Juncos Hollinger Racing's Portland pace rewarded with fourth place finish
Juncos Hollinger Racing's outstanding pace throughout the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland weekend was rewarded with a fourth-place finish for Rinus VeeKay, securing the team's third top-five finish in the last five NTT INDYCAR SERIES races.
After delivering the team's strongest qualifying performance of the season with fifth on the grid, VeeKay remained among the front-runners throughout the 110-lap race to match his best result of the year. Sting Ray Robb took the checkered flag in 22nd.
The weekend also marked the debut of ampm as primary partner on the No. 76 Chevrolet, with the striking livery running prominently at the front throughout practice, qualifying and Sunday's race.
Following a two-week break since the last event at Nashville, the championship resumed at Portland International Raceway with the season entering its decisive phase.
Starting fifth on the primary tire, VeeKay made a strong getaway and defended from Kyle Kirkwood through the opening corners to establish himself among the leading group. Robb started 23rd on the alternate tire before an early full-course caution on lap seven prompted Juncos Hollinger Racing to switch the No. 77 to the primary tire.
Robb charged through the order, climbing from 23rd into the top five during the opening pit cycle.
Meanwhile, VeeKay continued to demonstrate the pace that had made the No. 76 Chevrolet one of the standout cars over the weekend. Running long on the primary tires elevated him to fourth before a clean first stop on lap 29 for the alternate compound allowed him to quickly return to the lead pack.
Although VeeKay reported understeer in his middle stint, he continued to race at the front, climbing as high as third before the team corrected the balance at his second scheduled stop. Another excellent pit lane performance from the Juncos Hollinger Racing crew immediately put the No. 76 Chevrolet back in the fight.
Following his final stop on lap 82, VeeKay rejoined ahead of Ericsson and Kirkwood before climbing back to fourth during the closing stages, where he remained to the checkered flag to secure another outstanding result and continue the team's recent momentum.
Robb had climbed as high as fifth and was later running inside the top 10, but subsequent pit stops dropped the No. 77 Chevrolet back through the order. Despite continuing to recover during the closing stages, he ultimately crossed the line in 22nd.
Team Perspective
Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Chevrolet:
"It was a really good day here in Portland. Yesterday we made the Fast Six and today we moved forward one position to finish fourth.
"Of course, we wanted a podium, but honestly I think this was the pace we had today, so I'm really happy with the result.
"It was a great weekend for the whole team at Juncos Hollinger Racing. Chevrolet gave us great support with their power and fuel mileage, and of course it was fantastic to have the beautiful purple ampm car here in the Pacific Northwest. I'm really happy with our effort. We're racing at the front now and that's where we belong.
"We're still 10th in the championship, but we're closing the gap to the cars ahead and creating a bigger gap to the cars behind. That's really encouraging. I'm happy to tick this one off the list and now we're looking forward to Markham and Washington, D.C."
Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Chevrolet:
"First of all, congratulations to Rinus and the No. 76 crew on another fourth-place finish. That's a really good result for them. I think it was another good step forward for us on road courses after Mid-Ohio. The team has definitely found something, and I think testing at these tracks has really helped us understand what we need to roll off the truck stronger.
"On the No. 77 side, it was a tougher weekend. I think we just missed the tire pressures a little bit in qualifying, and that cost us a couple of tenths. In this field, a couple of tenths is a lot, so we started from the back and maybe took a bit of a gamble on strategy that just didn't play out.
"It's not the result I think we're capable of. We kept fighting all day, but we just didn't get what we needed.
"Now it's on to the next one. I'm looking forward to the street courses. Detroit was the last one for us and I felt we had a really good car there, so hopefully that carries over to Markham and Washington, D.C. Then we've got Milwaukee, where we tested earlier this year. I think we've got a good package there, so hopefully we can roll off strong, run at the front and finish the season on a high."
Dave O'Neill, Team Principal, Juncos Hollinger Racing:
"It has been another really encouraging weekend. We were quick from the first practice session, converted that pace into our strongest qualifying performance of the season and then spent the race fighting at the front. That's another clear indication of the progress we’re continuing to make.
"The execution across the whole organization was excellent. The engineers made a good strategy, the pit crew delivered great stops and we were able to keep Rinus firmly in contention, including through a number of great overtakes.
"He drove an outstanding race and fully deserves this result. We'd have liked a stronger outcome for Sting Ray after the promise his strategy showed early on, but there are positives for both sides of the garage.
"I'd also like to thank ampm for their support this weekend. This was their first race as primary partner on the No. 76 Chevrolet and it was fantastic to see those colors running at the front throughout practice, qualifying and the race. To reward that with a fourth-place finish is exactly the kind of weekend we wanted to deliver for the partnership, and we're looking forward to building on it over the remaining races."