(Ric Peterson & James Hinchcliffe photo by Chris Owens Courtesy of Indycar)
Schmidt Peterson Racing James Hinchcliffe from Oakville, Ontario & Ric Peterson from Hythe, Alberta are working toward a Calgary IndyCar race. A realistic goal would be to have the race in 2016 or 2017. The best location would be the Calgary Stampede grounds at the end of July or any time in August.
The Honda Indy Toronto is the only Canadian IndyCar series race; it is a street course that takes place at Canadian National Exhibition grounds. There were 3 Canadian races when the series was Champ Car, Toronto, Vancouver & Montreal under Molstar Sports and Entertainment. Preparations for the 2010 Winter Olympics meant the end of Molson Indy Vancouver. The Calgary Stampede grounds, Edmonton Municipal Airport & Race City Motorsport Park were considered replacement locations. Edmonton won the bid, but if Calgary Stampede board would have changed their long time beer sponsor to Molson, it might have been a different result. At this point beer sponsor should not be in the equation & hopefully will be welcomed by Calgary Stampede board & the City of Calgary.
The last IndyCar race in Canada besides Toronto was in 2011 at Edmonton Alberta, the race itself was great, but it just suffered Sponsorship problems. Canada is hungry for another IndyCar race. Calgary has the infrastructure & being a corporate centre should be able support a large event like this. Canadian fans support IndyCar & if you watched IndyCar in the past few years it has been close exciting racing.
James Hinchcliffe the only Canadian driver in IndyCar is a great spokesman for the series. Hinchcliffe signed a 3 year contract with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) to drive the team’s Car 77, for the 2015 race season. In 2014 he had 4 Top 5 & 8 Top 10 finishes with five front row starts. 2013 was a great year for Hinchcliffe with 3 wins, four podiums, 6 Top 5 & 11 Top 10 finishes. In 2012 he earned 2 podium, 5 Top 5 & 8 Top 10 finishes. He was also Voted ‘Most Popular Driver of the Year’ by IndyCar Series Fans. 2011 Hinchcliffe won the Rookie of the Year title & 3 Top 5 & 7 Top 10 finishes.
2009 – 2010 James Hinchcliffe had a successful career in the Firestone Indy Lights championship. Hinchcliffe won the Greg Moore Legacy Award as Firestone Indy Lights rising star in 2010.
2006 – 2008 Hinchcliffe had a successful career in the Formula Atlantic Championship.
James Hinchcliffe started his racing career in Kart racing like many other great Canadian racers, Paul Tracy & Greg Moore.
Ric Peterson Co-Owner of Schmidt Peterson Racing has had a passion for motorsports for the majority of his life. His driving career included: racing stock cars, open wheel formula cars, 1991 Toyota Atlantic Championship, & in the Canadian CASCAR series. In 1994 he played a key role in developing a racetrack in his hometown of Hythe, AB.
Ric is also a true entrepreneur who has founded, influenced and developed companies in a variety of industries as a highly respected and accomplished businessman. He also sits on a number of executive boards to share his knowledge and experience. He returned to the oil and gas sector and is now the CEO of his latest venture ‘Oculus Transport Ltd’ out of Calgary, AB where he also calls home. In 2013 Ric met with Sam Schmidt & they formed a 50 percent partnership of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Verizon IndyCar Series team.
James Hinchcliffe website: http://www.hinchtown.com/
Schmidt Peterson Racing website: http://www.spmindycar.com/
Verizon IndyCar Series website: http://www.indycar.com/
16C_2146 photo by Chris Owens Courtesy of Indycar.
16C_0997 photo by Chris Owens Courtesy of Indycar.
16C_0202-1 photo by Chris Owens Courtesy of Indycar.