After failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, James Hinchcliffe’s championship hopes appeared to be shot. But don’t count him out just yet.
After James Hinchcliffe started off the 2018 IndyCar season with five top nine finishes in the first five races of the season, he sat in fifth place in the championship standings and was well in the mix to contend for the championship. With 144 points, he sat only 34 points behind Josef Newgarden, who sat atop the standings with 178 points.
At this point in time, no one expected Hinchcliffe, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 polesitter, to be one of the two drivers who failed to qualify for the 2018 Indy 500. But along with Pippa Mann, he ended up outside of the field of 33 on Bump Day and ended up at the Indy 500 as a spectator.
Given the fact that double points are awarded to drivers in the Indy 500, Hinchcliffe’s championship chances, despite the fact that he had not finished a race outside of the top nine up until that point in the season, appeared to have been shot.
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However, this may not actually be the case. Heading into this weekend’s Chevrolet Dual in Detroit on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, Hinchcliffe sits in 10th place in the championship standings with 144 points. He sits 99 points behind Will Power, who leads the standings with 243 points.
While this deficit will be challenging to overcome, it is certainly not an insurmountable deficit.
Last season at this time following the Indy 500 and heading into the doubleheader on Belle Isle, eventual champion Josef Newgarden was tied for seventh place in the championship standings with 186 points. He sat 59 points behind Helio Castroneves, who sat atop the standings with 245 points.
Newgarden went on to win the championship with 642 points, while Castroneves finished in fourth place in the standings with 598. Newgarden ended up 44 points ahead of Castroneves, meaning he pulled off a 103-point swing over him following the Indy 500 until the end of the season.
This took place despite the fact that Castroneves won one of the 11 races after the Indy 500 last season and he only finished outside the top nine in one of the other 10 races. Meanwhile, Newgarden, who won three of the 11 races after the Indy 500, finished outside of the top 12 twice in the other eight races.
Of course, there were drivers who Newgarden didn’t outscore by 103 points over the course of the final 11 races of the season. However, the fact is that he did outscore several drivers by at least that amount, and one of them was the points leader following the Indy 500 who actually had a pretty strong finish to the season, which is impressive.
With all of that in mind, can Hinchcliffe pull off a 99-point (really a 100-point) swing to win the 2018 IndyCar championship? Absolutely. Will he? He will need a strong weekend this weekend in the doubleheader on Belle Isle and he will certainly need a strong performance in the double points-paying season finale at Sonoma Raceway to increase the likelihood of it.
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Do you think James Hinchcliffe can rally to win the 2019 IndyCar championship or at least make it close? Do not count him out yet.