Spoils Go To The Canadian Victor At The 43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' James Hinchcliffe driving the No. 5 Honda Dallara DW12 IndyCar celebrates with his red-gloved fist in the air as he wins his first Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2017)

Spoils Go To The Canadian Victor At The 43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach

Victory takes on many forms when one perseveres through the struggles of being a top-level race car driver in a top-level racing series.

It had been two years since Oakville, Ontario's James Hinchcliffe stood at the middle and top spot of a podium platform at the end of a Verizon IndyCar Series contest held at the "one-of" race held in the rain at NOLA Motorsports Park outside of New Orleans. Just soon after this momentous fourth win in IndyCar, James suffered a major life-threatening puncture to his left upper thigh reaching up into the pelvic area through a Turn 3 crash at 220mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during INDY 500 practice.

Driving the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, Hinchcliffe collected the first pole of his Verizon IndyCar Series career in what will be his 79th race, edging Josef Newgarden for the honor by a mere 0.0407 of a second over the 10-mile run. Image Credit: IndyCar (2016)

Recovery and the drive in James Hinchcliffe to continue in this passion of driving a race car at the highest levels of competition were rewarded one-year and three days later when he captured his first ever Verizon P1 Pole Award at the very same track that almost killed him.

As icing on this cake, it came at the celebration of the historic 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. True grit was shown because James put together this scintillating four-lap run of 230.760 mph as the final driver of the day in the Fast Nine Shootout - no pressure.

James Hinchcliffe gets instructions while in the pits at the 38th Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach at the controls of his Andretti Autosport No. 27 Go Daddy Chevrolet DW12 Dallara. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

Hinchcliffe has raced here at Long Beach in the Verizon IndyCar Series since 2011 with three different teams - Newman-Haas, Andretti Autosport, and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports - and has reached the podium once at P3 in 2012 for Andretti Autosport.

James Hinchcliffe leads Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Marco Andretti through the Hairpin Turn before applying the power down the long Shoreline Drive front straight early in the race before all Andretti Autosport cars retire with problems by the race's end. Image Credit: Myles Regan (2017)

This excerpted and edited from CBS NEWS (AP) -

IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe, who nearly died in race, checks big one off bucket list
CBS NEWS (AP) - April 10, 2017, 7:46 AM

Not once did James Hinchcliffe think his career was over after a near-fatal accident in 2015.
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At long last, he’s got his first win on the race track since his accident.

Hinchcliffe won a three-lap shootout to the finish Sunday on the streets of Long Beach to win in a Honda for Schmidt-Peterson Motorsports. It was the Canadian’s first victory since 2015 at New Orleans, a month before his accident at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“To finally do what was goal No. 1 when we set out at the start of the season, to get back into winner’s circle, to do so as early in the season as we have, as convincingly as we did, was great,” said Hinchcliffe.
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He’ll gladly take it at Long Beach, the most historic street course race in the country.

“After Indy and personally me for Toronto, this is the biggest one to win,” Hinchcliffe said. “I’ve had a lot of luck here. We’ve been really quick here in the past and to finally get to victory lane here is more than I can put into words. This place has a lot of history, that’s what drivers really care about. The greatest of the greats have won here.

“Toronto, Indy and this place were on my bucket list to win before I die, and it’s nice to check one off.”

Sebastien Bourdais followed his season-opening victory at St. Pete with a second-place finish to give Honda a 1-2 podium finish.

Josef Newgarden was the highest finishing Team Penske driver and was third in a Chevrolet.
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[The three-lap shootout] set it up for Hinchcliffe to have to race Bourdais to the finish, but Bourdais was focused on the big picture in the closing laps. Hinchcliffe had gotten off to such a great start when racing resumed, that Bourdais tried only to maintain his running position.

“We played to our strengths and I’ve always been comfortable saving fuel,” Bourdais said. “We lost balance a little bit, and I was really thinking about saving second place. I was thinking championship.”
[Reference Here]

Oh Canada! ... James Hinchcliffe celebrates with Canadian maple leaf flag in Victory Circle as he captures his fifth win in the Verizon IndyCar Series sharing the podium with Frenchman and four-time champion, Sebastien Bourdais and American Josef Newgarden. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Complete Race Description By Motorsport.com  HERE >>>
Verizon IndyCar Series Box Score HERE >>>

For many who race at the highest levels in autosport, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach (TGPLB), after running as an event for 43 years and exclusively the home of American open-wheel racing for for 33, is the considered to be "INDY 500 of street courses."

James Hinchcliffe expressed this attitude and feeling about the TGPLB with the following comment, "We worked hard this off-season to perfect the package we had. Good speed at a lot of races last year. To roll off the first two races of the season, being in the Fast Six both times, if not for a caution falling for the wrong time at St. Pete, could have been in the top five or on podium there. To do it here and finally at this place, a track that I love so much, a track that's been very good to me in my career, one that I think is the Indy 500 of street tracks, it's the second longest running race after the 500. I think because of that history, it makes it a very special event, one that every driver wants to win. The greats have all raced here, the greats have all won here. To get in the winner's circle was huge."

Additional points of order to history as a race car driver from Canada are reflected in a bit of everything James Hinchcliffe does, from the number on his car - No. 5, which he now has as the number of wins in IndyCar matching the marks set by Greg Moore, Jacques Villeneuve, and Patrick Carpentier.

Champagne bath provided to winner James Hinchcliffe by three-time winner of the TGPLB Sebastien Bourdais who came in P2. Josef Newgarden takes a swig on the podium at P3, his first Podium since becoming a Penske Chevrolet driver. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2017)

Additional Post Race Quotes From James Hinchcliffe:

“If someone told me after NOLA last year that five wins was the number Greg had, the number Jacques Villeneuve had, and I believe the number Patrick Carpentier had. Only PT is higher than that in the list of Canadians in in IndyCar racing. To drive at a level with those guys, I mean, it’s tough to put into words”

“Greg was a huge motivation and a huge inspiration to me as a child. I followed Jacques’ career religiously. When Pat and Greg were teammates, followed Pat as well, to now be level with those guys is incredible.

“You know what, when I came into this sport, I felt a huge responsibility, to be honest, to keep up the good name that Canadian drivers had in IndyCar. There haven’t been a ton of us. The ones that have been here have been race winners, they’ve been contenders week in and week out. I wanted to maintain that, you know, record for Canada, not be the guy that let us down.”
ENDS

AND ... about the Red Gloves with the Canadian flag and HINCH emblazoned on them, raised high in victory? A tribute to the shortened career of Greg Moore.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: James Hinchcliffe, Sebastien Bourdais, Josef Newgarden, Red Gloves, Greg Moore, Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier, Paul Tracy, #TGPLB43, No. 5, Arrow, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, The EDJE

Early Season Talk With The Mayor, James Hinchcliffe, Before #TGPLB43

Early Season Talk With The Mayor, James Hinchcliffe, Before #TGPLB43

James Hinchcliffe drives the No. 5 Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

He has four IndyCar wins to date and captured his first career pole at the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 in May 2016, just one year after his season-ending accident. This is amazing since he suffered life-threatening injuries in a practice crash for the 2015 Indianapolis 500 which ended his season after only five races.

Driving in the pinnacle of American open-wheel racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series since 2011, he has participated in 82 races, and has managed to be in the top 10 in 60 of these contests, finishing in the top 5 20 times, or roughly a 25% top competition return rate, every time he steps into the cockpit - which is pretty awesome in anyone's book.

James has also driven at the top level in full-bodied sports cars driving most recently in the Rolex24 at Daytona for Mazda in endurance team racing where drivers assigned to a car take turns at the wheel throughout a 24 hour period.

Off the track he is known by the social media moniker as "The Mayor Of Hinchtown", where he commands a community of friends who love to follow James as he pursues his many varied interests in life - Racing, Sponsor Events, Dancing With The Stars competition - where he was runner-up, a brewer of his namesake Hinchtown Hammerdown Ale, a craft beer from Flat12 Bierwerks in Indianapolis. This was originally brewed only during the month of May in Indianapolis, as a promotion, but now is available year-round across Indiana, Kentucky and his native Ontario, Canada, and to top this, he is an avid collector of guitars and lighters where he boasts a collection of lighters dating back to the 1930s.

WELCOME 30 year old professional race car driver from Oakville, Ontario Canada - a suburb just East of Toronto, James Hinchcliffe ...

1)
First, tell us a little about Arrow Electronics and some of the background behind your overall sponsorship for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

2)
After, what seemed like an eternity, the Verizon IndyCar Series came back into action with the first race of the 2017 season with the trditional opening race at St. Petersburg where you qualified P3 behind Will Power and Scott Dixon and finsihed P9. Tell us about your thinking and what you learned in the pre-season practices and then with the race at St. Pete - racing in the NEW Honda package.

3)
We are going into the second race of the season at the rites of spring event on the West coast in Long Beach. Another temporary street course with great history over the 42 previous years that it has run. In the six previous years that you have run the race, you were able to get on the podium once, and register to 10's 3 times counting the podium - What are your impressions of this venue and what will it take to hit the podium again?

4)
At the end of the month, the springtime swing to the Southwest becomes complete with a second race in the modern era at Phoenix International Raceway. This is the first dedicated oval on the schedule before going into the Month Of May at Indianapolis. Being a short 1 mile, low-banked tri-oval race track, how do you see the new Honda package will be able to fare given that the highest placing Honda last year was the one driven by Graham Rahal at P5?

5)
Is it your impression that the Hondas are getting out of the corner a bit better - what is the reason you see as the strength of the Honda surge?

6)
You went to the Rolex24 at Daytona and drove in one of the new Mazda Prototypes, tell me a little about your impressions about the car and the effort - change in development through driving.

7)
Lastly, civic leaders of a community usually start out the year with a proclamation or two on what they would like to accomplish in the community during the coming year - As the mayor of Hinchtown, what proclamations did you issue and communicate to the hordes of Hinchtown - on, or off the track.

Thanks James - best of luck at the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, the Month Of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as the rest of the year ending in wine country at Sonoma.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, James Hinchcliffe, No. 5,  Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, HPD, #TGPLB43, The EDJE

IndyCar Champion Pagenaud Talks About New Season & Team Dynamics

IndyCar Champion Pagenaud Talks About New Season & Team Dynamics

We are talking with the current 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Champion and member at Team Penske super-team for 2017, Simon Pagenaud.

The 32-year-old Frenchman drives the No. 1 PPG Industries Chevrolet/Dallara for Team Penske, along side team-mates, Helio Castroneves, Will Power, and new addition ... Josef Newgarden.

He earned the 2012 IndyCar Sunoco Rookie of the Year and the 2010 American LeMans Series Championship in Gil de Ferran's last year of competition.

Known to drive anything, Simon even competed in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 2013 driving a modified Honda Odyssey minivan, modified with an IndyCar engine, to finish second in class.

Now in his seventh full season in the Verizon IndyCar Series, Simon has fourteen wins, including the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis in 2014, and is the defending champion of the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach.

In 2014, then Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Simon Pagenaud at The Grove in Los Angeles pictured here with the championship trophy, The Astor Cup in advance of the MAVTv 500 IndyCar finale at Auto Club Speedway. Current Penske Racing team-mate Will Power ended the season by taking this trophy home for his first VICS Championship. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks

Welcome Penske Racing's latest champion driver, Simon Pagenaud ...

1)
First, tell us a little about PPG Industries and some of the background behind your sponsorship for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

2)
After, what seemed like an eternity, the Verizon IndyCar Series got back into action with the first race of the 2017 season with the trditional opening race at St. Petersburg. You had qualified P14 after showing top 10 or better pace during the practices. Tell us about your thinking racing against the NEW Honda package and what you learned in the practices before the race started in St. Pete.

Simon Pagenaud doesn't need RAIN - just a collection of Dallaras in Turn 3 to move from P14 to P9 #GPStPete #FirestoneGP #IndyCar

— Edmund Jenks (@TheEDJE) March 12, 2017

3)
In the pre-race interview, you mentioned that it might rain before the race ended, and this might help you to advance through the field. What actually happened was that it rained carbon fiber in the re-configured Turn 3 and race tactics seemed to play out from there. What were your reflections on the Turn 3 incident, and what other key elements helped, to lead to your eventual finish on the podium at P2, behind fellow Frenchman & 4-time champion, Dale Coyne's Sebastien Bourdais, and ahead of 4-time champion Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon? ... That's quite a podium bookend!

4a)
Last year, once you captured the lead in the points winning three races in a row, your only competition for this lead came from team-mates except for Josef Newgarden, who, at the time, raced for Ed Carpenter Racing. How is it being on a team where the top points finishers for the season are also your cheif competition?

4b)
How is it being the leader on a team accepting a new driver to the team, Josef Newgarden, when that was the position you were in just a couple of years earlier? How does this shape relationships?

5)
Just this month, Graham Rahal posted a video showing the final laps of the Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway with the extreme and professional close in racing where you were in the mix and just missed the podium in fourth place. From your perspective, what was this like for you and ... do you believe you would have won if your championship position wasn't in the balance?

6)
Last year, the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach was one for the record books - NO YELLOW Flags and very tight timing on the pitstops - especially with the pit-in and pit-out rules. Other than winning, what is the memory of the race that sticks out in your first win in the rite-of-spring concrete canyons of Long Beach ... also, which corner/section is your favorite?

7a)
This year at The Beach looks like something that may be a little harder to "game out" - in that, we have a better performing Honda package overall, and a resurgance of a three-time winner of the course with Sebastien Bourdais, who finished 6th in the points last year and seems to be rolling in with all the confidence in the world ("just like old times"). What are you thinking going into this second race of the season?

7b) How do you like having the season start with two temporary street courses that generally require a greater degree of precesion than many of the other venues the Verizon IndyCar Series is known for.

Here's wishing you a great 43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, Thanks Simon ...

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Simon Pagenaud, Verizon IndyCar Series, PPG Industries, Penske Racing, 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Champion, Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, #TGPLB42, #TGPLB43, Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, The EDJE

43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach Issues Swintal Poster For Event

Jim Swintal captures 2016 Verizon IndyCar Champion and Penske Racing driver Simon Pagenaud coming out of Turn 9 off of the back straight as he goes on to win his first Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.  Image Credit: Jim Swintal via GPALB (2017)

43rd Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach Issues Swintal Poster For Event

The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach announced today that Jim Swintal has been named Official Artist of the 2017 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. As such, Swintal has created the artwork that will adorn not only the official race poster but also the souvenir program, Fan Guide and other materials.

From his childhood in South Bend, Ind. to his days in race control for CART, Champ Car and the Verizon IndyCar Series, motor racing has been a focal point in Jim Swintal’s life, just as it is the focal point of his art.  His work captures the excitement of some of racing’s most memorable moments, and this year’s Grand Prix race poster art certainly qualifies.

Swintal made his first journey to the Indianapolis 500 at age 13 and was instantly enthralled. After graduation in 1979 from Notre Dame, Swintal settled in Chicago as an architect and joined the Sports Car Club of America as a volunteer corner marshal until 1990, when he stepped in as Indy Lights starter at the season's first race in Phoenix.

Official artist for the 43rd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Jim Swintal works in his studio as he develops the travel post card inspired images that will grace and commemorate Southern California's motor culture rite of spring . Image Credit: GPALB (2017)

He was named CART starter in 1993 and started every race in Long Beach until 2002 when he was promoted to Clerk of the Course. In 2010 he joined race control staffs of both the Verizon IndyCar Series and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. On race weekend Swintal, who lives in Irvine, will handle a variety of communications duties for both series.

“I’ve always enjoyed the exciting atmosphere at Long Beach and I had some interesting honorary starters help me here: Jay Leno, Tommy Lasorda, John Elway, just to name a few,” Swintal said.

For 2017, his second commission for the race, Swintal has created a piece that depicts every series racing here in a classic travel postcard format.

"The postcard captures the energy and excitement of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach - an event that is the envy and benchmark of all other street races,” said Swintal.

The official Grand Prix poster will cost $10 and be available online at gplb.com in the coming weeks, as well as at merchandise booths throughout the Grand Prix venue on race weekend.

Alvaro Parente, Porto Portugal, McLaren 650S GT3 coming out of Turn 6 as he races at the 2016 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in the Pirelli World Challenge sports car event. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2016)

The 2017 Grand Prix will be headlined by the second round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series, as well as the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix, featuring the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and its all-new prototype cars. In addition, the weekend will include the Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge under the lights on Friday and Saturday nights; SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks, and the powerful sports cars of the Pirelli World Challenge.

Ticket prices for the three-day event range from $32 for a Friday General Admission ticket to $142 for a three-day ticket that includes Saturday and Sunday reserved seating in grandstand upper levels. Pre-paid parking packages are also available, along with handicapped seating, Verizon IndyCar Series Paddock access passes, Super Photo tickets and an array of VIP Club packages.

Fans can select and pay for their 2017 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach seats, parking and paddock passes online at gplb.com. Ticket orders can also be placed by calling the toll-free ticket hotline, (888) 827-7333.  A printed ticket brochure that includes a circuit map, ticket prices, order form and other information is also available.

Fans can also follow the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Facebook at GrandPrixLB, Twitter @ToyotaGPLB, Instagram at ToyotaGPLB and Snapchat at ToyotaGPLB.
(ht: GPALB)

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Jim Swintal, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, 43rd, #TGPLB43, Verizon IndyCar Series, BUBBA burger, Sports Car Grand Prix, IMSA, WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pirelli World Challenge, SPEED Energy Stadium Super Trucks, Motegi Racing Super Drift Challenge, The EDJE