On Tuesday, Andretti Autosport brought back a familiar face as James Hinchcliffe returns to the team with a ten-race schedule starting April 18th at Barber Motorsports Park, driving the No. 29 Genesys Honda.
The 34-year-old from North York, Ontario, competed in six races for Andretti in 2020. With Hinchcliffe’s addition, the team now has four cars for the upcoming 2021 season.
Hinchcliffe’s statement on returning to Andretti said, “This program is something we’ve been working on since the day we signed our three-race deal with Andretti Autosport last March! 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 so many people at Genesys worked hard to get this done, and I am looking forward to representing them this year. Everyone at Honda, Don, and Tom from Spire Sports, Michael, JF, Doug and the whole Andretti group, and everyone that has worked so hard to make this all come together. Even though it’s been a long road, the real work starts now, and I can’t wait to get to the track and kick-off 2021.”
This will be Hinchcliffe’s eleventh season in IndyCar. He has made 145 career starts with three different teams with winning one pole, six races, and seventeen podium finishes. In his rookie year, he raced for Newman-Haas before moving over to Andretti in 2012. In 2013 with Andretti, he won his first three races at St. Petersburg, Sao Paulo, and Iowa. He was for three seasons before joining Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2015, winning three more races.
Andretti Autosport Chairman & CEO Michael Andretti, on the return of Hinchcliffe, said, “We’re really excited to have Hinch back in the car for 2021 and thrilled to welcome Genesys again to the Andretti family this year in an expanded role. This is just the first step in many exciting things for the No. 29, and we know Genesys will be a great partner serving as the cornerstone to the season for James.”
Andretti Autosport also announced that Marco Andretti will compete in the Indy 500 on May 30th. The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season starts Sunday, April 18th, at Barber Motorsports Park.
