Lexington, Ohio – Juncos Racing earned their 12th podium of the 2021 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires with rookie Kyffin Simpson finishing third in Round 12 of the Cooper Tires Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio.
The sixth weekend of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship began with three test sessions Thursday on the 2.258 mile, 13-turn road course located in Lexington, Ohio. Juncos Racing’s three-car lineup consisting of Manuel Sulaiman and rookies Reece Gold and Kyffin Simpson looked to carry the strong momentum gained during the first half of the season into the doubleheader event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
One practice session followed by qualifying for Round 11 took place Friday. Sulaiman driving the No. 22 Telcel entry qualified sixth. Gold driving the No. 55 The Ticket Clinic entry qualified seventh and Simpson driving the No. 21 Simpson Racing Products entry qualified eighth.
Saturday morning kicked off with qualifying for Round 12. Gold improved to take the fourth starting position, while teammate Simpson qualified just behind in fifth. Sulaiman qualified seventh.
Drivers returned to the track that afternoon for the first race of the doubleheader event. Sulaiman, who started sixth, spun during the first lap in Turn 4, and would fall to the back of the field. The rest of the 25-lap race would go caution-free, not giving Sulaiman a chance to make back the time lost after his spin to finish 12th. Gold finished just outside the top five in sixth, followed by Simpson taking seventh.
Juncos Racing looked to bounce back Sunday morning with the final race of the weekend. Simpson, who started fifth took charge during the first lap, making his way to third. The young rookie would go on to earn the fastest lap of the race and his third podium of the season finishing third.
Gold went on to finish a strong fourth while earning valuable points as he closes in on second in the championship. Sulaiman finished seventh.
After 12 Rounds in the 2021 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Gold sits third in the points standings, followed by Sulaiman in sixth and Simpson in eighth. Juncos Racing is closing in on the Team Championship, sitting 26 points behind the leader.
Juncos Racing Team Owner Ricardo Juncos said, “This weekend we faced ups and downs, but the team continued to work hard and pull together to finish on the podium. I want to congratulate Kyffin on a solid podium and laying down the fastest lap of Round 12. He has some strong runs during the last few events and I am confident he will continue to have more success as we get into the last half of the season. Reece earned some great points for the championship despite not making it on the podium this weekend. Manuel had a tough weekend, but I know he will be back to the front when we get back on track next month. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported us at Mid-Ohio. We have the best group and amazing fans!”
The Indy Pro 2000 Championship will take a seven-week break before heading to World Wide Technology Raceway on August 21st for the final oval track of the season.
Reece Gold: “Decent weekend at Mid Ohio. Salvaged good points and closed the gap to second. I’m confident to come back for the season finale as I think we will find the time we are missing. Thanks to everyone at Juncos Racing and my sponsor The Ticket Clinic.”
Kyffin Simpson: “The weekend had its ups and downs with a rough qualy one, but we were able to still bring it back for a good qualy two and have a good race. I am very happy with a third-place, and we will hopefully carry this strong momentum into the next race. Huge thanks to the team working hard all weekend and giving me the car I needed to do well.”
Manuel Sulaiman: "A tough weekend overall, learned a lot and we keep pushing to improve. On to the next one."