Juncos Hollinger Racing rises to Markham challenge with P7 and P11

Juncos Hollinger Racing battled through an unpredictable first race on the Streets of Markham to secure seventh for Rinus VeeKay and 11th for Sting Ray Robb.

Starting sixth after reaching the Fast Six for the third time in four races, VeeKay remained in the thick of the fight throughout the frantic 90-lap race. Despite being forced wide and losing seven positions early on, and later carrying left-side front wing damage following contact with Palou, the Dutchman fought his way back through the field and ran as high as fifth in the closing stages.

Robb also made progress from 15th on the grid, running as high as fourth as the different strategies played out before recovering from a difficult middle part of the race to finish 11th. 

The result rounded out a challenging but encouraging first weekend at the completely new Streets of Markham. With Friday's track activity rescheduled to Saturday, teams faced a condensed program and limited time to learn the newly surfaced 12-turn, 2.19-mile circuit. VeeKay qualified sixth before underlining the pace of the No. 76 ampm Chevrolet with the second-fastest time in Sunday morning warm-up. 

How the Race Unfolded

Both VeeKay and Robb started the 90-lap race on Firestone alternate tires, holding sixth and 15th respectively through the opening lap. 

Caught behind a fuel-saving Hauger during the opening stint, VeeKay made his first stop on Lap 13 for another set of alternates as the team committed the No. 76 to a three-stop strategy. Robb followed one lap later, switching to primaries.

The first full-course caution on Lap 15 left the field split between two- and three-stop strategies. VeeKay was running 13th when he was forced wide on Lap 19, losing seven positions, but quickly began working his way forward again. By Lap 24 he was back up to 14th, while Robb also made progress.

Another caution brought VeeKay in for his second stop on Lap 33, switching to primaries. Robb stayed out and climbed as high as fourth as the different strategies played out before making his second stop for alternates on Lap 38.

A succession of cautions and restarts continued to reshuffle the order. Contact with Palou on Lap 42 left VeeKay with damage to the left side of his front wing, but he continued to make progress and was back inside the top 10 shortly after the Lap 50 restart.

VeeKay made his third and final stop on Lap 55, taking on another set of primaries. A strong stop from the JHR crew got the No. 76 back out ahead of Palou, while Robb completed his third stop for alternates on Lap 61.

As the final strategies played out, VeeKay climbed as high as fifth and faced a long run to the checkered flag while managing fuel and the damaged front wing. He came under increasing pressure in the closing stages and dropped to ninth but continued to fight for every position.

VeeKay passed Lundgaard to regain eighth and moved into seventh when Malukas pitted, before engaging in a late battle with McLaughlin. The pair exchanged seventh place multiple times in the final laps, with VeeKay ultimately taking the position at the checkered flag.

Robb's race was equally eventful. After running as high as fourth during the pit cycles, a spin at the challenging Turn 5 Horseshoe dropped the No. 77 back down the order. He recovered through the closing stages to finish 11th, four places ahead of his starting position.

VeeKay remains 10th in the championship, while Robb moves the No. 77 closer to a place in the Leaders Circle.

Team Perspective

Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 ampm Chevrolet:

“Well, that was a typical street course race. A lot of chaos. We held position well in the first few laps and pitted early to commit to the three-stop, and then the yellow came out with probably the worst possible timing. That was unfortunate, but enough happened that we were able to make up quite a bit of ground.

“At the end we had two stints on the primary tires, which was the preferred tire. We were struggling towards the end of the race to save fuel and also keep pace, so that’s a hard thing to balance.

“I think we extracted everything out of it. Compared to all the cars around us that were on the same cycle, we beat most of them, so it was a good race. It was definitely a different type of racing from the last few weekends, but again, we made the Fast Six and finishing seventh is solid points. With Sting Ray near the top 10 in 11th, I think that’s the best points weekend for the team this season, so a really good job.

“Leaving a street course in seventh and 11th as a team is very good. Now we go to DC next weekend and I think we can expect a similar type of racing. It’s a wider track, so there’ll be fewer cautions, but it should be fun.”

Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Chevrolet:

“A really good day. P11, our best result of the year so far. I think we had more in it even still, but a good job by the team.

“We made a huge swing on the car from warm-up to the race. We went from being on our own island with the setup to moving over to the No. 76 setup, and it worked really well. I’m really happy we were able to make that work and the race pace was really good.

“It was just about managing the fuel saving at the end. Maybe we could have done that a little bit better or a little earlier, but that’s the stress of INDYCAR racing. Yellow flags and everything else change the game. I felt like we did a good job today to get P11 and hopefully we can get that top 10 before the end of the year.”

Dave O'Neill, Team Principal, Juncos Hollinger Racing:

"That was an incredibly unpredictable race, with a lot of cautions, different strategies and some difficult decisions for us to make. The whole team handled it really well. The pit crew were outstanding again today and delivered strong stops throughout the race, particularly Rinus's final stop, which got him back out ahead of Palou at a critical point.

"Rinus had a lot going on. He lost six positions early on and then carried front-wing damage for much of the second half of the race, but he kept fighting. We got him back up to fifth and, even when the car became more difficult towards the end, he fought all the way to the flag to finish seventh.

"Sting Ray also had an eventful race, recovering well through the closing stages to finish 11th from 15th on the grid.

"On the face of it, we would have liked to finish higher up the order, but across the weekend as a whole there are a lot of positives. Losing Friday's running meant everyone had very little time to learn a completely new circuit, but we adapted quickly, qualified sixth, were second quickest in warm-up and had both cars moving forward in the race. It was a challenging weekend, but we've shown again that we have the pace and execution to fight towards the front."