Clermont, Ind. – Juncos Racing earned two Top-10’s at the first oval of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires at Lucas Oil Raceway this week. Sting Ray Robb finished just outside the Top-5 in sixth, while teammate Artem Petrov took ninth.
The Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires Carb Night Classic two-day event kicked off with three test sessions for the Indy Pro 2000 field on the 0.686-mile oval. Nate Aranda, who is running a partial season driving the No. 69 1861 CRAFT/We Pursuit/ Juncos Racing car, made his first appearance on an oval during the three test sessions, but would not be entered with the Juncos Racing line-up for the race.
A night qualifying session completed the first day with Sting Ray Robb, driving the No. 2 Firehouse and Goodheart Animal Health Centers/Big Idaho Potato/Juncos Racing entry, qualifying third and Artem Petrov (No. 42 Road To Success/Juncos Racing) qualified seventh.
The following evening drivers returned to the track for one short 20-minute practice session before the race that evening.
Round 6 of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship would go green from start to finish of the 90-lap race. Robb battled among the Top-3 for the first half of the race but unfortunately fell back to finish sixth. Petrov took ninth.
Team Owner Ricardo Juncos said “This was a tough weekend for us on the first oval of the season, everyone worked so hard it just did not translate in our results. The drivers showed so much effort throughout the past two days. Sting Ray battled so hard throughout the first half of the race, the first few laps of the race he put on such a great show for all of the fans, and it was so exciting to watch. Artem did a great job, as this was his first time running at Lucas Oil Raceway. He put in some great laps, so I am confident he will be even stronger at the next oval. I am very proud of how hard the crew and drivers worked and we know what we need to do moving forward. There are still plenty of more races to go in this tight championship, so we will be back strong next weekend at Gateway. We want to thank everyone who were able to come out and support us this week, as this was a great event to have so many friends and family at our home track. We also want to thank all of the drivers, their families, our sponsors, and everyone else we continue to support us and look forward to being back on track in just a few short days.”
Artem Petrov: “This was a hard week, as this was only my second time running on an oval. I tried hard to find the pace in practice and worked to improve throughout each session. Qualifying went well, as I finished seventh in the session, so it gave me a decent starting position. I had a good start to the race but was overtaken and lost a few positions. I worked my way back and finished ninth. I still have a lot of learning to do on ovals, and will work hard with the team as we head into the next event on the final oval of the season.”
Sting Ray Robb: “This was a disappointing race for us. I pushed myself to hard in the car during the first half of the race as we were fighting for second place. We had a great, fast car and put in some great lap times. Unfortunately we did not run as consist which I think came from me pushing to hard during the beginning of the race, so the last 30-laps or so we were just trying to hang on. It’s hard knowing we did not get the finish and valuable points we needed. We will regroup this week, as we know what we need to do going into Gateway and look to regain the strong momentum we know we have. I want to thank all of my sponsors, partners, and family for their support.”