One look at his Twitter account gives you every indication of where defenceman Grant Hutton was born and raised.



“They say it’s the racing capital of the world,” he said as he stepped off the ice for his first day at Toronto Maple Leafs development camp.



Hutton was born in Carmel, Ind., a town roughly 40 kilometres north of Indianapolis. The area is home to one of the greatest events in racing, the Indy 500. Just about every North American auto racing governing body is headquartered in the area. So it’s not surprising to learn that his father’s side of the family is big into motorsports.



“[My dad’s] uncles and cousins were huge into sprint cars, midgets, my cousin raced in a NASCAR race or two,” Hutton recalled. “My dad was crew chief when I was young.”



As big as the racing influences were, his father, G.R. Hutton, was also the driving hockey influence in the family, having...