Hinchman Race Suits - History in the Making

[Bobby Kimbrough]

The Hinchman story is steeped in tradition and history. Indeed, Hinchman suits are part of racing’s deepest rooted legacy. The daring young men wearing sharp looking racing suits while capturing an adoring public’s attention. Hailed as gallant heroes, merchants of speed and daredevils with a cause. Automobile racing gained wide acceptance in the 1920’s running at local fairgrounds and wooden oval tracks across America. At the same time, J. B. Hinchman began making industrial garments for businesses in the Indianapolis area. J. B. knew many of the Indianapolis Drivers and soon was making racing coveralls for them.



As the Great Depression hit the country, many Americans looked for anything entertaining to keep their minds off of the troubles that plagued their lives. Racing helped fill that void, and for at least a couple of hours, Americans could watch their heroes on the track and forget the daily problems. Hinchman Racesuits spawned from this same economic despair. J. B. and wife Emily made suits for drivers to keep out of the soup lines.


Peter DePaolo.

From those humble beginnings, Hinchman continued to refine his race suits making them the status symbol for successful racers. The best race car drivers of the day wore Hinchman suits, from Peter DePaolo and Babe Stapp in the 20’s & 30’s to an upcoming Texas driver, A. J. Foyt in the 50’s.



Hinchman continued to make industrial garments for businesses and race suits until it became apparent that the racing uniforms was supporting the company. J.B. and Emily’s son, Lewis (Lew) soon joined the company and would take it even further into the racing business. Lew was a huge race fan and began to grow the racing uniform part of Hinchman’s business. According to Nancy Sullivan Chumbley, current owner of Hinchman Racing Uniforms, explained that Lew “used to hit all the tracks. He and his wife Bertha would take off on Friday nights and go racing all weekend.”


Tony Stewart in his Hinchman days.

The Hinchman business again benefited from a tragic event when Jerry Unser died practicing for the 1959 Indianapolis 500. Unser was wearing only a sport shirt during the practice session when his car was involved in a crash. Unser’s car spun coming out of turn four and hit the wall which sent his car end over end down the front straight away. The car caught fire and Jerry suffered serious burns over most of his body. Two weeks later, Unser died as a result of the burns. After Unser’s accident, fire resistant driving suits became mandatory. Hinchman suits were already used by many of the drivers, so those looking to meet the standard naturally bought Hinchman Suits.


The original outlaw, Jan Opperman.

The Hinchman suits became renowned as being the most stylish and comfortable on the market and therefore Hinchman Racing Suits were sought after by drivers. Hollywood understood this, and when it was time for Elvis to make a racing movie, he wore a Hinchman Suit in “Speedway”. The same can be said of the actors in all of the 60’s racing movies. Paul Newman and Robert Wagner in “Winning,” Steve McQueen in “LeMans,” and James Garner in “Grand Prix” all wore Hinchman Suits. McQueen and Newman became lifelong Hinchman customers as their passion for motorsports grew.


Dale Earnhardt. Dale's father Ralph Earnhardt was also a Hinchman Racer.


A J Foyt and Mario Andretti were regular Hinchman customers, having been in severe accidents and having first hand knowledge of the Hinchman quality and safety built into the racing suits. In 1966, when most drivers did not own nomex race suits, former driver, car owner, sponsor, promoter, and president of STP, Andy Granatelli offered Hinchman Nomex uniforms with small STP logos on them to all drivers at Indianapolis that year. Because of that, Granatelli is credited with creating the billboard type driving suits that all drivers wear today.


Nancy Sullivan Chumbley, a funny and classy business woman, has been a part of Hinchman since 1979.

Current owner Nancy Sullivan Chumbley joined Hinchman in 1979 as a secretary. She explained to us that “At that time, I had no experience with racing at all. I was there to answer the phones and take messages from people like Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and many other drivers that I didn’t even know who they were.” But Nancy learned who the drivers were, and she learned the business end of Hinchman. When Lew Hinchman’s health began to fail, Nancy and co-worker Larry Marshall were hand picked to take over the business. According to Nancy, 
“Larry dedicated his life to Hinchman. He lived and breathed it. He never took a vacation. It was always his dream to own Hinchman but he had kidney cancer. He needed a partner to run the operation. That’s the only reason I even considered it at the time.” Lew signed the papers selling Hinchman to Nancy and Larry on his deathbed in July of 1998, with one of his sons guiding his hand.


Andy Granatelli and Hinchman clad Jim Hurtubise.

Nancy explained that after they had gotten over the loss of their boss and friend, running her own company was a major change. “We struggled at first, but it was kind of fun because Larry knew how to run the back end and I did the front end, and then he became very ill and it was probably the worst time of my life because I’m trying to keep this company going while watching Larry die a slow and painful death and lose his dream. It was overwhelming.” Larry passed away in March of 2000 which left Nancy in charge of the historic company.


The Kinser Clan, Hinchman fans.

Nancy and Husband Jerry have brought the company back from the distress when the two long time Hinchman driving forces were laid to rest. In the past nine years, Jerry and Nancy have once again established Hinchman Racing Suits as a premium custom made driving suit. “Drivers that want their suits to fit better, look nicer and provide the highest level of safety will choose Hinchman over the off the shelf, one size fits all suits” says Jerry. ““We want our customers looking the best in the pits. We want them to be safe. We want them to be comfortable. We want them to be our best advertisement.”

For more information on Hinchman Racing Uniforms, visit their website at www.hinchmanracewear.com

Other legendary Hinchman clad racers:

Tony Adamowitcz, Freddie Agabashian, Bobby & Donnie Allison, Chris Amon, Aldo & Mario Andretti, Art & Walt Arfons, Richard Attwood, Buck & Buddy Baker, Patrick Bedard, Bob Bondurant, Craig Breedlove, Joie Chitwood, Jim Clark, Dale & Ralph Earnhardt, Vic Elford, Juan Manuel Fangio, Emerson Fittapaldi, George Follmer, A.J. Foyt, Peter Gethin, Jeff Gordon, Jerry Grant, John Greenwood, Masten Gregory, Dan Gurney, Mike Hailwood, Jim Hall, Sam Hanks, Hurley Haywood, Harry Heuer, Phil Hill, David Hobbs, Denis Hulme, James Hunt, Jim Hurtubise, Jacky Ickx, Dale & Ned Jarrett, Gordon Johncock, Junior Johnson, Alan Jones, Parnelli Jones, the Kinser clan, Fred Lorenzen, Mark Martin, Donna Mae Mimms, John Morton, Duke Nalon, Jackie Oliver, Augie Pabst, Marvin Panch, Benny Parsons, Roger Penske, Ronnie Peterson, Richard Petty, Sam Posey, Jim Rathmann, Brian Redman, Clay Regazzoni, Marty Robbins, Jody Scheckter, Tim Schenken, Ken Schrader, Gordon Smiley, Jerry & Tom Sneva, Jackie Stewart, John Surtees, Mickey Thompson, Al & Bobby Unser, Rich Vogler, Bill Vukovich, Rusty Wallace, Darrell & Michael Waltrip, Rodger Ward, John Watson, Cale Yarborough, LeeRoy Yarbrough


Jimmy Mars


Steve Francis


Christian Rayburn


Larry Rice

[cecily123]

The Worlds Home of the Figure 8® is very proud to announce our new relationship with one of the most treasured name in motorsports, Hinchman Racewear. The name Hinchman and their familiar double checkered flag logo can be seen on racing uniforms from the Indy 500 to Daytona 500 to the 24-Hours of LeMans and every track in-between over the past 9 decades. Their talented staff will join us for the 2010 Speedrome Registration Day April 3 with a product presentation for drivers and teams. Drivers can ask all the important questions and get a great deal on a new uniform. Also see them on Hinchman Night at the Races May 15.