You could be forgiven for not realizing that Oakville’s gift to IndyCar racing, James Hinchcliffe, retired from competitive driving this past winter. When someone retires, there is the caveat that they are not leaving altogether; like in The Mayor of Hinchtown’s case, the lack of finality makes the announcement a little gentler, softening the harshness of such an abrupt end to an illustrious career.
Stepping away from his car has "lifted a weight" off his shoulders, yet according to Hinchcliffe, who, at 35 years old, isn’t ready to drive off into the sunset just yet.
While he has retired from "full-time racing," he will be keeping himself busy providing race-day analysis for NBC Sports, who signed James to their broadcast team less than 48 hours after he announced his pseudo-retirement.
"When you’ve dedicated your entire life to doing one thing, and then you're not doing it anymore, and it can be really challenging. Mentally, it can be very challenging; emotionally, it can be very challenging," says Hinchcliffe.
"You know, for me, the decision to step back from full-time IndyCar, you know, ultimately it was the right decision to make; the timing was right."
While he says he will always miss the "thrill" of driving, he also says, "winning is something you can never get bored of, so that’s always something that’s going to stand out, those qualifying laps, going for the ultimate lap-time. You know things like that, that’s always going to be something you long for."
While there are plenty of things he’ll long for, there are plenty of things that he’s not going to miss either.
"You know, the crazy time commitments of training and travelling, and endless hours of engineering meetings, some of the politics," continuing to say, "one of the challenges of motorsports, in general, is there is so much outside of your control as a driver, that, you’re sort of at the mercy of your teammates in that respect and you're only as good as the weakest link, and you know there are times in racing where it can get very frustrating if the team environment isn’t a good one."
"I had some years unfortunately that were kinda like that, so it’s kinda nice having a little more freedom in waking up without that internal pressure of what do I have to do today, to be better."
Admittedly, Hinchcliffe’s career was full of ups and downs, as any decade-long journey is, but it certainly started with a bang.
He was an instant celebrity on the IndyCar circuit, winning the Rookie of the Year Award, which seemed almost fated when considering the award bears the name of his boyhood hero, the late Greg Moore, another notoriously popular Canadian Driver whose fatal car crash cut him down in his prime.
"It kind of meant everything to me, coming up as a kid you know, watching this guy ascend to IndyCar and sort of taking the Indycar world by storm as a young Canadian guy. He was everything you wanted to be, not only that fast as a racecar driver, but he was also just a good Canadian dude, great in interviews, and he was charismatic, and he was polite."
"[Greg] was all the things that kind of personify Canada, as well as being a hell of a racecar driver. He was a really easy guy to look up to, so any award that is named for and given out in his honour is a huge honour for any driver but especially a young Canadian one."
In a strange twist of fate, James found himself at death's door following a crash as well, this time at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he was impaled by a piece of his car during a wreck and lost around 14 pints of blood, nearly dying on his way to the emergency room.
"I did have, at the risk of sounding a bit dramatic, a brush with death, and it does sorta make you think there are things that I want to do, and people I want to spend time with before my time is up."
After the accident, he got himself back to full health; mentally and physically, there was no stopping him. The following year, he was back racing again, but he earned himself the pole position at the start of the next Indianapolis 500.
However, in the years that followed, results were harder to come by, and in a less than competitive set-up, James found himself looking for more from life.
You may have caught his deep run in Dancing with the Stars, where he finished runner up. While his dancing did most of the talking, his radiant personality shone through to the audience. It seems natural for the two-time winner of IndyCar’s "Most Popular Driver" award. He is genuine and charismatic, and his warmth shows when the camera is on him.
Last year, James and his wife Becky purchased a home in Downtown Oakville, where they spend whatever time they can, now that his schedule is a little less congested. They make their home in Indianapolis, Indiana, for much of the racing season.
"Honestly, just getting back to Oakville a little more is a huge part of it. You know I would try to make it back as often as I could. But realistically, with training, engineering briefings, and sponsor commitments, things like that, you were sort of limited to major holidays and maybe if we were lucky and had the weekend of either before or after the Indy in Toronto. I could stay for that weekend, see family, or maybe hit up the cottage."
If you get up early enough, you can even catch him walking his two dogs, Lucy and Weller.
"Both of our families are still there (in Oakville). We spend a lot of time there, but we’re sorta just getting our feet wet now, now that we’ve got the time to come up a bit more and spend a bit more time. It’s kinda nice being back home a little bit."
One weekend when you’d expect to see James, Becky and the dogs around town would be IndyCar’s return to Toronto after a two-year COVID-19 absence. But in all reality, the Toronto stop on the circuit has always been one of the more hectic events on Hinchcliffe’s calendar but will always be one of the most cherished events in his career.
"That weekend for me, getting into my racecar was my quiet time. It’s when I got to slow down a little bit because everything else was just mayhem."
Despite the circus associated with the Toronto race, he recognizes what a privilege it was to share his hometown with his competitors while entertaining friends and family.
"I’m so lucky that I got to have a race basically in my back yard, where some drivers don’t even get to race in their home country, never mind their home towns, so it was such a cool experience and the Canadian fans were always so supportive."
If there is one regret he has about retiring, it seems like it’s that he has a touch of disappointment about not getting to race at home before he hung up his racing gloves, but he still manages to find the bright side of it all.
"I would have loved one more crack at winning Toronto, but I hope all the fans are happy coming back as well. It’s going to be nice, kind of experiencing it from the other side now if I’m honest."
James is flourishing in his new career path. He’s already been a part of a handful of NBC Sports’ Indy broadcasts this season. Things are about to pick up now that the series is entering the heaviest part of the season.
"I felt great about it, and the worry was always going to be getting to that first race and how would it feel. I’m happy to say that we got to that first race, and I feel like I was in that right spot."
You can catch James on the next NBC Indycar Series Broadcast from the GMR Grand Prix in Indianapolis, on Saturday, May 14, 2022.