Dancing With the Stars Season 23 Finale: Crowd Favorite Race Car Driver James Hinchcliffe Comes Second to Olympic Artistic Gymnast Laurie Hernandez

Laurie Hernandez and pro dancer partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy took home the Mirrorball trophy on the Season 23 finale of Dancing With the Stars in Los Angeles. James Hinchcliffe and his partner Sharna Burgess surprises everyone as they came in second place.

After 11 weeks of intense competition, the winner of Dancing With the Stars was announced after the two-night finale ended. The odds had been leaning towards the American Olympic gold medalist since the season had kicked off.

At 16, she is the youngest star who had ever won the top place in the history of DWTS and it doesn't stop there. According to Entertainment Tonight, fans will still get to watch Laurie and pro dancer Valentin as both will be joining the Dancing With the Stars: Live! Tour in Las Vegas on December 16.

While it's not surprising though that Laurie Hernandez won this season's DWTS, what's surprising is that the equally talented and likable Canadian race car driver James Hinchcliffe and his partner pro-Sharna Burgess winning the second place. For a man who has never danced in his life, James has clearly come a long way.  

At the start of this Dancing With the Stars season, Hinchcliffe's profile is the lowest in all celebrities. But he has greatly improved over the weeks and everyone's impressed. People took notice of the unknown Canadian driver who is not quite as famous as the other pairs. Julianne Hough even said that he is the best male "star" the show has ever had. 

Before Dancing With the Stars, Hinchcliffe was mostly known in the car racing community as a driver competing in the IndyCar with Schmidt Peterson Motorsport. With Burgess as pro partner and teacher, he has proven to everyone that he is talented not just on the race track but also on the dance floor.

It is indeed an amazing accomplishment according to James Hinchcliffe. Asked what the show Dancing With the Stars meant to him, he says "It meant the world! I never would have thought that at the start of it, Sharna and I would be standing up here, finishing second to this competition"