INDYCAR: Hinchcliffe Honors Greg Moore On Pole Day

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Hinchcliffe Honors Greg Moore On Pole Day

Canada’s James Hinchcliffe honored beloved countryman Greg Moore in qualifying on Saturday by carrying a pair of the fallen driver’s gloves inside the No. 27 car.

Marshall Pruett | Posted May 19, 2012

James Hinchcliffe paid a very personal and touching tribute to Greg Moore on Saturday. (Photos: LAT)

Canada has certainly produced its share of legendary racing drivers, and thanks to Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe, one of the most talented pilots who never got a chance to race at Indianapolis was honored in a fitting, high-speed tribute during Pole Day.

Canada’s Greg Moore, born and raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, lost his life in 1999 at the CART season finale in Fontana, and as one of the sanctioning body’s brightest stars during the CART/IRL split, the oval ace was lost before the open-wheel rift was resolved.

Revered for his style and abundance of speed, the charismatic Moore inspired Hinchcliffe and the majority of young Canadian drivers who’ve come up in the sport since the mid-1990s.

Regarded as one of the most naturally talented drivers of his generation, Moore, left, had the skills to achieve the kind of Indy 500 record Helio Castroneves, right, has amassed. (Photo: LAT)

A chance meeting with one of Moore’s former crew members, who brought a pair of Moore’s driving gloves with him to the Speedway, set in motion one of the most moving elements that’s taken place at Indy this month.

“I was approached earlier in the week by one of Greg’s old mechanics who said he had a pair,” said Hinch, who ranks Moore as one of his biggest influences.

“And Greg never got to run here, so he asked me if I’d take them for a spin.”

After posting the fastest qualifying speed in the first round of Pole Day, Hinchcliffe climbed from his No. 27 Go Daddy-sponsored car and revealed that he’d carried Moore’s gloves inside his firesuit while averaging 225.746 mph around the 2.5-mile oval.

“I’ve had them all week, and I sort of decided I wanted to save them for qualifying,” Hinchcliffe explained.

“Ask anybody, and one of the coolest things we get to do is qualify at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and I wanted him to be able to do that.”

PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: Greg Moore Indy Lights & CART Retrospective

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett on Twitter.