St. Petersburg, FL – James Hinchcliffe recorded a top-10 finish in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut at the St. Petersburg temporary street course at Albert Whitted Airport. Driving the No. 77 Delaware Life Chevy for Spire Motorsports, ‘Jimmy Hinch’ – his NASCAR nickname – started third and finished 10th in the 80-lap event on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn track. The race was won by Layne Riggs.
Oakville, ON native Hinchcliffe had contact with INDYCAR rival Dario Franchitti – nicknamed ‘Darrell Franchitti’ – exiting Turn 1 on Lap 8. Both continued but Hinchcliffe fell back a few positions. Later, he overshot Turn 10 and dropped to 22nd but, in the final stage of the race, climbed his way back to tenth. Franchitti, from Scotland, started sixth in the Dollar Tree Toyota, but finished one lap down in 27th after pitting for heat exhaustion.
“I am super excited to run my first truck race at St. Pete,” said Hinchcliffe, driving for the team co-owned by TWG Motorsports CEO, Dan Towriss, and Jeff Dickerson. “When they announced the trucks would be running here, I knew I had to try to make something happen because I just love this track, 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.
“It will be a baptism of fire,” described Hinchcliffe, the 2011 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year, prior to practice. “I am really looking forward to the opportunity of having my first race in a truck being on a street course with no room for error. These races always look like so much fun.
“I had one lap of experience around here in a truck going into the race,” explained Hinchcliffe, after thunderstorms turned the 50-minute practice into a ten-minute session. “But I learned an awful lot in those 80 laps. We had to learn a couple lessons the hard way. We had to figure out these tires and figure out how to race some of these guys. By the Third Stage, I felt really good in my Delaware Life Silverado, even with a little bit of damage, and that thing was humming along. I wish I could start the race over knowing what I knew at the start of the Final Stage, but at the end of the day, just super thankful to Spire and Delaware Life for the opportunity. I’m really happy I was able to get up there and salvage a top-10 finish after going to the back a couple times.”