Oakville’s Hinchcliffe wins Indy race

Hinchcliffe hangs on for first IndyCar Series victory.
Oakville’s James Hinchcliffe took the checkered flag for the first time in the season-opener at St. Petersburg.

He started the 110-lap race from fourth on the 25-car grid, moving to third on the first lap, then passed three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves with 26 laps to go.

Hinchcliffe became the first Canadian to win since Paul Tracy’s 2007 victory at Cleveland in the Champ Car World Series.

Just two years ago, he was out of a job when his team, Newman-Haas Racing, shut down.

At the same time, Danica Patrick was moving from IndyCar to NASCAR and Dan Wheldon, a British driver living in St. Petersburg, was signed to replace her in the No. 27 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet.

Wheldon died in the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, leaving the car without a driver.

Team owner Michael Andretti phoned Hinchcliffe.

The Canadian honoured Wheldon in the best way possible by winning in the car that would have been Wheldon’s on the streets of Wheldon’s hometown.