Toronto, ON - On a beautiful holiday Monday in downtown Toronto along the waterfront two Canadian IndyCar drivers talked confidently about their chances in next week 97th running of the Indianapolis 500. Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe and Barracuda Racing’s Alex Tagliani both have a legitimate shot at winning the 500 – something us Canadians have not seen in a while. 

Hinchcliffe is already a two-time winner in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series out of four races run this year. He qualified ninth for the Indianapolis 500 and will start on the outside of the third row. Last year saw Hinchcliffe start second after barely missing the pole, but this year he’s more determined than ever to drive his #27 Go Daddy car to another victory. 

“When you win – it’s such a great feeling and it justifies all those awful days and bad experiences you’ve had at the track. They all just disappear. I thought I wanted to win it before, but now that I have – I want it so much more,” explains Hinchcliffe.

More good news for Hinchcliffe is that all four of his Andretti Autosport teammates all made the fast nine and will start in front of him. 

“We’ve practiced all month long running in a pack together and we know each other and each other’s cars inside and out. With all of us being in the top nine we’re in a great position to get to Lap 150 and fight it out for the win.”

It’s a different story altogether for the Canadian veteran Alex Tagliani. The native of Lachenaie, Quebec is the lone wolf for his Barracuda Racing team run by former IndyCar driver Bryan Herta. He also is the top qualifying Honda engine driver starting in 11th position behind ten Chevrolets. Compared to Hinchcliffe, Tagliani’s chances don’t seem as good, but keep in mind that there were nine Chevrolets at the top of qualification charts last year and the 2012 Indianapolis 500 came down to a battle of guts between two Honda driver’s Dario Franchitti and Takuma Sato, eventually won by Franchitti.

Tagliani showed his confidence and happiness with his car and team that hasn’t been heard since his remarkable winning pole performance back in 2011 for Sam Schmidt Motorsports.

“I’ve never had a car hooked up like this. I’ve done 40 laps in these tires and I can still see the treads – no blisters on the tires like others have. For what we can control it seems like we have a car has a good enough chance to win as anybody else,” said Tagliani.

Tagliani feels that it’s his time to shine after struggling to find sponsors, teams and reliable engines over the past two seasons. His relationship and similarities with team co-owner Herta is striking and Tagliani feels it can work to their advantage. 

“Bryan [Herta] is very mellow like me and passionate about racing. He doesn’t care about the glamour of racing and is a low-profile guy that just wants to win,” Tagliani gleefully explains.

Tagliani has shown some promise this year, but hasn’t run with the top cars in any of the races thus far. Perhaps his experience and a trip back to the Indianapolis 500 can turn Tagliani’s season around and catapult him back into the driver’s championship.

As for the mayor of Hinchtown, nothing seems unreachable for Hinchcliffe this season. Outside of two miserable 26 place finishes, Hinchcliffe is having a dream season where the sky’s the limit. We don’t know if a Canadian will win the Indianapolis 500, but regardless it’s nice to see that Canadian racing is going strong and that we have a fighting chance with both of these great Canadian racers in the field.