The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is set to run its first ever street race this weekend on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and with the race set to serve as a de facto Saturday support race for Sunday's NTT IndyCar Series season opener, there are set to be some notable IndyCar names in Saturday's field.
In addition to four-time IndyCar champion and three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti, who hasn't made a NASCAR national series start since 2008, James Hinchcliffe is set to be a part of Saturday's OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit.
Hinchcliffe got the first of his six career IndyCar victories in St. Petersburg to open up the 2013 season, and he is set to be behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports this weekend.
James Hinchcliffe set for NASCAR debut
The "Mayor of Hinchtown" had previously been rumored to make NASCAR appearances throughout his 11-year IndyCar career, but nothing had ever come to fruition until now.
As for Hocevar, he is set to be at Circuit of the Americas this weekend, as he remains a full-time Cup Series driver for Spire Motorsports. This is the first weekend of the year during which the Cup Series and Truck Series won't be racing at the same venue.
Hocevar ran the Truck Series season's first two races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway) in the No. 77 truck, and he has 11 more races lined up on his schedule, as he is not subject to NASCAR's restrictions on full-time Cup drivers in lower series since he is only in his third season as a full-time Cup driver.
After a rough start to the season at Daytona, he bounced back with finishes of second and fourth in the Atlanta Truck Series race and Cup Series race, respectively.
Following the St. Petersburg race, the Truck Series is set to have off each of the next two weekends before the race at Darlington Raceway on Friday, March 20. Spire Motorsports have yet to confirm the No. 77 truck's driver for this race.
Aside from Hinchcliffe's St. Petersburg start and Hocevar's 13-race deal, Spire Motorsports still need a driver to pilot the No. 77 entry for the other 11 races on the 25-race schedule.
Their other truck, the No. 7 Chevrolet, is set to be driven by Connor Mosack for the first time this season this weekend, after Michael McDowell drove it at Daytona and Kyle Busch drove it to victory lane in Atlanta.
The OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 is set to be shown live on Fox from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, February 28. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and be sure to catch all of the action!