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James Hinchcliffe Scores In ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Debut

By Brittany Frederick

DANCING WITH THE STARS - "Episode 2301" - "Dancing with the Stars" is back with its most dynamic cast yet and ready to hit the ballroom floor. The competition begins with the two-hour season premiere, live, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EDT), on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Eric McCandless)SHARNA BURGESS, JAMES HINCHCLIFFE
DANCING WITH THE STARS - "Episode 2301" - "Dancing with the Stars" is back with its most dynamic cast yet and ready to hit the ballroom floor. The competition begins with the two-hour season premiere, live, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EDT), on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Eric McCandless)SHARNA BURGESS, JAMES HINCHCLIFFE /
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IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe impressed in his first episode of ‘Dancing with the Stars’, becoming one of the highest-scored dancers of the night.

No one, including IndyCar star James Hinchcliffe, gave Hinchcliffe much of a chance on Dancing with the Stars. But the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver made his DWTS debut on Monday and actually performed very well indeed.

Hinchcliffe’s first outing on the reality TV show – a foxtrot to the song “Live Life” by Zayde Wolf – earned him and professional partner Sharna Burgess a combined score of 31 from the Dancing judges.

It was the highest-scoring foxtrot of the evening and also tied with Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovsky for the highest-scoring dance overall.

Afterward Hinchcliffe and Burgess received praise from the judges, several of whom expressed surprise at Hinchcliffe’s talent.

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“I thought here we go, he drives a car for a living. He’s not going to be fluid and moving…James, I’m telling you, that was knockout,” enthused Len Goodman, who gave the pair eight points out of ten. “You’ve knocked me out, James. That’s terrific.”

Added Julianne Hough, who scored them a seven: “You kind of remind me of my Season 5 partner Helio Castroneves, who also people didn’t know what to expect, but if we are all smart right now we need to keep an eye on you.”

And Bruno Tonoli, who along with Carrie Ann Inaba also gave them an eight, summed up his thoughts succinctly: “First lap, first class.”

If you missed it, you can watch it below:

This is all encouraging news for Hinchcliffe, who had openly admitted when he decided to join the show that he has no actual dancing talent. That was an attitude shared by those prognosticating on the series, with early odds putting him near the back of the Dancing field. Maybe those odds will change after Monday night’s strong performance.

Hinchcliffe’s colleagues Conor Daly and Alexander Rossi were in the DWTS audience to support him, while several drivers wasted no time in turning out on social media to express what they thought and send well wishes:

Next: Hinchcliffe Debuts 'DWTS' Campaign Video

For race fans the appearance of an IndyCar driver on one of TV’s most popular reality shows is great exposure for the series, especially when it’s a fan favorite like Hinch. The other great aspect of his appearance is that the official IndyCar store has already begun selling “Vote 4 Hinch” merchandise – with a portion of the profits going to charity.

Hinchcliffe’s high scores would seem to mean he’ll be safe from elimination, but to find out officially whether or not he’ll be dancing in Week 2, tune into the Dancing with the Stars results show tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Dancing with the Stars continues tonight at 8/7 on ABC.