INDYCAR’s “Fast Six” is a weekly report derived from all things found online about Verizon IndyCar Series racing, its drivers and people. We seek and find pics and quips as INDYCAR drivers live their extraordinary lives and put the evidence into tweets, Instagrams and more. Check back every week when we post the latest, such as this from the past week.
Making INDYCAR dance again
Every single thing about Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe is trending this week, as ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” announced he’ll be part of the Season 23 cast. Hollywood gossip sites, motorsports journalists and the New York Post’s “Page Six” are all writing about him.
That, in turn, created the stuff of some pretty funny Twitter posts, like this one from @nascarcasm:
#VoteHinch
With the presidential election cycle in full swing, INDYCAR’s #VoteHinch team is filling its social channels with all sorts of fun campaign propaganda in advance of the Sept. 12 (8 p.m. ET on ABC) season premiere of “Dancing with the Stars.”
The roommate
All the back-and-forth about Hinchcliffe is leading to questions about the rest of the people in his life. That, in turn, is leading to Conor Daly, the Dale Coyne Racing driver who rooms with him. Not sure why, but even Hinchcliffe is expressing concern about leaving Daly alone in the house while he temporarily relocates to Los Angeles to film.
“I have a tremendous concern,” Hinchcliffe said in this interview:
http://www.indycar.com/News/2016/08/08-30-Hinchcliffe-DWTS-teleconference.
“I've already set up a network of people that will be coming to check on him and the house in my absence.”
Cooking with Simon
The INDYCAR field is full of Renaissance men. Team Penske driver and championship points leader Simon Pagenaud is certainly no exception. The French driver showed off his cooking skills, including a few impressive crepe flips, this week at urban soul food restaurant Brown Sugar Kitchen in Oakland, Calif., while promoting the 2016 season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, which airs at Sept. 18 on NBCSN.
I’m a beaver, you’re a beaver
While they were in Texas for the completion of the Firestone 600 last weekend, Ed Carpenter Racing driver Josef Newgarden apparently introduced teammate Spencer Pigot to the convenience store chain Buc-ee’s. They came away from the adventure with a couple of good options for Halloween wear.
Like father, like son
From the look of his Instagram account, Deco Kanaan is ready to follow in his father’s um … tracks. Seems the Benik Kart was dropped off at Tony Kanaan’s garage as a gift for the lad.
“I’m not sure if I’m happy or mad,” daddy Kanaan wrote about the present. “As you can tell, he didn’t like that much. Couldn’t even wait for me to fix his seat.”