James Hinchcliffe sustained a grave injury in a crash practicing for the Indianapolis 500 a year ago. He's not only back, he's on the pole for Sunday's race.
James Hinchcliffe doesn't remember the horrifying crash that nearly killed him. The one that occurred last May and sent him shooting nose-first into Indianapolis Motor Speedway's outside wall at 200 mph then back down the track where he flipped over.
The impact was so severe a suspension piece went through Hinchcliffe's right thigh, struck an artery and went out through his left thigh. The Canadian likes to joke that he was shish-kebabed, but were it not for the immediate efforts of the track's safety team he would have bled to death. Hinchcliffe's injuries were such he required 22 pints of blood and fluids.
Twelve months after his harrowing accident, Hinchcliffe is back at Indianapolis and in amidst the kind of thing Hollywood depicts in films. In a nerve-wracking Pole Day that featured the fastest nine drivers requalifying in attempt to capture the No. 1 starting spot, Hinchcliffe edged second-place Josef Newgarden by the fourth-smallest speed differential in race history.
That this is the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 and qualifying consists of drivers taking four timed laps around the 2.5-mile track, which underscores just how minuscule the difference was: less than four-hundredths of a second over 10 miles.
"I came into this month hoping we'd have a new story to talk about after what happened last year and I think we did it," Hinchcliffe said. "I can't believe it. I'm honestly at a loss for words, which everyone knows is rare for me."
When the checkered flag waved on Hinchcliffe, a loud cheer erupted from the grandstands. One longtime attendee said it was comparable to any ovation A.J. Foyt or Mario Andretti received in their heyday. A throng of well-wishers greeted him on pit road as he climbed out of his car, including drivers and crew members from rival teams.
"I'm super happy for Hinch," third-place qualifier Ryan Hunter-Reay said. "It's incredible. I don't think anybody can really describe almost losing your life out here on the same track and get back in and doing 240 (mph) into the corner and doing what he is doing. It is just incredible. Absolutely incredible. Very deserving pole winner."
Hinchcliffe resumed driving last fall in a test session and returned to competition when the 2016 IndyCar Series season began in March at St. Petersburgh (Fla.). He adamantly says he never once thought of not coming back, in fact, his time away had the opposite effect as it motivated him to return in even better form.
"You learn a lot about a lot of things," Hinchcliffe said. "You have a lot of time to reflect, a lot of time to look inwards. I would say that I learned a lot about myself in that time. The power of the human mind is pretty incredible.
"It's tough to describe, tough to put into words unless you've been through something like that. I always considered myself to be a driven person, a motivated person. But given the situation where the thing that you know the best on earth, the only thing you've done with your life really is almost being taken away from you, it definitely motivates you to work harder and get back to where you want to be to continue doing what you do."
The injury, return and electrifying pole run has turned Hinchcliffe into the story of month. In some aspects it's even overshadowed the centennial edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
But Hinchcliffe wants more than just completing a miraculous comeback. Having allowed himself some time to reflect on all he's accomplished, his attention is now fully on Sunday and putting an exclamation point on his Disney-esque tale.
"At the end of the day, we're here to race," Hinchcliffe said. "We weren't here to qualify. The focus is now very firmly on the 500."
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