Early racing Born in
North York,
Ontario, and raised in
Oakville, Ontario, Hinchcliffe first attended an IndyCar race at about 18 months old with his father. He later recalled watching Jacques Villeneuve win the Indianapolis 500 on television in 1995. He then picked up his first career top-five finish in just his second start in the series on the
Streets of Long Beach with a fourth place finish. Hinchcliffe then collected a top-ten on the
Streets of São Paulo in
Brazil. He finished ninth. Hinchcliffe started 13th in his first Indianapolis 500, and ran up front for an early portion of the race before crashing on lap 101 and finishing 29th. Following the Indy 500 was the
Firestone Twin 275s in
Texas. Hinchcliffe, however, struggled in both races and had finishes of twentieth and nineteenth, respectively. Hinchcliffe then rebounded to collect his second top-ten of the season with a sixth at the
Milwaukee Mile. During the
2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship on lap twelve, he went veered down, making wheel-to-wheel contact with
Wade Cunningham, which caused the latter to spin and collect various drivers, that would lead to various chain reactions, causing the death of
Dan Wheldon. After the race was cancelled due to Wheldon's death, points were reset to how it was as of Kentucky, so Hinchcliffe collected Rookie of the Year Honors, just beating out Panther Racing's
J. R. Hildebrand. However, after the 2011 IndyCar season, it was announced that Newman/Haas Racing would not be returning to IndyCar, making Hinchcliffe a free agent.
Andretti Autosport (2012–14) On January 10, 2012, it was announced that Hinchcliffe would succeed
Danica Patrick as the driver of the
GoDaddy car for
Andretti Autosport. The car was renumbered to No. 27, the same number used by Canadian drivers
Gilles Villeneuve and
Jacques Villeneuve. Later, in Brazil for the
São Paulo Indy 300, Hinchcliffe won the race, with a last turn overtake under
Takuma Sato, breaking the winning sequence of
Will Power. In the
2014 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Hinchcliffe was hit by debris, and a
CT scan revealed he had suffered a concussion, and needed medical clearance before racing again. Hinchcliffe was cleared to return to racing on May 15, five days after the incident.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (2015–2019) during the
2015 Indianapolis 500. On October 7, 2014, it was announced that Hinchcliffe would join
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for the 2015 season and drive the No. 5 car, filling the open seat left by
Simon Pagenaud. He won his first race with the team in
the second race of the year in New Orleans. Hinchcliffe qualified for the
2015 Indianapolis 500 on May 17, then sustained serious injuries in a crash caused by a suspension failure during practice on May 18. The right side of the car was disintegrated, and he was pinned in the cockpit; one of the suspension pieces had penetrated the cockpit tub, and punctured Hinchcliffe's thigh, causing profuse bleeding. Briscoe and
Conor Daly replaced Hinchcliffe in the car for the remainder of the 2015 season. On May 22, 2016, Hinchcliffe won the pole position for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, a year after his near-fatal crash at the track. He finished seventh in the race. Hinchcliffe led much of the
Firestone 600 later that year, only to finish second in a photo finish to
Graham Rahal. He went on to finish thirteenth in the season standings. On April 9, 2017, two years after his last win, Hinchcliffe won his first race of the season at the
Long Beach Grand Prix.
Leena Gade became Hinchcliffe's lead race engineer for the 2018 season, becoming the first female lead race engineer in Indycar. On Bump Day for the
2018 Indianapolis 500, Hinchcliffe ended up failing to qualify for the first time in his career. Afterward, Gade and SPM parted ways. In July, Hinchcliffe rebounded to win at Iowa. On October 28, 2019, after a season which resulted in a best finish of third at Iowa, the recently renamed Arrow McLaren SP relieved Hinchcliffe of his driving duties and signed
2019 Indy Lights champion
Oliver Askew and former
Carlin driver and
2018 Indy Lights champion
Patricio O'Ward to fill their two seats. Hinchcliffe remained under contract, under which he was required to be with the team on race weekends and make sponsor appearances, but was free to pursue other opportunities.
Return to Andretti Autosport (2020–2021) On February 19, 2020,
Andretti Autosport announced they have signed Hinchcliffe to a three-race deal for the
2020 season which will be his second stint with the team. Hinchcliffe was scheduled to compete in the
GMR Grand Prix, the
Indianapolis 500 and the
Genesys 600. Hinchcliffe finished eighteenth at the first race of the season at
Texas Motor Speedway. He finished eleventh in the Indy GP and seventh in the Indy 500. He would then replace
Zach Veach for the final three races of the season in the No 26 car after the latter was fired by Andretti. On January 26, 2021, Andretti Autosport announced that Hinchcliffe would drive the No. 29 car co-entered by
Steinbrenner Racing full time for the 2021 season. He finished twentieth in the points standings, with a best result of third at the
inaugural Music City Grand Prix. On December 12, 2021, Hinchcliffe announced he would step down from racing full-time, and joined NBC Sports as a commentator for the IndyCar Series broadcast from the 2022 season onwards. He was replaced in the No. 29 entry by
Devlin DeFrancesco.
NASCAR On February 12, 2026, it was announced that Hinchcliffe will make his debut in the
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at the
St. Petersburg street circuit, driving the No. 77
Chevrolet for
Spire Motorsports. ==Personal life==