Hinchcliffe is in his first year as Honda’s national spokesman and is featured in Honda commercialsGETTY IMAGES
IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe "does not want to take over a ride from another driver" in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 after he was bumped from the field this weekend, but that "may not be his decision," according to Bruce Martin of AUTOWEEK. Hinchcliffe said, "There obviously has been a precedent in the past of people jumping into other cars, but at the end of the day, man, (every) single one-race deal is occupied here by someone that worked their tail off all year long to get the sponsorship together, to get the team in line." Martin noted there are some "strong financial interests that may decide otherwise." Hinchcliffe is in his "first year as Honda’s national spokesman and is featured prominently on television commercials for Honda in the United States and in Canada." It is "important to Honda that Hinchcliffe be in the Indy 500." Additionally, Arrow, primary sponsor of Hinchcliffe's No. 5 ride, has "purchased a huge hospitality suite located inside of turn 1 in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway" that is thought to have cost $1M. Hinchcliffe stressed that he is "not actively trying to take away a ride from a driver already qualified in the field," though he acknowledged if Schmidt Peterson Motorsports or Honda "find a ride, he would be obligated to do what the team wants." There is "no set deadline on when driver changes have to be made for the Indy 500" (AUTOWEEK.com, 5/20).
LOOKING AT OPTIONS: In Indianapolis, Guskey & Ayello note an official from SPM confirmed that it is "exploring options to bring Hinchcliffe back into" the race, but it "doesn't have a timeline for the decision." Two possible options are cars qualified by Conor Daly and Jack Harvey, though Michael Shank, who owns Harvey's No. 60 car, said that he has yet to "take part in any conversations SPM might be having." Daly drives for Dale Coyne Racing with Thom Burns Racing, and Coyne said that it is "unlikely all parties could come to an agreement to put Hinchcliffe in Daly's No. 17 car." Coyne: "We’d have to break a lot of contracts. We’d have to come to agreement. It’d be an incredibly expensive if every party agreed to do it. We’d have to have Burns’ approval, the Air Force’s approval, Conor’s approval and my approval." He added, "It’s going to be a $2 million check, if you can even get every single party lined up to say yes. Everyone’s going to want to make a little money or at least get back to square" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/21).
TOO MUCH DRAMA? In Indianapolis, Jim Ayello wrote IndyCar now can "build momentum toward its crown jewel without the help of one of its biggest personalities" or it can allow SPM "to turn Bump Day into a sham by putting Hinchcliffe into another car." Ayello: "What would be the point of a knockout day if the knocked-out driver can wiggle his way into another seat the next day?" There are "sponsors to appease," as Arrow is a "crucial partner to IndyCar and SPM and it isn’t going to be happy its representative isn’t in the show." Honda "won’t be happy either, especially after it made Hinchcliffe the central figure of one of its national marketing campaigns." Ayello: "If this were to happen, in the future, how could IndyCar or IMS put on a straight face and sell the dramatics of Bump Day when everyone knows that if even their favorite driver misses the cut, oh well, he’ll just a drive a different car tomorrow?" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/20). WTHR.com's Bob Kravitz wrote Bump Day would not mean anything "if teams continually look for ways to place big-time drivers in the field because they have the money and the sponsors." A driver like Jay Howard is a one-off driver who "starts seeking out sponsors one day after the finish of the 500 in order to give himself a chance to run again the next season (WTHR.com, 5/20). AUTOWEEK's Matt Weaver wrote, "To allow a bumped driver to buy his way back into the field, or dare I even say it, expand the grid to 35 makes a mockery of everything that took place on Saturday." Bump Day was a "good day for the sport, even if it doesn't immediately look like it" (AUTOWEEK.com, 5/20).
TAKE A SECOND LOOK: RACER.com's Robin Miller wondered if IndyCar should "protect its stars and its full-time teams so they can’t miss the biggest race in the world." IndyCar team co-Owner Bobby Rahal, who missed the '93 race after being bumped, said, "It’s probably something that IndyCar needs to look at. ... I know we all wanted to see bumping again but now one of the series biggest names is on the sidelines. So maybe we need a re-think." IndyCar CEO Mark Miles: "In a couple weeks, after all this has died down, I think we’ll sit down and talk about it" (RACER.com, 5/20). Andretti Autosport COO Rob Edwards said, "The series needs to recognize franchise teams -- the 24 regular season cars. If we’re going to bump, we need to protect the 24 regular-season entries." He added that in a scenario where full-season entries were locked into the 500, teams are "actually incentivized to join the series." Instead of getting a "litany of one-off entries, maybe one or two of them join the series and it continues to grow" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 5/19).
