Hinchcliffe among nominees for SportsNet honor

James Hinchcliffe

James Hinchcliffe draped the flag of Canada over his shoulders moments after arriving in Victory Circle on March 24 to celebrate his initial IZOD IndyCar Series victory in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

It was a great start to the 2013 season for the Toronto native, who was entering his second season with Andretti Autosport.

A dramatic final-turn pass gave Hinchcliffe another victory five weeks later in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he won for the third time on June 23 on the Iowa Speedway oval.

Hinchcliffe, who placed eighth in the series championship standings through 19 rounds, is among the nominees for the 2013 Canadian Athlete of the Year Award as selected by voters on sportsnet.ca.

"It's an honor to receive a nomination and I'm simply proud to be on the list in amongst so many outstanding Canadians," he said. "We can all be super proud of our accomplishments as athletes this year and it shows the strength and determination of Canadians to succeed in competitive environments. Even better, it's a fan vote and in my opinion that's all the matters as they're the people who matter."