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IndyCar: 5 possible landing spots for James Hinchcliffe in 2020

By Asher Fair

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 20: James Hinchcliffe #5 of United States and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda prepares to drive during practice for the NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 20, 2019 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 20: James Hinchcliffe #5 of United States and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda prepares to drive during practice for the NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 20, 2019 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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BIRMINGHAM, AL – APRIL 27: James Hinchcliffe of Canada, drives the #27 Andretti Autosport Dallara Honda (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, AL – APRIL 27: James Hinchcliffe of Canada, drives the #27 Andretti Autosport Dallara Honda (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) /

Andretti Autosport (part-time)

One option for James Hinchcliffe that really hasn’t garnered much attention speculation-wise is a part-time driver role for Andretti Autosport, the team for which he drove from the 2012 season through the 2014 season before leaving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Andretti Autosport COO Rob Edwards notably refused to rule out signing both Colton Herta and James Hinchcliffe for the 2020 season at Pocono Raceway back in August. At this time, Hinchcliffe was still “under contract” to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP next year.

The team did end up signing Herta as their fifth driver via an effort with Harding Steinbrenner Racing, and Hinchcliffe is now and has been officially without a ride.

Could a return for Hinchcliffe to Michael Andretti’s team be in the cards?

Andretti Autosport will not field six cars on a full-time basis. It’s not happening. But they could field a part-time entry for Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe experienced his most successful years at Andretti Autosport, and the two parties never wanted to part ways but ultimately did so due to a lack of sponsorship.

It has been made public knowledge that the money Hinchcliffe brings to the table from Honda and Honda Canada is not enough for him to land a full-time effort without additional sponsorship, so a part-time effort in itself makes sense, regardless of what team we’re discussing.

But let’s also not forget what Andretti Autosport nearly did this last season. They fielded four full-time cars for Zach Veach, Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti. Herta’s entry with the Andretti-affiliated Harding Steinbrenner Racing was effectively a fifth in the Andretti fold.

Patricio O’Ward was slated to drive for Harding Steinbrenner Racing last season as well, but he was released less than a month before the season started due to a lack of funding.

Andretti Autosport offered him a deal to compete in eight of the season’s 17 races, a deal he ultimately turned down, and he presumably had less money than Hinchcliffe does from Honda considering the fact that he ended up at Carlin for a few races before joining the Red Bull Junior Team and going to compete in Japanese Super Formula.

Could a similar deal for Hinchcliffe come to fruition with the Honda-powered team if nothing else does?