By David Morgan, Associate Editor
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – James Hinchcliffe and Dario Franchitti may have gotten a crash course in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series racing in Saturday’s OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 on the streets of St. Petersburg, but when all was said and done, the two drivers could not wipe the smiles off their faces.
The two drivers that made their names in open wheel for the majority of their careers and have been away from full-time racing for some time, each made an appearance in the inaugural Truck race in support of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend.
With qualifying rained out on Friday evening, the duo would find themselves with ideal starting positions when the green flag dropped shortly after noon on Saturday, with Hinchcliffe rolling off third and Franchitti in sixth.
From the start of the race, both drivers held their own inside the top-10 for the majority of the first stage, with Franchitti in sixth and Hinchcliffe falling to 11th by lap 20.
The two drivers would have a run-in during Stage 2, which saw Hinchcliffe drop out of the top-10, but as he was making his way back forward again, he found the Turn 10 runoff and eventually finished the stage in 22nd. Franchitti once again held steady in the top-10 as the race reached the halfway mark.
The final stage would see Hinchcliffe turned around again, but slowly, but surely, he began working his way through the field.
While he may have been driving a truck that looked like it had been through a demolition derby, Hinchcliffe was able to get back into the top-10 in the waning laps to complete the comeback with a 10th place result.
“She drives away under her own power. That’s a good sign,” Hinchcliffe joked as the team drove his truck away after the race.
“I learned an awful lot in those 80 laps. The first 40 I learned I was drinking from a fire hose to use a [Ryan] Hunter-Reay expression, and we had to learn a couple lessons the hard way, figure out these tires, figure out how to race some of these guys. But by the third stage, I felt really good in the truck, even with a little bit of damage, that thing was humming along. So, I wish I could start the race like I did, knowing what I knew at the start of stage three.
“But at the end of the day, just super thankful to Spire for the opportunity and really happy to get out there and salvage the top 10 after going to the back a couple of times.”
Hinchcliffe added that after all that had transpired in the race for him, to be able to salvage a top-10 finish at the end of the day was extra important, especially when he had sight of the 10th place truck with the laps winding down.
“When we were 11th there with 10 or 11 to go, whatever it was, and I could see the truck in front of me, it was head down trying to catch ’em,” Hinchcliffe said. “It’s so hard though because in a lot of ways with these things, the harder you push, the slower you go and you kind of have to just really reign it in and control yourself, be so patient, so precise.
“You wouldn’t think necessarily in something like this compared to a formula car, precision is necessarily the first word that would come to mind, but you really have to, and credit to all the guys and girls that do this full time. This is not an easy series and it was a lot of fun to be a part of it for weekend.”
The Journey Outweighs the End Result
Meanwhile, Franchitti’s strong day went awry in that final stage when he would have to make an unscheduled pit stop to check on a steering issue he was having, eventually crossing the line in 27th place.
Though he would have loved to bring home a better finish, Franchitti explained that it was more about the journey to get there than the end result.
“The special thing for me here is my family are here,” said Franchitti. “My wife, my daughters have never seen me race anything but historic cars. And we have a blast doing that, but it’s more my mom and dad are here, but it’s also my IndyCar family, everybody I worked with, everybody I’ve known in the paddock since I was a kid, fans, all that. That’s what makes this to me so special.
“I had a great truck. I mean, I really did. I wish I hadn’t done so much damage to it, but that was just my inexperience in the truck catching me out. I didn’t want to wreck Hinch. I really didn’t want to wreck Hinch. I didn’t want to wreck anybody, especially the guys going for the championship. But I told Jimmie, he said, was it fun? I said it was really fun to start with and it got probably a little too hot to be fun because the helmet blower stopped working.
“But I had a blast. It was really good. It was really good points and there was points when it wasn’t good. I made some rookie errors, but how fortunate am I that after what I went through in 2013 to come back and do this 13 years later.”
Franchitti also gave props to the Truck Series field for welcoming him back and making for an entertaining race for himself after so long away from the cockpit of a truck.
“I didn’t come in here thinking I’m going to smoke these guys,” said Franchitti. “I want to say kids, but that’s disrespectful. I didn’t think I was going to come in and smoke these drivers because I’m aware of the talent level and how hard everybody’s practiced and the amount of sim work we’re doing and the talent level. And a lot of them have figured it out. You can tell that. And it was a pleasure to share the track with them.”
Ready to Run It Back?
And now the million-dollar question, would either of them do it again? Both are leaving the door open to making a return to the Truck Series sometime in the future should that call come.
“It’d be pretty hard to say no,” Hinchcliffe remarked.
Likewise, from Franchitti who noted you probably won’t see him making an oval start in a truck, but who knows what the future holds on a road or street course.
“I think the chances of me doing an oval are probably longer odds than flying to the moon, but never say never on another road and street course. We’ll see.”
Hinchcliffe added that no matter what, he wants to see the Truck Series make a return to St. Petersburg in the future.
“If they don’t come back to St. Pete, I think that’d be a real shame,” Hinchcliffe said. “I mean, I didn’t see exactly what was happening up front, but from where I sat, it seemed like a pretty exciting race.
“So, hopefully everyone in the stands enjoyed it and we’ll see the Truck Series back here again next year.”
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