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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, March 22, 2013 | 26 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Driven to be IndyCar's best Popularity is nice, but James Hinchcliffe is more focused on being No. 1 this season Herb Garbutt Halton regional sports reporter Arriving at the front counter, I am greeted by a woman at the front desk. I deliver the secret password I've been provided with the previous day. "I'm here to interview James Hinchcliffe," I tell her. She tilts her head to the right reaches up to her shoulder and presses a button to open a channel on her radio. "Could I get a guest escort to the roof?" she asks. A man arrives immediately and leads me to an elevator. Inside, he swipes a card and presses a series of buttons. "That will take you to the roof," he says, before stepping out of the elevator. The doors close and inside the darkened elevator -- which resembles a tiny disco with the small glowing lights on the roof -- I count the floors until it finally stops 10 stories above the streets of Toronto. I'm half expecting to be greeted by two men in blacks suits who will pat me down and wave a wand over me, or at the very least, a series of sliding metal doors like the opening of Get Smart. Instead, when the elevator doors open, I'm treated to a view of the city's skyline and am met by Stuart Morrison, who handles Hinchcliffe's PR in Canada. Down the hall, across the lounge is Hinchcliffe, reclined on a couch answering a reporter's question. It's a vastly different scene from the first time I interviewed Hinchcliffe as an Atlantic Champ Car rookie. That day on the CNE grounds, as most recorders and TV cameras were pointed at Paul Tracy and Alex Tagliani, the Canadian headliners of Molson Grand Prix of Toronto, I simply walked up, introduced myself and began firing questions at the driver who was about to compete for the first time on the track where he grew up watching races James Hinchcliffe has his sights set on his first career IndyCar victory this season. | photo by Graham Payne -- Oakville Beaver -- @Halton_Photog as a kid. Nobody's more aware of how much things have changed than Hinchcliffe, who will begin his third IndyCar season Sunday at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. When he does, he'll be looking to build upon a season that saw him earn his first two podium finishes and eight top-six results. At the Indy 500, Hinchcliffe was edged for the pole by Ryan Briscoe by .003 mph. And while it was great to demonstrate he could be one of the fastest on the sport's biggest stage, Hinchcliffe says even if he had earned the pole, "it's all about drinking the milk on Sunday," referring to the traditional winner's beverage. This year, Hinchcliffe will enjoy a pair of hometown races as Toronto was chosen as one of three sites for race doubleheaders. Well, enjoy might not be the right word. "I'm not really looking forward to it," he said. "The race is so incredibly demanding, it's going to be tough to go out and do it again the next day. It's going to be tough on everyone. The crews are probably going to have to work through the night. It's something we don't know what to expect." Hinchcliffe usually has more demands on his time at the Toronto race and those obligations continue to grow as he has more success on the circuit. Within two hours of letting it be known that he would be in town for interviews last Friday, his schedule for the day was full. It's another reminder of how far he's come and how much things have changed. Since settling into the seat of the Go Daddy car last year, Hinchcliffe has been featured in television commercials and had has his face plastered on billboards, perks few drivers enjoy. It's still a little jarring at times for the 26-year-old. "I got invited to be on (TSN's) Off The Record with Gerry Dee, Colin Mochrie and Tito Ortiz," he says. "I look at that, and I don't even feel like I should be on that show." "The most important thing is staying grounded," he says. While his circumstances may have changed, Hinchcliffe has not. He still doesn't take himself too seriously, which is a stark contrast to his job, which he most certainly does, knowing millions of dollars have been invested in his ability to drive really fast. And he's done his job well. After winning the IndyCar rookie of the year, he was presented with the seemingly impossible task of replacing Danica Patrick, a six-time winner of the series' most popular driver. He embraced the challenge, saying he had "big heels to fill" and then showed up for the driver introductions at last year's season opener wearing a long black wig. On the track, Hinchcliffe was all business. He was in the hunt for the points championship after finishing in the top six of every race but one in the opening half of the season. Then a series of mishaps beyond his control knocked him out of contention. In Detroit, he ran over a piece of track that peeled up, sending him into the wall. In Toronto, engine troubles ended his day early. Despite the late-season troubles, Hinchcliffe finished eighth in the overall standings, an improvement of four places from his rookie season and two better than Patrick the previous year. He was also named IndyCar's most popular driver. Despite his quick wit and outgoing personality, most popular is hardly the award Hinchcliffe would have expected to win during his high school days at Oakville Trafalgar. "It probably would have been `Least Involved,'" he says. "I was so busy with racing. I wasn't on any teams, I wasn't in any clubs. Mom and dad said I had to keep an 80 average to keep racing so it was racing, homework, racing, homework." "We did throw a great house party, though," says his sister Rebecca. "Oh yeah, we did throw the best house party," Hinchcliffe says, then slowing down for emphasis. "It...was...the....best." Throwing a house party in high school never hurts your popularity. And while it's great to be popular, Hinchcliffe's goal is to be the best. -- Herb Garbutt can be followed on Twitter @Herbgarbutt