IndyCar: James Hinchcliffe secures Indy 500 sponsorship

James Hinchcliffe has secured sponsorship from Genesys to compete in this year’s Indy 500. Details, including the IndyCar team for which he will compete, have not yet been revealed.

James Hinchcliffe is still in search of a full-time ride for the 2020 IndyCar season after a tumultuous end to the 2019 season that ultimately carried over into the offseason and saw him lose what was once slated to be his ride with Arrow McLaren SP.

Hinchcliffe, who drove for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports from the 2015 season to the 2019 season, was said to be under contract with the team even after they ended their contract with Honda a year early to partner with McLaren and switch to Chevrolet.

The 33-year-old Canadian had been tied to Honda for several years, serving as a spokesman and appearing in several commercials, but he stated that he was looking forward to working with General Motors again when this news broke in August.

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Unfortunately for him, that didn’t pan out anyway, at least not with Arrow McLaren SP, as they confirmed 2018 and 2019 Indy Lights champions Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew as their two full-time drivers for the 2020 season.

Now we know that Hinchcliffe will be back in the 2020 season, at least for the month of May. He and Genesys, a cloud customer-experience tech company headquartered in Daly City, California, have formed a partnership that will supply him with enough funding to compete in the two races in May, including in the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the track’s oval.

It has not yet been revealed with which team Hinchcliffe will compete and whether or not he still has a chance to compete in any additional races. It has notably not yet been revealed whether Hinchcliffe will be behind the wheel of a Honda-powered car or a Chevrolet-powered car, either.

Earlier in the offseason, Hinchcliffe reportedly had funding available from Honda and counterpart Honda Canada to compete for a Honda-powered team, but not enough to land him a full-time ride. Whether this funding from Genesys is in addition to that funding or separate and could lead to an extended role with a Chevrolet-powered team remains unknown.

https://twitter.com/A_S12/status/1217914448842764304

This deal was later confirmed by both sides, although the details about it still remain undisclosed.

https://twitter.com/Genesys/status/1217925641691111430

Thank you for welcoming me to the family! https://t.co/mvN7HexvnO
— James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown) January 16, 2020

Here is what Genesys CEO Tony Bates had to say about partnering with Hinchcliffe.

"“Hinchcliffe brings an incredible level of skill and charisma to IndyCar, not to mention his genuine empathy for other teams and drivers. These very attributes are critical for organizations as they establish trust and loyalty with their most important asset: their customers. And, that’s what makes Hinchcliffe the perfect person to represent our company.“We are thrilled to align ourselves with this talented driver and a sport that gives hundreds of thousands of people an experience like no other each and every May. This sponsorship gives Genesys an opportunity to further immerse ourselves in this wonderful community that’s home to our largest employee base in the world. Auto racing is a shining example of the amazing results that can be achieved when man and machine work together.”"

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Will James Hinchcliffe end up competing in more than two races throughout the 2020 IndyCar season? With which team will he compete in these two races?

The GMR Grand Prix is set to be broadcast live on NBC from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in Speedway, Indiana beginning at 3:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 9, and the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 is set to be broadcast live on the same channel from the track’s oval beginning at 11:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 24.