Photo Credit: John Cote/IndyCar
James Hinchcliffe, driver of the No. 5 Arrow Electronic Honda, wanted a new story other than talking about the devastating accident that happen last year at Indianapolis Motor Speedway while practicing for the Indy 500. He made that happen with capturing he pole position for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
“Yeah, definitely,” he said, with a laugh. “But I get it . It was a big deal. It was a big deal to me, too.
“And I understand that. And I really appreciate that people wanted to hear the story, wanted to tell the story for me. There was a lot of really really nice pieces done, a lot of nice tributes done in that sense.
“But no, then you’re coming back to this place and you want to focus on the here and now and not remember or focus on hitting the wall at 125Gs. So there was definitely a point where it’s kind of like, ‘Hey, is there anything else you want to talk about? Let’s lead with that and kind of see where we go from there’ But we’ll see. Hopefully this is the topic of conversation for the next week and a week from now we’ve got an even better story to tell.”
The Canadian had made the Fast Nine on the first day of qualifying at IMS and when the Fast Nine qualified on the second day for the one through nine positions, he was the last to go out for the qualifying session.
“Yeah, it’s a double-edges sword because you know what you have to beat, which is an advantage,” he said. “But when it’s a really quick time, it’s a disadvantage because sometimes you get in your own head about whether or not you’ll be able to get that kind of speed.
“Like I said, we didn’t go out and practice. So it was tough to know exactly what we had. But technically the track’s maybe hopefully cooling down a lit bit. The weatherman claimed the win was supposed to be dying down a little bit a the day went on. I’m not sure how much I believe him; I rarely do. But for sure, that’s the benefit of being the quickest yesterday, right?
“Was getting to do that and getting to watch and seeing what the other guys had out there. So it was nice crossing the line and knowing exactly where we were going to start. So it’s way better that way to do your stressing out beforehand and then get it done and know where you going to start.”
This was not only his first Indy 500 pole, but his first career pole in IndyCar.
“It’s great,” he said. “It was super-frustrating. It was always a bridesmaid, never a bride. I don’t know how many front-row starts I had in different races. But twice here, obviously there was some heartbreak there in a couple of the seasons
“But it’s crazy to get your first Verizon Pole Award here at this track, period, after what happen last year, period, and on the 100th Running of the race, period. I mean, it’s just crazy. If I never won another pole, I almost wouldn’t care—almost.” (Laughter)
It was an turning moment for Honda as coming to IMS for the Indy 500 they had seem to have the disadvantage against the Chevrolet.
“But this is definitely a point of pride today for all the hard work the guys have done back at the shop, support from Arrow Electronic and Honda stepping up huge this year,” he said. “I mean, what a difference a year makes in that case, too, right? They’ve done such an incredible job. That thing was a dream to drive. You have to hang it out here at Indy in qualifying.
“I know that, I’ve missed the pole twice by fractions. I kind of felt bad for Josef (Newgarden)– not that bad for Josef. (Laughter) Because I’ve been there before. But huge credit to him and Ryan (Hunter-Reay). I mean, that’s a fun front row for sure. We have the best seat in the house for the biggest race in history.”
