Hinchman Racing: 100 Years of Protecting Drivers at Indianapolis — The Family Name on Every Winner's Firesuit

There is a shop on Gasoline Alley in Indianapolis, steps from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that has been at the center of racing history for a century. Inside, photographs of Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt line the walls. Driver measurement cards, hand-sketched uniform designs, and newspaper clippings from nine decades of racing history fill the archives. And on every single garment produced in that shop, the same name appears: Hinchman.

In 2025, Hinchman Racing Uniforms celebrated 100 years in business — making it one of the oldest continuously operating motorsports companies in America, and arguably the most storied racing suit manufacturer in the world.

How It Started: Garage to Garage, 1925

The company was founded by J.B. Hinchman, whose father had worked for an overall factory in Indianapolis before being laid off. A skilled tailor married to an equally skilled seamstress, J.B. Hinchman knew the drivers at the various garages surrounding the Speedway. He began walking from garage to garage, asking drivers if they wanted him to make them a suit — not for safety, initially, but simply to protect their clothes from grease and grime during the race.

The timing was fortuitous. The 1925 Indianapolis 500 produced the company's first celebrated customer: Peter DePaolo, who won that year's race wearing a Hinchman suit. It was one of the fastest victories in the race's history at the time, and DePaolo's Hinchman uniform was there for all of it. So was Babe Stapp, another early customer. From that moment forward, the Hinchman name was associated with the biggest race in the world.

J.B. Hinchman kept meticulous records — driver measurement cards, sketch books showing the evolution of suit designs, notes on every customer. When he designed the iconic three-stripe Goodyear racing uniform, he sketched the design by hand in a book that current owner Nancy Chumbley still holds to this day.

From Overalls to Life-Savers: The Safety Revolution

For the first few decades, racing suits were primarily about appearance and practicality. Fire safety was understood as important, but the chemistry and materials science to address it didn't yet exist. Early attempts at fire-retardant fabric used chemical impregnation processes, but the resulting material was so stiff and uncomfortable that drivers refused to wear it.

Then, in 1965, a representative from DuPont came to Hinchman's Indianapolis facility and introduced them to a revolutionary new material: Nomex® — a permanently fire-resistant aramid fiber that DuPont had originally developed for NASA and military applications. Unlike chemically treated fabrics, Nomex's fire resistance is inherent in the molecular structure of the fiber itself. It cannot be washed out. It does not degrade over time.

Hinchman became the first racing suit manufacturer in the world to use Nomex® in their suits — outside of NASA and the U.S. military. It was a decision that would directly save lives. As Joe Whisler, a Hinchman craftsman, explains the material's properties: "What it won't do is it will not melt, it will not drip. Once it hits that certain temperature — about 600 degrees — what it'll start to do is char." A suit that chars rather than melts gives the driver inside precious additional seconds to escape a fire.

The company continued innovating. In 1999, Hinchman became the first to use Carbon-X®, another advanced fire-resistant material. In 2004, they introduced "Comfort Tech" lining, creating a three-layer suit that was lighter, thinner, and more protective than most two-layer suits on the market. In 2013, the Hinchman Performance liner arrived, further refining the balance between comfort and protection.

The Champions Who Wore Hinchman

The roster of drivers who have won at Indianapolis in Hinchman suits reads like a Hall of Fame of motorsport:

• Peter DePaolo — 1925 Indy 500 champion, the first Hinchman winner
• AJ Foyt — All four of Foyt's Indy 500 victories (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977) were won in Hinchman suits
• Mario Andretti — His 1969 Indy 500 victory photograph hangs in the Hinchman shop
• Graham Hill and dozens of other champions through the decades

Beyond champions, Hinchman has outfitted celebrities — Elvis Presley, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and others who wanted the prestige and protection of a genuine Hinchman suit. The customer list spans nearly a century of motorsport and popular culture.

Nancy Chumbley and the Modern Era

The company's modern chapter is the story of Nancy Chumbley, who worked as J.B. Hinchman's son's secretary for 20 years before buying the company. When she took over, Hinchman was in a slump — the brand was fading, business was slow, and she knew relatively little about racing.

She learned. She started attending races and trade shows. She worked 60 to 80 hours a week, teaching herself embroidery, suit construction, and the intricacies of motorsport marketing. Slowly, Hinchman came back. Today the company primarily serves short-track racers — the thousands of drivers at county fairs, regional tracks, and local speedways across America who want the same quality protection that champions at Indianapolis have relied on for a century.

Chumbley embodies the company's philosophy, which J.B. Hinchman himself established and which Joe Whisler summarizes perfectly: "Mr. Hinchman always had something he made sure everybody knew — didn't matter if you were running the local fairgrounds or you were winning the Indy 500, you were the same customer to us."

One hundred years. Gasoline Alley, Indianapolis. The Hinchman name on the suit of every champion who dared to go fast.