{"id":470741,"date":"2026-02-12T19:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T19:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470741\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T19:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T19:04:08","slug":"former-indycar-driver-james-hinchcliffe-set-to-make-nascar-debut-in-truck-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470741\/","title":{"rendered":"Former INDYCAR Driver James Hinchcliffe Set to Make NASCAR Debut in Truck Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Hinchcliffe<\/a>, it’s time for you to start your engine again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The former INDYCAR<\/a> driver turned FOX Sports broadcaster is set to compete in the inaugural NASCAR Truck Series<\/a> race at St. Petersburg on Feb. 28, marking his official NASCAR debut. Hinchcliffe will drive the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports.<\/p>\n

“I am super excited to run my first truck race at St.\u00a0Pete,” Hinchcliffe said in a statement<\/a>.\u00a0“When they announced the trucks would be running\u00a0there,\u00a0I knew I had to try to make something happen because I just love this track and I have always wanted to try something in the NASCAR world. I have been in the Spire family for a long time, so it just made sense to run with them. I\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0thank Dan\u00a0[Towriss], Jeff\u00a0[Dickerson], Bill\u00a0[Anthony] \u2014 really everyone at Spire\u00a0\u2013\u00a0enough\u00a0for making this come together.”<\/p>\n

Hinchcliffe, 39, won six races in his 11-year INDYCAR career before stepping away at the end of the 2021 season. He shifted into a broadcasting role shortly after his retirement and joined FOX Sports to be a part of its INDYCAR coverage when it acquired its broadcasting rights in 2025.<\/p>\n

“It will be a baptism of fire,” Hinchcliffe added. “Having my first race in a truck being on a street course with no room for error, but these races always look like so much fun, so I am really\u00a0looking forward to the opportunity. Plus, I love that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0going to be shown on\u00a0FOX\u00a0Sports,\u00a0with\u00a0some of my INDYCAR\u00a0colleagues joining the broadcast, so that should add an extra layer of fun to it.”<\/p>\n

Hinchcliffe recently tested at Sebring International Raceway, doing so on the same day as Dario Franchitti. When Hinchcliffe heads to Sebring, that’ll mark the first shift of a double-duty weekend for him. He’ll continue to be a part of FOX Sports’ INDYCAR coverage and is set to call the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg a day later as the 2026 INDYCAR season opens on Sunday, March 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“James had an amazing open-wheel career with wins and poles across all kinds of formulas, but I’m not even sure he’s ever watched a NASCAR race,” Spire Motorsports Co-Owner Jeff Dickerson joked in a statement. “I know it means a little more to (Co-Owner) Dan [Towriss] and I, personally, to be able to do this with him and when he called Dan and wanted to give it a go it seemed right on brand for all of us. This definitely won’t be the first time we’ve been out on a ledge together. We’re all really grateful to Delaware Life for coming along for the ride and giving us a weekend to remember.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"James Hinchcliffe, it’s time for you to start your engine again.\u00a0 The former INDYCAR driver turned FOX Sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,191593,634,18241,8354,102771,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-470741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-indy-firestone-grand-prix-of-st-petersburg-03-01-2026","11":"tag-nascar","12":"tag-nascar-craftsman-truck-series","13":"tag-nascar-cup-series","14":"tag-ntt-indycar-series","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}