INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Just over a month after his first Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires victory – and on his 19th birthday – Sting Ray Robb, from Payette, Idaho, stepped onto the top of the podium again this afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course. Robb’s second win for Juncos Racing allowed him to close to within 10 points of series leader Devlin DeFrancesco at the halfway mark in the season.

A dramatic race was brought to an early conclusion after last year’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship winner, Braden Eves, from New Albany, Ohio, was involved in a frightening crash in which his Exclusive Autosport Tatuus PM-18 was flipped over onto its roll hoop. Eves was taken to the Infield Care Center and transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital.

“Braden is awake, stable and undergoing further evaluation,” said Dr. Geoff Billows, INDYCAR Medical Director.

New Zealander Hunter McElrea rebounded from a disappointing result one week ago on the World Wide Technology Raceway oval to finish second for Pabst Racing. Canadian Parker Thompson rounded out the podium for DEForce Racing.

The drama began early when a concertina effect saw three cars sustain damage even before the start line and causing the first four laps to be run under caution.

After securing his first Cooper Tires Pole Award in qualifying this morning, Artem Petrov, from Saint Petersburg, Russia, held onto his advantage in the early stages for Juncos Racing. He was even able to draw out a small margin over the field while his pursuers scrabbled for position in his mirrors.

Thompson held second place initially, after Robb was shuffled back from second on the grid to fourth, only to be displaced by McElrea under braking for Turn One soon after the restart.

Robb, meanwhile, leapt from fifth to second within a couple of laps of the green flag and then quickly latched onto teammate Petrov’s tail before making his move for the lead on Lap Nine. Robb never looked back, extending his advantage to almost three seconds before the yellow flags waved again following Eves’ incident. Robb’s fine effort ensured another PFC Award for car owner Ricardo Juncos, whose team, Juncos Racing, extended its already emphatic lead in the Team Championship.

Thompson claimed his second podium finish of the season as Petrov faded to fourth. Points leader DeFrancesco, from Toronto, Ont., Canada, salvaged fifth place for Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport after qualifying a disappointing eighth and then sliding off the road at Turn Seven shortly after the start.

Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing), from Homer Glen, Ill., took seventh ahead of 15th-place starter Kory Enders (DEForce Racing), from Sugar Land, Texas, who earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award after travel delays caused him to miss both the practice and qualifying sessions this morning.

The Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Indy Grand Prix will continue with two more races tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The starting order for the opening race will be set following a second qualifying session at 9:45 a.m., with the grid order for the final race being established according to fastest race laps from the earlier encounter.

Provisional championship points after eight of 17 rounds:

1. Devlin DeFrancesco, 200

2. Sting Ray Robb, 190

3. Artem Petrov, 171

4. Danial Frost, 168

5. Braden Eves, 163

6. Hunter McElrea, 144

7. Parker Thompson, 134

8. Manuel Sulaiman, 127

9. Colin Kaminsky, 109

10. Antoine Comeau, 100

Sting Ray Robb (#2 Firehouse-Goodheart Animal Health Centers-Juncos Racing Tatuus PM-18): “We were really quick right from the start, so thanks to the team for giving me a good car. It’s quite the birthday present! It was good to run out front – that comes from experience, to be able to hold the lead like that. We saw what happened last year, when I was running out front (at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca) and (eventual champion) Kyle Kirkwood was running me down. I ended up finishing second, but now that I’ve won – and won again – I know how to stay consistent. And to come to Indy and get my second win, it’s so special.

Hunter McElrea (#18 Giltrap Group/Miles Advisory Partners/Doric NZ/Bell-Pabst Racing Tatuus PM-18): “Sting Ray was super quick in the opening laps – I’ve been in that position early in races and I don’t want to battle the guy in front of me so we can both catch the leader. So I let him go and was able to make the move on Artem in Turn One. Now we need to qualify better so we can battle for the win. I’m happy to be on the podium and get good points. I’m not at all where I want to be in the championship but if we can keep doing this, we’ll be in the fight at the end.”

Parker Thompson (#9 DEForce Racing/Valkyrie Velocity-DEForce Racing Tatuus PM-18): “I felt like it was our race to lose but the #42 braked on the start and I had to brake to avoid him, then he went early on the restart and I got passed. The DEForce crew gave me the car to win today and I feel as though I took a gut shot on that one. The car really came on at the end; we had the fastest car on track – and we knew that going in but you can’t take a hit like that on the start and the restart. We have a good opportunity tomorrow, (so) we’ll try to put it up front and go racing.”