Madison, Ill. – Juncos Racing collected a podium along with a Top-5 finish this weekend in the Indy Pro 2000 Oval Challenge of St. Louis Presented by Cooper Tire. Artem Petrov took third, while teammate Sting Ray Robb finished fourth among the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires field.
The Indy Pro 2000 Championship kicked off the seventh round on the final oval of the season Friday with three test sessions, followed by qualifying on the 1.25-mile oval. Both Juncos Racing entries posted consistent fast laps throughout each session with Artem Petrov driving the No. 42 Road To Success/Juncos Racing car and Sting Ray Robb driving the No. 2 Firehouse and Goodheart Animal Health Centers/Big Idaho Potato/Juncos Racing car.
Qualifying finished off the first day with the Juncos Racing line-up narrowly missing the pole position. Petrov qualified second, followed by Robb earning the third starting position.
Round 7 of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship concluded the two-day event Saturday. Once the green flag waved the top four cars put on an intense show, battling for the podium throughout the 55-lap race. Petrov ran in second position until the final lap and would settle for a third-place finish. Robb battled back and forth throughout the race for the third-place spot and went on to finish fourth.
Team Owner Ricardo Juncos said “Overall I am very pleased with our results on the final oval of the season. The team delivered the drivers solid, fast cars each session, and that was proven in our qualifying runs and the race. Both drivers did an excellent job. I am very proud of how comfortable Artem has become on ovals, in such a short time as this is only his third time running on an oval. Sting Ray had a great race, battling to keep his podium position throughout most of the race. We leave here with both drivers earning valuable championship points, in this very competitive championship. I want to thank everyone on the crew, Artem and Sting Ray, their families, our supporters, and all of the wonderful fans who were able to come out and enjoy a great race.”
Artem Petrov: “Overall, both days went well. We were fast in all of our test sessions, qualifying and the race. I am happy to finish on the podium on an oval, but just disappointed we lost second place on the last lap. There are still more races to go, so we will stay focused and work hard to go for the championship.”
Sting Ray Robb: “Today was a very exciting day today. After qualifying third yesterday, we knew we had some adjustments to make and my engineer Kevin (Eichler) did a very good job with that. This morning we had great pace in the final practice session to gear up for the race. During the race we worked hard to maintain our third-place position, but unfortunately lost it during the final laps and settled for fourth. It was great to have both Juncos Racing cars finish third and fourth and add more points to our championship totals. I am really looking forward to getting back on track in a few days for the Indy GP. We had a great run there last year, so I am excited to see what we can do this year.”