At various points throughout his 11-year NTT IndyCar Series career, there were rumors that James Hinchcliffe could be eyeing a seat in NASCAR.
Rumors of a full series switch made the rounds in the summer of 2017, during Hinchcliffe's seventh season in the open-wheel series and third with Schimdt Peterson Motorsports, and further rumors emerged in early 2020 about him running the inaugural Xfinity Series (O'Reilly Auto Parts Series) race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Skip ahead to 2026, and the IndyCar on Fox announcer, six-time IndyCar race winner, and 2016 Indy 500 polesitter has yet to compete in NASCAR. But that is set to change this weekend.
And of course, it's set to change during an IndyCar-NASCAR crossover weekend.
Hinchcliffe is set to replace Carson Hocevar behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports in this Saturday's inaugural Craftsman Truck Series race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, the same streets set to host the 2026 IndyCar season opener on Sunday.
Hocevar, a full-time Cup driver for Spire Motorsports, competed in the season's first two Truck Series races at Daytona International Speedway and EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).
It's shaping up to be a big race for the Truck Series in terms of open-wheel stars getting some long-awaited time behind the wheel, as four-time IndyCar champion and three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti is set to make his first NASCAR appearance in 18 years in the same race, driving for TRICON Garage.
Both Hinchcliffe and Franchitti are winners at the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit, with Hinchcliffe earning his first career IndyCar victory at the track in 2013.
The Truck Series has never run a street race.
The "Mayor of Hinchtown" joined NBC Sports as a full-time commentator for IndyCar broadcasts in 2022, and he remained with NBC through 2024 until the series shifted to Fox. Hinchcliffe then made the move to Fox Sports himself and continues to call the action, alongside fellow ex-NBC commentator Townsend Bell and lead announcer Will Buxton.
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 catch all of the action!