Elkhart Lake, Wis. – Juncos Racing finished off the first week of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires by dominating Round 2 of the doubleheader at Road America. Artem Petrov picked up his first win since joining the series, while teammate Sting Ray Robb took second in Round 2 and finished fifth in Round 1.
The two-day event began with three test sessions Thursday followed by one practice session on the 4.014-mile, 14-turn road course located in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
Qualifying for both rounds kicked off Friday morning under wet conditions for the 16-car field. Although Juncos Racing would not qualify among the front of the field, all drivers worked their way forward throughout both rounds later in the day.
The rain turned into partly cloudy skies early in the afternoon for Round 1 of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship. Petrov, who qualified seventh in the No. 42 Juncos Racing car, unfortunately fell to the back of the field early in the race and would go on to finish 13th. Nate Aranda, who qualified 10th in the No. 69 We Pursuit/CRAFT 1861/Juncos Racing car, picked up one position during the first round to finish ninth. Sting Ray Robb, who had to start 15th in the No. 2 Firehouse and Goodheart Animal Health Centers/Big Idaho Potato/Juncos Racing car after fuel pump issues during qualifying, made the biggest move of the day in the field battling his way up 10 positions to a fifth-place finish.
Drivers returned to the track just a few hours later for the final race of the week for the Road To Indy Series. Petrov started on the second row in third, while Robb took the fifth position and Aranda in 13th. Throughout the first few laps Petrov and Robb battled among the top four cars in the field and by lap five Petrov took the lead. Robb made his way to the Top-3 and would go on to finish second. Petrov led the final 11 laps and would record the fastest leader lap overall to claim his first win in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship. Teammate Aranda gained four spots throughout the 15-lap race to finish ninth.
Juncos Racing Team Owner Ricardo Juncos said, “We finished off the week on a great note, with the Juncos Racing cars finishing in first and second. We faced some tough obstacles these past few days, but the crew and drivers worked hard together to overcome them and stay focused. I want to congratulate Artem on this win, as this is his first win in the Indy Pro 2000 series, and was our first win for the 2020 season. Sting Ray also did an incredible job, working his way up to fifth in the first race after starting on the back row of the field and then went on to finish second in Round 2. Nate did a great job as well, and I am confident he will only continue to grow and improve as the season progresses. We will continue to stay focused as we prepare for the next rounds at Mid-Ohio, and I look forward to what we can do together this season. “
Artem: “Overall it has been a great week here in Road America. Everyone on the team worked very hard and that showed today. In Race 1 I didn’t have a great start and made a mistake that cost me some positions on track. Then I had to pit due to a cut tire. However, Race 2 went very well for us as I picked up my first win. It was hard in the beginning with the battles for positions, but I managed to overtake the guys in front of me and take the win. I want to thank all of the team for giving me an incredible car, and my friends and family for all of their support to get me here.”
Sting Ray: “Today felt like a long day. We went into qualifying with high hopes, it was wet conditions turning to dry, but on the opening laps of qualifying we had a fuel pump issue. I pulled off and the team was able to get the issue fixed, but it wasn’t enough time to put down a lap. So no lap time, means we had to start at the back. In Race 1 I started fifteenth and was able to work my way through the field into fifth which was very good. The team gave me an excellent race car. In Race 2 we did very well, going from fifth to second. It was not an easy race, as we had a lot of great battles with other cars. I would like to thank the Juncos Racing team so much for everything and I would like to congratulate Artem on his first win, he drove so well! Now we will focus on Mid-Ohio, which I am really looking forward to because we have a great race car there. After our last test there during the Open Test we developed a great car, and hopefully we can take advantage of my experience there the past three years and go for a great finish and move forward up in the points standings. I would like to give a huge shoutout to Firehouse and Goodheart for all of their support, as well as all of my other partners, friends and family and to all of the amazing fans. See you all in Mid Ohio!”
Nate: ” I can’t thank my team enough for really pushing me and helping me attain two top 10 finishes for my first races in an Indy Pro 2000 car since my incident a year and a half ago! I’m ecstatic for my two teammates taking 1 and 2 finishes and helping me along the way too! I hope we can keep this momentum up for the upcoming race weekend at Mid-Ohio!”