Pole winner Hinchcliffe focused firmly on race day
A year ago, James Hinchcliffe nearly died. Today, he has never felt so alive.
“I think it shows that the comeback is complete,” the 29-year-old Oakville, Ont., native said via conference call on Thursday, referencing his pole win ahead of Sunday’s 100th running of the Indy 500, marking the first time he has captured the coveted best view from the grid in what will be 79 career starts.
The Canadian driver claimed the No. 1 starting position in the 33-car field in what is dubbed the greatest spectacle in racing with a four-lap average of 230.769 mph at qualifying last weekend in Indianapolis, 12 months after surviving a nightmare.
A collision during practice put his life and career in jeopardy. He hit a wall at more than 200 mph and a metal rod from the car’s suspension pierced through his lower-right thigh and out through his upper left-thigh, pinning him in his car, as he described it, like a “shish kebab.”
Hinchcliffe nearly bled to death, suffering a neck injury and a con- cussion. He ultimately required two surgeries and his 2015 season was done mere weeks after it began, having claimed his fourth Verizon IndyCar Series victory two weeks prior in his first campaign in the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda.
Despite the life-threatening setback, the self-proclaimed Mayor of Hinchtown has never wavered in his desire to return as soon as possible.
“For us as an entire team to have come back from where we were a year ago to now be sitting here, I would strongly argue anybody that would try to say this pole would have meant more to them than it would have to us,” Hinchcliffe said.
“It means and shows there was never doubt in my mind or the team’s mind that we’d be back.
“To come here and do this the way that we did, I think, really puts a firm stamp on it and closes that chapter, and now we can look forward. Hopefully in a couple days we’ve got an even cooler story to tell.”
Jacques Villeneuve is the lone Canadian to win the Indy 500, having done so in 1995, and should Hinchcliffe find himself atop the podium in front of a first-ever sellout crowd in Indianapolis, it would instantly become the stuff of legend, an improbable comeback for the ages.
Starting at the front of the grid solidifies very little beyond a jump on the competition and Hinchcliffe knows what he is up against in search of the fifth and biggest series win of his career.
“Part of you really wants to appreciate the moment and the accomplishment that we’ve managed to achieve as a team. The other part of you is the fierce competitor that understands that we still have the race to go and qualifying isn’t even half the battle,” he said.
“At the end of the day, we’re here to race. We’re not here to qualify. And the focus is now very firmly on the 500.”
Three Hondas will start inside the top 10. Americans Josef Newgarden and 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will start second and third, respectively.