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Tag: Juncos Hollinger Racing

  • Grosjean to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    Grosjean to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    In his third full-time campaign in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Romain Grosjean is within reach of achieving a milestone start. When he takes the green flag in this weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, the driver of the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will make his 50th career start in the IndyCar circuit.  

    Grosjean, who was born in Geneva, Switzerland, but competes under the French flag, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at Barber Motorsports Park in April 2021. He was coming off a 10-year campaign in Formula One, where he had recorded 10 podium results and 391 points while competing for Lotus and Haas F1 teams, and had survived a harrowing opening lap accident at Bahrain International Circuit during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The incident ended his F1 career and led him to transition to IndyCar competition.

    Piloting the No. 51 Dallara-Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing in a part-time campaign, Grosjean started seventh and finished 10th in his IndyCar debut. After finishing 13th during his second series start at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Grosjean earned the spotlight during his third series start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the GMR Grand Prix in May, where he achieved his maiden pole position and proceeded to lead a race-high 44 laps before settling in a career-best runner-up spot behind Rinus VeeKay.

    Grosjean proceeded to finish in the top seven twice during his next five starts before he achieved both his second runner-up result and second podium of the season at Indianapolis during the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix in August. Three races later, he achieved his third podium result of the season and the third of his career, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca after carving his way from starting 13th. He would then make his 13th and final IndyCar start of the year in the season-finale Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, where he finished 24th after being involved in a late accident. Making 13 starts in total throughout the 2021 season, Grosjean settled in 15th place in the final driver’s standings with 272 points.

    Amid his strong performances throughout the 2021 season, Grosjean was recruited by Andretti Global to pilot the No. 28 Dallara-Honda on a full-time basis for the 2022 IndyCar season, replacing the 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. He began the season by finishing fifth at the Streets of St. Petersburg in February before claiming his first podium result of the season in the form of a second-place finish at the Streets of Long Beach event two races later. Grosjean finished no higher than seventh during his next four starts before managing a top-five finish in the form of a fourth-place run at Road America in June.

    He ended up in 31st place during his first Indianapolis 500 start in May after being involved in an accident just past the halfway mark. He would then proceed to record two top-10 results during the following eight events on the schedule before finishing in seventh place in the finale at Laguna Seca. With an average-finishing result of 13.7, one spot lower than 12.7 during the 2021 season, Grosjean concluded his sophomore IndyCar season in 13th place in the final standings and with a career-high 328 points. 

    Returning for a second IndyCar season with Andretti Global in 2023, Grosjean captured the pole position for the season-opening event at the Streets of St. Petersburg. Despite leading 31 laps, however, he ended up in 18th place in the final running order after being involved in a late accident with Scott McLaughlin, whom he was battling for the victory. After being involved in a second consecutive accident during the following event at Texas Motor Speedway while battling for a top-five spot with two laps remaining, Grosjean rallied by notching back-to-back runner-up results and podiums at Long Beach and Barber Motorsport Park, respectively, the latter of which occurred after he started on the pole position for a third time and led a race-high 57 laps before being outdueled by McLaughlin in the closing laps.

    For the remaining 13 events on the schedule, Grosjean would manage to record a single top-10 result, which was a sixth-place run at Nashville Street Circuit in August, as he ended up in 13th place in the final driver’s standings for a second consecutive season, but with 296 points and an average-finishing result of 15.2. 

    After not being retained by Andretti following the 2023 season, Grosjean found a new team to call home for the 2024 season in the form of Juncos Hollinger Racing, where he replaced Callum Ilott to drive the No. 77 Dallara-Chevrolet on a full-time basis. Coming off a 24th-place result in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg followed by an eighth-place run at the Streets of Long Beach, he is currently ranked in 13th place in the driver’s standings and trails the points lead by 57 points. 

    Through 49 previous IndyCar starts, Grosjean has achieved three poles, six podiums, and 152 laps led with an average-finishing result of 14.0 as he continues his pursuit for both his first IndyCar race victory and championship. 

    Romain Grosjean is scheduled to make his 50th NTT INDYCAR Series career start at Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, April 28. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • 2024 NTT IndyCar Series Silly Season Update

    2024 NTT IndyCar Series Silly Season Update

    With less than three months remaining until the commencement of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, a majority of teams and competitors have new or familiar faces or homes set in place while select seats remain within a handle of organizations.

    The most recent name to be scratched off this year’s Silly Season topic is Sting Ray Robb, who will join A.J. Foyt Racing to pilot the No. 41 Dallara-Chevrolet. The news comes three months after the 26-year-old Robb from Boise, Idaho, completed his first campaign in the IndyCar circuit for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, where he ended up in 23rd place and accumulated 147 points.

    Robb, a former champion of the Pro Mazda/Indy Pro 2000 Championship region and a runner-up finisher in the 2022 Indy Lights standings, is the only competitor currently confirmed to be competing for A.J. Foyt Racing for the upcoming season as the rest of the team’s driver lineup remains to be determined.

    Another organization that is left undetermined regarding its driver lineup is Robb’s former team, Dale Coyne Racing. The team fielded two full-time entries for Robb and David Malukas, and a third entry for the Indianapolis 500 piloted by two-time Indy 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. With both Robb and Malukas venturing to new teams and Hunter-Reay not having any racing plans set for the near future, the team’s search to fill its vacant seats continues approaching the 2024 season.

    Despite having plans to field two cars for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May 2024, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing have also yet to determine its two competitors who will be assuming the reigns of both entries. This past season, the team fielded the Nos. 23 and 24 Chevrolets for Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal, respectively, with the latter replacing the injured Stefan Wilson. Having fielded at least one entry in the Indy 500 for 24 consecutive seasons, the team approaches the 2024 season aiming to extend the streak to 25 years with select names still on the market.

    In the midst of a handful of teams who have vacant seats yet to be filled, a majority of organizations (Andretti Global, Arrow McLaren, Chip Ganassi Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Juncos Hollinger Racing, Meyer Shank Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Team Penske) have driver lineups for the 2024 season set, with nearly all having new names joining their stable to compete alongside notable veterans, race winners and champions.

    After fielding four full-time entries and a fifth for the Indianapolis 500 this past season while recording a total of two season victories, Andretti Global, which has been rebranded from Andretti Autosport, will shrink to a three-car operation for the upcoming season and for its lineup consisting of Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 champion from Kumla, Sweden, joins Andretti following a four-year campaign at Chip Ganassi Racing, where he had also recorded four career victories, as he will be piloting the No. 28 Dallara-Honda, thus replacing Romain Grosjean, while Herta and Kirkwood, the latter who earned his first two career victories at the Streets of Long Beach and Nashville Street Circuit in 2023, retain driving responsibilities of the Nos. 26 and 27 Hondas, respectively.

    The 2024 season will mark the second consecutive season where Arrow McLaren will field three full-time entries. On this occasion, a new face joins the organization. David Malukas, from Chicago, Illinois, will replace Felix Rosenqvist to pilot the No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet, as he will compete alongside returning names Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi, both of whom endured winless seasons in 2023 and strive to return the McLaren name to Victory Lane in 2024. In addition, McLaren will field a fourth entry in conjunction with 14-time NASCAR championship-winning team Hendrick Motorsports for the upcoming 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 as the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson will attempt to qualify for the event while piloting the No. 17 Dallara-Chevrolet. For his bid, Larson, a native of Elk Grove, California, will also attempt to join the late John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch as competitors to perform “Double Duty” on Memorial Day weekend by competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, thus comprising a total of 1,100 miles of racing.

    Coming off championship No. 15 and winning half of the events in this past season’s IndyCar campaign, Chip Ganassi Racing returns with an expanded lineup that features two new names and a new promotion for one name alongside two championship-winning competitors in a bid to defend the title. Retaining their spots as full-time competitors of the Nos. 10 and 9 Hondas include the reigning two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon, respectively, while Marcus Armstrong, the 2023 IndyCar Rookie of the Year from Christchurch, New Zealand, will campaign in his first full-time season with CGR in the No. 11 entry. New to the team are Linus Lundqvist, the 2022 Indy Lights champion from Tyresö, Sweden, who made select IndyCar starts for Meyer Shank Racing this past season and will pilot the No. 8 CGR Honda in 2024, and Kyffin Simpson, the 2023 European Le Mans Series champion in the LMP2 class division from Bridgetown, Barbados.

    Ed Carpenter Racing will feature a new name. Christian Rasmussen will campaign on a part-time basis alongside team owner Ed Carpenter after celebrating a championship in this past season’s Indy NXT season. The 23-year-old Rasmussen from Copenhagen, Denmark, will drive ECR’s No. 20 Dallara-Chevrolet in all 11 road course and street events on the schedule, starting with the season opener at the Streets of St. Petersburg, while Carpenter, an Indianapolis veteran, will campaign in the remaining six oval events that includes the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500. Rasmussen will also attempt to compete in the Indy 500 in a third ECR entry that remains to be determined. With two competitors, the No. 20 entry will compete alongside the No. 21 entry that returns for returning full-time competitor Rinus VeeKay from Hoofddorp, Netherlands.

    Coming off a strong season to date, Juncos Hollinger Racing, which has entered into a technical alliance with Arrow McLaren, will feature a new face piloting the team’s No. 77 Dallara-Chevrolet as Romain Grosjean replaces Callum Ilott in the entry while Agustin Canapino returns for a second stint with the team. Grosjean, a former Formula One competitor who competes under the French flag, transitions to JHR following a two-year campaign at Andretti Global, where he has registered six podiums and five runner-up results to date. Meanwhile, Canapino, a 33-year-old native from Arrecifes, Argentina, retains driving responsibilities of the No. 78 Chevrolet after ending up in 21st place with 180 points during last season’s championship standings.

    Meyer Shank Racing will feature a new overhaul to its driver lineup for the 2024 campaign with the additions of new full-time competitors Tom Blomqvist and Felix Rosenqvist. Blomqvist, the 2022 IMSA SportsCar champion from Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, who made select starts with MSR this past season, joins the team as a first-time IndyCar competitor on a full-time basis in the No. 66 Dallara-Honda while Rosenqvist, a one-time IndyCar race winner from Värnamo, Sweden, joins MSR to drive the No. 60 Honda, replacing veteran Simon Pagenaud, following a five-year campaign competing between Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren, where he has registered a total of six podiums to his IndyCar resume. Returning to the team for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 is Hélio Castroneves, a four-time champion of the Indianapolis 500 who delivered the team’s first IndyCar victory during the 2021 Indy 500 and returns to compete for his record-setting fifth Indy 500 crown in the No. 06 Dallara-Honda.

    Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, which achieved a single victory in the Streets of Toronto, Canada, this past season, welcomes Pietro Fittipaldi to its driver lineup as he will be piloting the No. 30 Dallara-Honda on a full-time basis and compete alongside returning names Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard, the latter who achieved his first career victory at Toronto. The 2024 season is set to mark Fittipaldi’s first full-time campaign in the IndyCar circuit after he made a combined nine starts during the 2018 and 2021 seasons. He is a former champion of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series and the World Series Formula V8 3.5 division.

    Lastly, Team Penske returns as a three-car stable with the same competitors for a third consecutive season, headlined by returning champions Josef Newgarden and Will Power along with Scott McLaughlin. Newgarden, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion and a two-time IndyCar champion from Hendersonville, Tennessee, retains driving responsibilities of the No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet, where he won four races in 2023, as he competes alongside Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 champion and another two-time champion from Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, who returns to pilot the No. 12 Chevrolet and strives to return to Victory Lane after going winless in 2023. After recording a single victory and finishing in third place during this past season’s IndyCar campaign, McLaughlin, a three-time Supercars champion from Christchurch, New Zealand, returns to pilot Penske’s No. 3 Chevrolet for a third full-time season. With familiar names retaining their places at Team Penske, the organization strives for both an 18th IndyCar championship and a 20th Indianapolis 500 title for the 2024 season.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With nearly the entire grid of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series field set, the season is scheduled to commence at the Streets of St. Petersburg for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 10, 2024. The opener’s air broadcast coverage will be provided on NBC while the time start remains to be determined.