IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe is back with a full-time ride this season and reunited with Andretti Autosport, they announced Wednesday.
The big news comes after a challenging couple years for Hinchcliffe, who unexpectedly lost his Arrow McLaren SP ride in 2019. The six-time IndyCar race winner and fan-favorite driver then ran a handful of races for Andretti Autosport during the 2020 season for his second stint with the team. Hinchcliffe also raced for Andretti for three seasons from 2012 to 2014, earning three of his career wins during the 2013 season.
Now, with the No. 29 Honda, Hinchcliffe and Andretti are together again for the complete 2021 IndyCar season. Unsurprisingly, the 34-year-old driver was in a joking mood for the big announcement, and he showed off his delightful sense of humor by opening with a Friends joke.
“To steal a line from Ross…’We were on a break!'” Hinchcliffe said with a chuckle, minutes after announcing his full-time return to Andretti Autosport for the 2021 IndyCar season. “We’re back together now, and that’s all that matters.”
Hinchcliffe was, of course, referencing Ross and Rachel’s on-again, off-again relationship throughout much of the decade-long series with Ross repeatedly saying (or shouting): “We were on a break!”
Well done, Hinch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAH0KRmU2JU
Overall, this will be Hinchcliffe’s fifth IndyCar season with Andretti Autosport and his 11th in the series. For 10 races in 2021, including the Indianapolis 500, he’ll be sponsored by Genesys, and his remaining sponsors have yet to be announced.
“This program is something we’ve been working on since the day we signed our three-race deal with Andretti Autosport last March,” Hinchcliffe said, via IndyCar. “Being back full time has always been the goal, and it feels so great to know that I will be back on the grid and with such an amazing team, one I’ve had a lot of great memories and success with.”
The 2021 IndyCar Series season begins at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama in April.
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