Juncos Hollinger Racing Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix Race Report
Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) faced demanding track conditions this past weekend at the Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix, where significant tire degradation challenged all teams throughout the 65-lap race on the demanding 3.067-mile circuit.
Both drivers navigated a difficult qualifying session, with Conor Daly positioning the No. 76 Chevrolet on the seventh row in P15, while teammate Sting Ray Robb was set to start the race from P24 in the No. 77 Chevrolet.
Conor Daly, reflected on his race: “At the start, we kind of just got boxed in and shoved off track there and we just kind of had to work forward from there on though. But honestly, we had a couple of good passes on track, a couple of good battles and worked our way forwards. We were really fast on reds and had good pits stops, which felt really good, but we just weren’t able to do anything crazy. I would say overall, happy with our pace on reds. We just keep stacking away points and keep getting better one race at a time.”
“Not a super exciting day for us. Being in the race was very fun. Lots of chaos, which welcome to INDYCAR racing. But I was really surprised by the way the tires worked out. I think that having it be a red tire race kind of hurt us quite a bit. Not our cleanest day. Made up a spot on track, so write it up to a good experience. Thanks to the Goodheart Freedom Service Dogs car and all the crew that worked hard this weekend. We made some improvements and learned a lot,” said Sting Ray Robb.
The race was characterized by tire management challenges, with the red compound tires playing a pivotal role in strategy decisions across the field. While not achieving the results they had hoped for, the team gathered valuable data and experience at the unique Thermal Club venue.
Juncos Hollinger Racing will return to action on April 13 at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, with live coverage available on FOX.
