James Hinchcliffe, brand ambassador for Petro-Canada Lubricants, met with a string of bad luck during the IndyCar Grand Prix weekend, finishing 18th at Watkins Glen in New York.

Hinchcliffe started Saturday’s race 13th on the grid, following a controversial qualifying session which saw his lap disqualified by IndyCar for a spin that impeded another driver. On the first lap, as the field went nearly four wide into turn one, Hinchcliffe gained two spots and moved into the top ten.

His fortune took a turn for the better, as three strong pit stops supported a charge to the front. With just three laps to go, Hinchcliffe had advanced to second place and looked set for a podium finish. Holding his position well, bad luck once again struck - with only three corners to go Hinchcliffe’s car ran out of fuel.

"It was a frustrating end to a frustrating weekend", said Hinchcliffe. "I was meeting fuel numbers during the last stint and I could easily have saved more at the end, but I lost the radio on the last lap. I was just cruising because I didn't know if I needed to save more or not. It was disappointing, but the team worked well together and with some improvements hopefully we'll be able to do better at Sonoma."

Howard McIntyre, vice president, lubricants, added: "James has had a great run to date, and his bad luck at the weekend right at the end was a real shame. We all felt his disappointment at the result, but we can all be proud of his performance which saw him take a leadership position despite a difficult qualifier. We are sure that the lessons learned from this weekend will support a strong performance at Sonoma and we all look forward to the final race of the season."

The Verizon IndyCar Series heads to the West coast for the sixteenth and final race of the 2016 season. The GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma will take place on Sunday, September 18 at 6:30 p.m. ET.