James Hinchcliffe Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The only components of a racing car designed to purposefully make contact with the racing surface are the tires. That’s why they are so critical to a race car’s performance. But don’t take this author’s word for it, Mario Andretti’s opinion would be the more important one. “There’s no element of a race car that’s more important than the tires. I think you can fix the aerodynamics, you can fix the suspension technology, so on and so forth, but you cannot afford to have issues withRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Eight months ago today, James Hinchcliffe climbed from his No. 5 Arrow Electronics Honda, dejected after failing to qualify for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500. With crew members, photographers and television cameras nearby, the Canadian had to come to terms with what must’ve been a completely alien concept to him heading into the month of May. After all, Hinchcliffe had won the pole for the 500 back in 2016 and was sitting fifth in points following the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis MotorRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Schmidt Peterson Motorsports today confirmed that Alfa Romeo Sauber Formula One driver Marcus Ericsson will join the team in the No. 7 Honda entry for the 2019 IndyCar season. Ericsson will partner James Hinchcliffe at SPM while Robert Wickens is recovering from his August incident at Pocono Raceway. Ericsson has 95 Formula One starts, recently finishing ninth at the Mexican Grand Prix. The 28-year-old Swedish driver will leave Sauber’s racing efforts after the 2018 Formula One season, with team deciding to use Antonio Giovinazzi and KimiRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 12 drivers from the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the 10th-place finisher, James Hinchcliffe. James Hinchcliffe, No. 5 ARROW/LUCAS OIL Honda 2018: 10th in the championship  Wins: 1, Top 5: 5, Top 10: 9, Poles: 0, Laps Led: 65 Best Finish: 1st (Iowa) If it weren’t for that race, James Hinchcliffe’s 2018 campaign would be regarded as one of the Canadian’s best in his eight years of Verizon IndyCar Series competition. But to disregard what happened toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Motorsports Tribune reviews the season of the top 12 drivers from the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Our list continues with the 11th-place finisher, Robert Wickens. Robert Wickens, No. 6 LUCAS OIL Honda 2018: 11th in the championship  Wins: 0, Top 5: 7, Top 10: 10, Poles: 1, Laps Led: 187 Best Finish: 2nd (Phoenix, Mid-Ohio) It’s hard to imagine a more dynamic, more attention-deserving and more awe-inspiring winless rookie season in Indy car racing of the past decade than the one Robert Wickens had inRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — Four drivers remain eligible for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship crown but if anyone is going to beat Scott Dixon, it might take divine intervention at this point. Dixon was involved in the first lap incident that took out Marco Andretti and Ed Jones and delayed Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe. Once the metaphorical and literal dust cleared, Dixon drove back to the pits without losing a lap. Later in the race he was clocked at 50.2 mph in the pits whenRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — In a less than ideal 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season, Gabby Chaves managed to give Harding Racing his best finish of the year with a 13th place finish in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland. After starting 21st, Chaves found himself in 11th place following the first lap mayhem involving James Hinchcliffe, Graham Rahal, Ed Jones, Scott Dixon, Zach Veach and Marco Andretti. The 2014 Indy Lights champion ran in the top 10 in the early third of the race before his first pitRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — The biggest concern happened at Portland International Raceway Sunday, first lap chaos. Not at the grueling chicane known as the Festival Curve, but at the entry of Turn 3. INDYCAR’s return to Portland saw a dramatic six-car crash right out of the gate, and it began when Zach Veach pinched James Hinchcliffe, resulting into contact and caused a huge ripple effect on several competitors, and potential championship implications. Once Hinchcliffe spun around, Sebastien Bourdais ran into the front of Hinchcliffe, and collected Jones,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — In the midst of a partial 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season program, Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey surprised many by nearly advancing out of the first round of qualifying for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland and will start 13th. Harvey set a fast lap of 57.9620 seconds (121.983 mph) around the 1.964-mile road course and the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM entry in conjunction with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports will have its best start of the season on Sunday. “I think testing so far has goneRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — Friday practice has come and gone for the Verizon IndyCar Series ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland and the time sheets saw numerous names flying up and down in unexpected places. While it’s expected to see Sebastien Bourdais near the top and he in fact led the opening session, the midfield was full of happy surprises. Santino Ferrucci was 12th fastest in the opening session in his first IndyCar race since the Chevrolet Duel in Detroit. Ahead of Ferrucci was Jack HarveyRead More