Atlantic Championship season, again finishing fourth in points but this time capturing a win in the second race of the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Firestone Indy Lights Series

For the 2009 season, he competed in Indy Lights for Sam Schmidt Motorsports in their No. 7 car. Hinchcliffe finished fourth in points without a win or pole position. In the 2010 season, he signed on with the less historically successful Team Moore Racing in their No. 2 entry. Hinchcliffe captured three wins and five more podium finishes on his way to second in the championship behind French rookie Jean-Karl Vernay who was driving the Schmidt No. 7 car.

He also served as the driver analyst for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 as regular driver analyst Davey Hamilton was competing in the race.

IndyCar Series

Newman/Haas Racing (2011)

Hinchcliffe at Mid-Ohio in 2011.

In April 2011, Hinchcliffe signed with Newman/Haas Racing to compete in the remainder of 2011 IndyCar Series, excluding the Twin Ring Motegi race, after missing the first race of the season at St. Petersburg. He made his debut at Barber Motorsports Park and failed to finish after making contact with a spinning E. J. Viso. He then picked up his first career Top 5 finish in just his second start in the series on the Streets of Long Beach with a fourth-place finish. Hinchcliffe then collected a top ten on the Streets of São Paulo in Brazil. He finished ninth. Hinchcliffe started 13th in his first Indianapolis 500, and ran up front for an early portion of the race before crashing on lap 101 and finishing 29th.

Following the Indy 500 was the Firestone Twin 275s in Texas. Hinchcliffe, however, struggled in both races and had finishes of 20th and 19th, respectively. Hinchcliffe then rebounded to collect his second Top 10 of the season with a sixth at the Milwaukee Mile. During the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship on lap 12, he went veered down, making wheel-to-wheel contact with Wade Cunningham, which caused the latter to spin and collect various drivers, that would lead to various chain reactions, causing the death of Dan Wheldon. After the race was cancelled due to Wheldon's death, points were reset to how it was as of Kentucky, so Hinchcliffe collected Rookie of the Year Honors, just beating out Panther Racing's J. R. Hildebrand. However, after the 2011 IndyCar season it was announced that Newman/Haas Racing would not be returning to IndyCar making Hinchcliffe a free agent.

Andretti Autosport (2012–14)

Hinchcliffe in 2013

On January 10, 2012, it was announced that Hinchcliffe would succeed Danica Patrick as the driver of the GoDaddy car for Andretti Autosport. The car was renumbered to No. 27, the same number used by Canadian drivers Gilles Villeneuve and Jacques Villeneuve. At the 2012 Indianapolis 500, Hinchcliffe qualified 2nd overall while carrying a pair of gloves inside his driving suit, that belonged to the late Greg Moore, whom Hinchcliffe considers the main reason why he got into racing. On race day, Hinchcliffe overtook pole-sitter Ryan Briscoe on the first lap, and ended up leading five of the 200 laps on his way to a creditable 6th-place finish.

Hinchcliffe returned to Andretti for 2013, and started the season by winning the season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida, for his first series victory. Later, in Brazil for the São Paulo Indy 300, Hinchcliffe won the race, with a last turn overtake under Takuma Sato, breaking the winning sequence of Will Power.

In the 2014 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Hinchcliffe was hit by debris, and a CT scan revealed he had suffered a concussion, and needed medical clearance before racing again. Hinchcliffe was cleared to return to racing on May 15, five days after the incident.

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (2015–2019)

Hinchcliffe's No. 5 IndyCar was piloted by Ryan Briscoe during the 2015 Indianapolis 500.

Hinchcliffe in 2019

On October 7, 2014, it was announced that Hinchcliffe would join Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for the 2015 season and drive the No. 5 car, filling the open seat left by Simon Pagenaud. He won his first race with the team in the second race of the year in New Orleans. Hinchcliffe qualified for the 2015 Indianapolis 500 on May 17, then sustained serious injuries in a crash caused by a suspension failure during practice on May 18. The right side of the car was disintegrated, and he was pinned in the cockpit; one of the suspension pieces had penetrated the cockpit tub, and punctured Hinchcliffe's thigh, causing profuse bleeding. He was taken to Methodist Hospital for surgery to remove the debris from his thigh, and the quick response work by IndyCar safety crews was credited in likely saving his life. He remained hospitalized during the race and Ryan Briscoe took Hinchcliffe's position for the race. Briscoe and Conor Daly replaced Hinchcliffe in the car for the remainder of the 2015 season.

On May 22, 2016, Hinchcliffe won the pole position for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, a year after his near-fatal crash at the track. He finished seventh in the race. Hinchcliffe led much of the Firestone 600 later that year, only to finish second in a photo finish to Graham Rahal. He went on to finish 13th in the season standings.

On April 9, 2017, two years after his last win, Hinchcliffe won his first race of the season at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Leena Gade became Hinchcliffe's lead race engineer for the 2018 season, becoming the first female lead race engineer in Indycar. On Bump Day for the 2018 Indianapolis 500, Hinchcliffe ended up failing to qualify for the first time in his career. Afterward, Gade and SPM parted ways. In July, Hinchcliffe rebounded to win at Iowa.

On October 28, 2019, after a season which resulted in a best finish of 3rd at Iowa, the recently renamed Arrow McLaren SP relieved Hinchcliffe of his driving duties and signed 2019 Indy Lights champion Oliver Askew and former Carlin driver and 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O'Ward to fill their two seats. Hinchcliffe remained under contract, under which he was required to be with the team on race weekends and make sponsor appearances, but was free to pursue other opportunities.

Return to Andretti Autosport (2020–2021)

On February 19, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced they have signed Hinchcliffe to a three-race deal for the 2020 season which will be his second stint with the team. Hinchcliffe was scheduled to compete in the GMR Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the Genesys 600. Hinchcliffe finished 18th at the first race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway. He finished 11th in the Indy GP and 7th in the Indy 500. He would then replace Zach Veach for the final three races of the season in the No 26 car after the latter was fired by Andretti.

On January 26, 2021, Andretti Autosport announced that Hinchcliffe would drive the No. 29 car co-entered by Steinbrenner Racing full time for the 2021 season. He finished 20th in the points standings, with a best result of third at the inaugural Music City Grand Prix.

On December 12, 2021, Hinchcliffe announced he would step down from racing full-time, and joined NBC Sports as a commentator for the IndyCar Series broadcast from the 2022 season onwards. He was replaced in the No. 29 entry by Devlin DeFrancesco.

Personal life

Hinchcliffe became engaged to his high school sweetheart, Canadian actress Rebecca "Becky" Dalton, in July 2018; the couple wed in Ontario on August 3, 2019.

If he did not succeed as a professional racing driver, Hinchcliffe wanted to be a motorsports journalist.

On February 17, 2024, Hinchcliffe was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame, making him the youngest inductee ever at 37 years old. In 2018 Hinchcliffe began hosting "Off Track with Hinch and Rossi" alongside current Indy car driver Alexander Rossi.

Motorsports career results

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2006–07	Canada	NED SPR 8	NED FEA 13	CZE SPR 2	CZE FEA 5	CHN SPR 4	CHN FEA 10	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	IDN SPR	IDN FEA	NZL SPR 6	NZL FEA 6	AUS SPR 13	AUS FEA Ret	RSA SPR 13	RSA FEA Ret	MEX SPR 13	MEX FEA 15	CHN SPR	CHN FEA	GBR SPR	GBR FEA	11th	33
2007–08		NED SPR 19	NED FEA 18	CZE SPR 12	CZE FEA 11	MYS SPR	MYS FEA	ZHU SPR	ZHU FEA	NZL SPR	NZL FEA	AUS SPR	AUS FEA	RSA SPR	RSA FEA	MEX SPR	MEX FEA	SHA SPR	SHA FEA	GBR SPR 15	GBR FEA 17			9th	75

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Atlantic Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2006	Forsythe Racing	LBH 3	HOU 4	MTY 16	POR 1	CLE1 17	CLE2 19	TOR 6	EDM Ret	SJO Ret	DEN 7	MTL 3	ROA Ret	10th	160
2007	Sierra Sierra Enterprises	LVG 4	LBH 7	HOU 3	POR1 2	POR2 2	CLE 6	MTT 3	TOR Ret	EDM1 3	EDM2 9	SJO Ret	ROA 14	4th	224
2008	Forsythe Racing	LBH 10	LS 1	MTT 4	EDM1 3	EDM2 3	ROA1 5	ROA2 8	TRR Ret	NJ 16	UTA 10	ATL 3		4th	196

Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Rank	Points
2009	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	STP1 6	STP2 3	LBH 3	KAN 12	INDY 16	MIL 7	IOW 3	WGL 21	TOR 3	EDM 4	KTY 7	MDO 2	SNM 6	CHI 12	HMS 14	5th	395
2010	Team Moore Racing	STP 15	ALA 5	LBH 1	INDY 3	IOW 5	WGL 2	TOR 10	EDM 1	MDO 7	SNM 3	CHI 1	KTY 2	HMS 2			2nd	471

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points	Ref
2011	Newman/Haas Racing	Dallara IR05	06	Honda	STP	ALA 24	LBH 4	SAO 9	INDY 29	TXS 20	TXS 19	MIL 6	IOW 9	TOR 14	EDM 15	MDO 20	NHM 4	SNM 7	BAL 24	MOT 15	KTY 4	LVS1 C		12th	302
2012	Andretti Autosport	Dallara DW12	27	Chevrolet	STP 4	ALA 6	LBH 3	SAO 6	INDY 6	DET 21	TXS 4	MIL 3	IOW 17	TOR 22	EDM 12	MDO 5	SNM 26	BAL 15	FON 13					8th	358
2013					STP 1	ALA 26	LBH 26	SAO 1	INDY 21	DET 15	DET 19	TXS 9	MIL 5	IOW 1	POC 24	TOR 8	TOR 21	MDO 10	SNM 8	BAL 7	HOU 24	HOU 3	FON 4	8th	449
2014				Honda	STP 19	LBH 21	ALA 7	IMS 20	INDY 28	DET 6	DET 5	TXS 14	HOU 5	HOU 14	POC 12	IOW 6	TOR 8	TOR 18	MDO 3	MIL 19	SNM 12	FON 5		12th	456
2015	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports		5		STP 16	NLA 1	LBH 12	ALA 7	IMS 12	INDY Wth	DET	DET	TXS	TOR	FON	MIL	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM				23rd	129
2016					STP 19	PHX 18	LBH 8	ALA 6	IMS 3	INDY 7	DET 18	DET 21	RDA 14	IOW 9	TOR 3	MDO 5	POC 10	TXS 2	WGL 18	SNM 12				13th	416
2017					STP 9	LBH 1	ALA 6	PHX 12	IMS 13	INDY 22	DET 3	DET 20	TXS 14	ROA 20	IOW 10	TOR 3	MDO 11	POC 20	GMP 8	WGL 21	SNM 22			13th	376
2018					STP 4	PHX 6	LBH 9	ALA 3	IMS 7	INDY DNQ	DET 11	DET 16	TXS 4	ROA 10	IOW 1	TOR 4	MDO 14	POC 20	GTW 15	POR 22	SNM 15			10th	391
2019	Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports				STP 6	COA 16	ALA 6	LBH 9	IMS 16	INDY 11	DET 9	DET 18	TXS 19	RDA 7	TOR 6	IOW 3	MDO 22	POC 20	GTW 12	POR 20	LAG 9			12th	370
2020	Andretti Autosport		29		TXS 18	IMS 11	ROA	ROA	IOW	IOW	INDY 7	GTW	GTW	MDO	MDO									23rd	138
			26													IMS 14	IMS 13	STP 14
2021	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport		29		ALA 17	STP 18	TXS 23	TXS 18	IMS 18	INDY 21	DET 17	DET 14	ROA 15	MDO 17	NSH 3	IMS 22	GTW 15	POR 27	LAG 20	LBH 14				20th	220

• ¹ The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Indianapolis 500 wins	Championships
10	3	145	1	6	32	70	0	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2011	Dallara	Honda	13	29	Newman/Haas Racing
2012	Dallara	Chevrolet	2	6	Andretti Autosport
2013	Dallara	Chevrolet	9	21	Andretti Autosport
2014	Dallara	Honda	2	28	Andretti Autosport
2015	Dallara	Honda	Wth		Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2016	Dallara	Honda	1	7	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2017	Dallara	Honda	17	22	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2018	Dallara	Honda	DNQ		Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2019	Dallara	Honda	32	11	Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2020	Dallara	Honda	6	7	Andretti Autosport
2021	Dallara	Honda	16	21	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport

Touring Car racing

V8 Supercar results

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	Final pos	Points
2012	Garry Rogers Motorsport	Holden VE Commodore	ADE R1	ADE R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	BAR R7	BAR R8	BAR R9	PHI R10	PHI R11	HID R12	HID R13	TOW R14	TOW R15	QLD R16	QLD R17	SMP R18	SMP R19	SAN Q	SAN R20	BAT R21	SUR R22 Ret	SUR R23 Ret	YMC R24	YMC R25	YMC R26	WIN R27	WIN R28	SYD R29	SYD R30	NC	0 †
2019	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Holden ZB Commodore	ADE R1	ADE R2	MEL R3	MEL R4	MEL R5	MEL R6	SYM R7	SYM R8	PHI R9	PHI R10	BAR R11	BAR R12	WIN R13	WIN R14	HID R15	HID R16	TOW R17	TOW R18	QLD R19	QLD R20	BEN R21	BEN R22	PUK R23	PUK R24	BAT R25 18	SUR R26	SUR R27	SAN QR	SAN R28	NEW R29	NEW R30	51st	102

† Not eligible for points

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year	Team	Car	Co-driver	Position	Laps
2019	Walkinshaw Andretti United	Holden Commodore ZB	Alexander Rossi	18th	159

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship

Year	Team	Class	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points
2014	SpeedSource	P	Mazda Prototype	Mazda 2.2 L SKYACTIV-D (SH-VPTS) I4 Turbo (diesel)	DAY 14	SEB	LBH	LGA	DET	WGL	MOS	IMS				52nd	19
	Starworks Motorsport		Riley Mk XXVI DP	Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo									ELK 12	COA	PET
2015	SpeedSource	P	Mazda Prototype	Mazda 2.2 L SKYACTIV-D (SH-VPTS) I4 Turbo (diesel)	DAY 12	SEB	LBH	LGA	DET	WGL	MOS	ELK	COA	PET		31st	20
2017	Mazda Motorsports	P	Mazda RT24-P	Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4	DAY 12	SEB	LBH	COA	DET	WGL	MOS	ELK	LGA	PET		42nd	19
2024	Pfaff Motorsports	GTD Pro	McLaren 720S GT3 Evo	McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8	DAY 10	SEB 12	LGA	DET	WGL	MOS	ELK	VIR	IMS	PET 9		26th	691
Source:

In media

On August 30, 2016, he appeared on an episode of Celebrity Family Feud featuring IndyCar drivers competing against swimsuit models. Hinchcliffe is a partner with production company Frost Marks Films out of Toronto. He maintained his podcast The Mayor on Air with James Hinchcliffe from 2015 through 2017, typically interviewing drivers from the IndyCar Series. He and fellow IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi host a podcast together called Off Track with Hinch and Rossi.

Television analyst

In 2020, Hinchcliffe joined NBC Sports as analyst for IndyCar races and select IMSA races when he did not enter as a driver. In 2022, he rejoined NBC Sports as a full-time analyst joining play-by-play voice Leigh Diffey and analyst Townsend Bell, replacing fellow Canadian Paul Tracy, and will serve as an analyst for some IMSA races. In October 2022, Hinchcliffe joined the crew of F1's Weekend Warmup for its Grand Prix week editions for the United States Grand Prix and the Mexico City Grand Prix, and in the Post Race Show at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In 2023 he became an occasional co-commentator on Channel 4's F1 coverage in the United Kingdom as well as the official F1TV feed.

Dancing with the Stars

On August 30, 2016, Hinchcliffe was announced as one of the celebrity contestants for season 23 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with professional dancer Sharna Burgess. On November 22, 2016, Hinchcliffe finished in second place to Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez.

Week #	Dance / song	Judges' scores				Result
		Inaba	Goodman	Hough	Tonioli
1	Foxtrot/"Live Life"	8	8	7	8	No Elimination
2	Paso Doble/"The Walking Dead Theme"	7	7	7	8	Safe
3	Cha-cha-cha/"Big Trouble"	7	7	8	7	Safe (Immunity)
4	Quickstep/"The Hollywood Wiz"	9	10	9	10	Safe
5	Tango/"The Right Time"	10	10	9	10	No Elimination
6	Rumba/"Need the Sun to Break"	10	9	9	10	Safe
7	Jitterbug/"In the Mood" Team Freestyle/"The Skye Boat Song"	9 10	9 9	9 9	9 10	Safe
8	Viennese Waltz/"You Don't Own Me"	10	10	10	10	Safe (Immunity)
9	Jazz/"A Brand New Day" Team-Up Dance (Paso Doble)/"No Good"	9 9	9 9	9 10	9 9	Safe
10 Semi-finals	Argentine Tango/"Santa Maria" Trio Jive/"Gimme Some Lovin'"	9 10	10 10	10 10	10 10	Safe
11 Finals	Foxtrot/"It Had to Be You" Freestyle/"Beethoven's 5 Secrets" Viennese Waltz & Foxtrot Fusion/"Over and Over Again"	9 10 10	9 10 10	9 10 10	10 10 10	Runner-up

External links

• Official website
• IndyCar Driver Page