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2018 Indy 500: James Hinchcliffe confirms he will not race

By Asher Fair

AVONDALE, AZ - APRIL 06: James Hinchcliffe, driver of the #5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda IndyCar (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ - APRIL 06: James Hinchcliffe, driver of the #5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda IndyCar (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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James Hinchcliffe, who was bumped from the 33-car field, has confirmed that he will not race in the 102nd running of the Indy 500 this Sunday.

After failing to qualify for the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 in Saturday’s Bump Day qualification session, which left two of the 35 drivers who attempted to qualify on the outside looking in, there was still hope that IndyCar regular James Hinchcliffe would end up driving in this year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

Rumors swirled that the 31-year-old Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver would have a ride bought for him by his team. Jay Howard, Jack Harvey and Donor Daly, who drive for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Meyer Shank Racing, the team that have a partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and Dale Coyne Racing, respectively, emerged as possible candidates for Hinchcliffe, who failed to qualify the #5 Honda, to replace. Those three drivers qualified the #7 Honda, #60 Honda and #17 Honda, respectively.

However, Hinchcliffe has now confirmed that Schmidt Peterson Motorsports have officially ended their efforts to buy the Canadian a ride in the 33-car field for Sunday’s 200-lap race at the four-turn, 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana.

Here is how Hinchcliffe announced the news on Twitter.

As this week progressed, it became less and less likely that Hinchcliffe would end up having a ride bought for him by his team in this year’s Indy 500 like Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay did by his team after he was bumped out of the field for the 2011 Indy 500, so this news is not all that surprising.

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That said, this news marks yet another dramatic change of fortune for Hinchcliffe in the Indy 500. Coming into this year, he had never started the Indy 500 in lower than second place in an even year, as he started in second in 2012 and 2014 and he took the pole in 2016.

He took the pole in 2016 just one year after a near fatal crash in practice for the race in 2015 that left him bleeding profusely and in need of urgent medical care, which he received before it was determined that he would likely survive his injuries. He went on to make a full recovery, and he returned to IndyCar and the Indy 500 the following year.

Next: Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time

With the 33-car field for the 102nd running of the Indy 500, who do you believe will end up victorious? Tune in to ABC at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 27 to watch the live broadcast of the race to find out.