James Hinchcliffe

Newman/Haas Racing (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.^[3] 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)

On January 10, 2012, it was announced that Hinchcliffe would succeed Danica Patrick as the driver of the GoDaddy car for Andretti Autosport.^[4] The car was renumbered to No. 27, the same number used by Canadian drivers Gilles Villeneuve and Jacques Villeneuve.^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[6] Hinchcliffe was cleared to return to racing on May 15, five days after the incident.^[7]

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (2015–2019)

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[9] 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.^[9] He remained hospitalized during the race and Ryan Briscoe took Hinchcliffe's position for the race.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[12][13] 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.^[14] In July, Hinchcliffe rebounded to win at Iowa.^[15]

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,^[16] 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.^[17] 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,^[18] 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.^[19]

Atlantic Championship

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

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

Indianapolis 500

V8 Supercar results

† Not eligible for points

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

More information Year, Team ...

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

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