Hinchcliffe a favourite in Toronto Honda Indy,
With a series-leading 3 wins this season, Toronto native is a legitimate favourite
TORONTO There are a variety of ways that the torch can be passed from one generation to the next. For Canadian IndyCar drivers Paul Tracy and James Hinchcliffe, it came in the form of a text message.
Back in 2011, with Tracy winding down his career and Hinchcliffe’s career revving up, the two drivers arrived at the Toronto Indy as hometown favourites. Tracy, a Scarborough native who had twice won on the downtown street course, was looking for one more victory before driving into the sunset. Hinchcliffe, a rookie from Oakville, Ont., was simply looking to make his mark.
After 33 laps, with Hinchcliffe running in fifth and Tracy a few spots back in eighth, it looked like both might get their wish. But then the inevitable happened.
As they headed into Turn 5, Tracy tried to sneak past Hinchcliffe on the outside. A mini-battle ensued. The veteran was hoping the youngster would take his foot off the gas and let him scoot by. But the youngster was not about to be pushed around by some white-haired old-timer and continued on his racing line until the cars ran out of room and made contact.
“I cut a tire and he broke a wing,” Hinchcliffe said of the crash, “so it screwed up both our races.”
Afterwards, Tracy was furious. He blamed Hinchcliffe for not deferring to a veteran, for driving recklessly and for wrecking his opportunity at one last shot at the checkered flag.
“He sent me a text message that I kept for years and only got rid of recently because I got rid of that phone,” Hinchcliffe said of Tracy’s post-race reaction. “I don’t know if I should tell you. Aw hell, I’ll tell you, it’s Paul, people will understand.
“The text message I got was, ‘If I didn’t like you so much I’d slit your throat.’ So we had a difference of opinion as to whose fault it was.”
Said Tracy: “I guess he was flexing his muscles. I kind of respected that.”
It is a hot and humid Thursday morning and Hinchcliffe is inside a fast-food truck steps from the Toronto racetrack, cooking and serving “Hinch burgers” for sponsors and members of the media and generally doing his part to promote the race that is now his own.
This is the role Tracy used to play for years. And nobody played it better. The Thrill from West Hill, who showed up to races wearing a Mexican wrestling mask or in the middle of an orchestrated fight with Quebec driver Alex Tagliani, would do anything to create interest for the sport.
Hinchcliffe also seems at ease in the role of carnival huckster. The self-proclaimed mayor of Hinchtown gained some notoriety in the sport because of his social media savvy and offbeat persona, which is regularly featured in sponsor GoDaddy.com’s commercials. He was named Indycar’s Favourite Driver of the Year in 2012 despite never winning a race.
Personality and quirkiness only go so far. Eventually, it is what you do on the racetrack that truly matters. And with a series-leading three wins in 11 races this year, Hinchcliffe, according to Tracy, “is well on his way to carrying on the Canadian legacy.”
‘As a young driver coming in, you’re learning on race weekends and you’re learning against guys who have been doing it for 10 years.’
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE
Andretti Autosport racer
Heading into this weekend’s doubleheader (for the first time in Toronto, drivers will race on both Saturday and Sunday), the 26-yearold Andretti Autosport driver is not only the hometown favourite. He is also a legitimate favourite.
“Coming into this year, it’s a bit different,” said Hinchcliffe, who finished in 22nd place in Toronto last year and in 14th in 2011. “It’s nice now to be in a position where you’re genuinely a contender. I think fans love a winner. So to now be in that league goes a long way.”
It is not just the potential of victory that is exciting for casual race fans. Like Tracy, who either celebrated with champagne or crashed in a blaze of glory, Hinchcliffe has been all or nothing this year.
Last weekend, he started third but wrecked his car on the first turn of the opening lap at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. He has failed to finish two other times this year. His inconsistency is why he is only sitting fifth in the overall standings with 272 points — 84 points behind Helio Castroneves, who has won just once this year.
Sitting on a lawn chair, wearing a black baseball hat, an untucked, black buttondown shirt and black skinny jeans, Hinchcliffe said the crashes are part of the learning experience. He had never raced at Pocono. He did not know the car was going to react the way it did as he went into Turn 1. Next time he will know.
“This is not basketball,” he said. “If you suck at threepointers, you can go to any court in the country grab a basketball and shoot threepointers all day long. We don’t get that chance. So as a young driver coming in, you’re learning on race weekends and you’re learning against guys who have been doing it for 10 years.”
Every race is a snapshot for the memory bank. Hinchcliffe has driven at the Toronto Indy more times than any other track and every time he learns something new.