James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
The cast: Race engineer – Allen McDonald. Race strategist – Robert Gue. Chief mechanic – Ron Catt.
Twitter: @hinchtown, @SPMIndyCar
The car: No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Honda
The driver: Turns 29 on Dec. 5. … Oakville, Ontario, and resides in Indianapolis. ... Raced in first season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Was limited to first five races of the season because of injuries sustained in on-track incident in practice for the Indianapolis 500. He has recovered from the injuries and is expected to compete in the full 2016 season.
Video: James Hinchcliffe reviews his season
Season stats: Hinchcliffe qualified 16th in the first two races of the season. He finished 16th St. Petersburg and won two weeks later at New Orleans (his fourth Verizon IndyCar Series victory). ... Hinchcliffe added a seventh-place finish at Barber Motorsports Park. ... He qualified 24th for the Indy 500 before the accident and was replaced in the car by Ryan Briscoe. ... Was running at the finish in all five races, and led three races for total of 20 laps.
Year over year: 2015 best qualifying 10th at Barber Motorsports Park (13.6 average) in five races, best finish first at New Orleans (9.6 average). 2014 best qualifying second at Long Beach, Barber, Indianapolis 500, Belle Isle-1, Belle Isle-2 (8.1 average), best finish third at Mid-Ohio (12.3 average) in 18 races with Andretti Autosport.
The gist: Hinchcliffe has been back in the No. 5 car for testing this offseason at Road America and Sebring International Raceway. He is scheduled to participate in a team test Nov. 18 at Phoenix International Raceway. ... He has competed in 73 Verizon IndyCar Series races over five seasons and with three teams. ... Hinchcliffe earned his maiden Verizon IndyCar Series victory in 2013 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., where the 2016 season opens. ... He competing in Indy Lights for two seasons (one with Sam Schmidt Motorsports), placing second in the championship in 2010 with Team Moore Racing. ... Did you know that he's an ordained minister?
The chart (below): Looking at how Hinchcliffe finished relative to his qualifying position:
