Canada’s James Hinchcliffe will sign a deal today to take over from Danica Patrick in the No. 7 GoDaddy.com Dallara at Andretti Autosport for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar season.
In an interview with USA Today’s Nate Ryan, Hinchcliffe joked “I’m stepping into her heels, if you will.”
It is the opportunity of a lifetime for Hinchcliffe — last season’s IndyCar rookie of the year.
The 25-year-old said that his bubbly personality probably had a lot to do with his being picked to pilot the coveted ride.
“A lot of drivers, because of sponsors, get forced to hold back their personalities, and some really good characters get stifled because they’re supposed to stick to a certain image,” he said. “I’m not that, and now I’ve got a sponsor that’s edgy and encourages that kind of personality. It just makes so much sense. We can do a lot of fun stuff together.”
Details of the deal are expected to be released later.
It was a job that had previously been pencilled in for Dan Wheldon, before his tragic death at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the final race of the 2011 season.
“There’s no doubt that weighed on me from the first phone call,” Hinchcliffe told USA Today. “It’s pretty common knowledge Dan was a shoe-in with Go Daddy and Andretti. I look at Dan Wheldon as a tremendous race car driver and a champion but also a tremendous person and human being. And if that’s the guy that Go Daddy wanted, to know that I was the next guy in line and thought of along the same lines is an incredibly humbling thing, and it makes me really proud. I’m going to think about him every time I get in that car. There’s no doubt that a part of me will be driving for Dan this year.”

It didn’t take long for Richard Petty Motorsports to name Aric Almirola to takeover the No. 43 Ford after losing A.J. Allmendinger last week to Penske Racing’s No. 22 Dodge team.
Almirola, who last season drove the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in the Nationwide series will drive all 36 Sprint Cup races starting in February in the Daytona 500.
“One of the things I am most excited about is to have the chance to drive a car as iconic as the No. 43,” Almirola said. “There is so much history surrounding that number and to have my name above the door will be really special for me.”
It is expected that Cole Whitt will drive the No. 88 JRM Chevy next season in the Nationwide series.

NEW RACE BOSS AT INDYCAR

The IZOD IndyCar Series has named American Le Mans Series race boss Beaux Barfield to replace Brian Barnhart as race director.
Barfield previously worked as a Champ Car race steward from 2003-08) and as race director of the Champ Car-sanctioned Atlantic and Trans Am series.
He will be replaced in the ALMS by Paul Walter, who will take over as the lead official for the series, starting with the 2012 opener at Sebring.