James Hinchcliffe celebrates a ‘Second Chance’ on life 10 years after Near-Death Indy 500 Incident

Former Indycar driver James Hinchcliffe suffered a life-threatening accident during the Indy 500-Weekend 2015 after a suspension component had dropped his bottom half after a huge hit with the barrier. The Canadian recently came out and celebrated his second chance of life on the 10th anniversary of the life -threatening crash.

James Hinchcliffe moved to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for the Indycar season 2015 and had a smooth run during the Indy 500 qualification of that year. However, the disaster was on the practice day on Monday, which followed the qualification.

On Monday, May 18, 2025, during the practice session, James Hinchcliffe Juan Pablo Montoya followed in the slipstream while he practiced racing runs on the 2.5-mile oval. When he came out 3, Hinchcliffe lost control of the car and hit the right front in the barrier, so that the car rotated uncontrollably.

It was later revealed that a failure of the right suspension of the front ensured that James Hinchcliffe lost control of the car and hit the barrier. When the car came to a halt, the medical team approached Hinchcliffe and discovered that the Canadian bleed abundantly.

A suspension component had gone through the lower belly of Hinchcliffe and was stuck on the other side of the Indycar, so that the medical team took out the Canadian driver. With the help of electrical tools they could get Hinchcliffe from the car and to the level 1 trauma center, which is just 4 miles from the circuit.

May 18, 2025 is the 10th anniversary of the life-threatening incident of James Hinchcliffe, and the former Indycar driver came out to greet the medical team that saved his life while having his second chance of life. The IndyCar commentator shared a tweet with details about the same in which it was read, reading,

“May 18 is always a special day for me. Almost like a second birthday. It was the day that I got a second chance. I am here today because of the fast work of a great group of people from @amr_social response team and the incredible @holmatrorescue products they had on the trucks.

James Hinchcliffe also shared the link to a video that was uploaded a month ago, where the 38-year-old thinks about the crash, and detailed how the medical team and the electric tools were crucial.

“There is nothing that I could have done differently”: James Hinchcliffe about the suspension error that led to the crash

James Hinchcliffe spoke with Herenjournaal in 2017, a few years after his crash. The Canadian thought about his comeback trip and detailed how he could get back on the right track. As he did this, he revealed what the crash was neither his fault nor that of his team, and that it was just a freak accident. Detailing the same, he said,

“There is nothing that I could have done differently. There is nothing that my team could have done differently. It was a freak mechanical failure on a spec section that was probably caused by a metallurgical reaction during the process made six months earlier, four thousand miles of that. It is just like the Apollo 13 -thing, right?

James Hinchcliffe returned to Indycar before the start of the Indycar season 2016 and placed the crash behind him by taking the pole position at the Indy 500 2016.

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