Juncos Racing team owner Ricardo Juncos and driver Sting Ray Robb celebrate their first Indy Pro 2000 victory together at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

By Steve Wittich

With four driver’s championships, four team championships, 43 wins, and four drivers who graduated to the NTT INDYCAR® SERIES, including 2020 rookie of the year Rinus VeeKay. Juncos Racing has had some pretty great years in their first 11 seasons of Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires competition.

It’s their 12th season that will go down as the most fruitful for the Ricardo and Danielle Juncos led team. The 2020 Indy Pro 2000 season includes Juncos Racing’s fifth driver’s title, fifth team crown, and the addition of nine first-place trophies to the vast collection in the lobby of their Speedway, Ind. shop. The nine trips to victory lane for the always recognizable white, green, and orange Juncos Racing race cars are the most in a single season for the team.

The team’s fifth team championship moves them out of a tie with Team Pelfrey for the most trophies in that category. Sting Ray Robb’s driver’s title means that Juncos Racing now holds the top spot in that category, breaking a tie with World Speed MotorSport and Valley Motor Center.

“This year was the most challenging but rewarding years since we joined the Indy Pro 2000 Championship 12 years ago,” explained team owner Ricardo Juncos. “The performance was incredible, by far the best we have had as a team and would not have been accomplished without everyone on the team putting forth their greatest efforts.”

“The fact that everyone continued to push themselves up until the final lap at St. Pete yesterday shows how much dedication and passion each crew member and driver had this season. I am so proud of what Sting Ray, Artem, and Nate could accomplish this season. From the beginning of the season until now, Nate has shown so much progress and has developed so much on track. Artem did a fantastic job all year and was one of the strongest drivers in the field; he was so close to finishing second in the championship. Sting Ray’s consistency and focus proved to be the key to winning the championship this year. Once he picked up his first win back at Mid-Ohio he made his way to the top of the championship, ultimately winning the championship by almost 100 points.

“Winning both the team and driver championship would not have been possible without everyone who makes up Juncos Racing, and I cannot thank each person enough for putting their trust in our organization. Thank you to all of our crew, drivers, the families, partners, and sponsors for making this season one we will never forget.”

Juncos Racing team owner Ricardo Juncos with the Indy Pro 2000 team championship trophy. 2020 is the fifth time Juncos Racing has won the team title. (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires Team Championship Standings

RANK TEAM TOTAL
1 Juncos Racing 461
2 DEForce Racing 325
3 Pabst Racing 293
4 Turn 3 Motorsport 258
5 Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 231
6 Exclusive Autosport 109
7 Abel Motorsports 61
8 Fatboy Racing! 44
9 BN Racing with Team Benik 41
10 Legacy Autosport 29

Three Juncos Racing PM-18s made a total of 44 starts; not once were any of the drivers forced to retire due to a mechanical failure, and 2020 champion Robb was the only driver in 2020 to complete all 485 laps of Indy Pro 2000 action.

If there was a category to be lead, Juncos Racing found themselves on top of the list.

  • Robb (seven) and Petrov (two) combined for nine wins in 17 races, three more than the other teams combined, and seven more than the next winningest teams.

Ricardo Juncos and Artem Petrov were all smiles after the team’s first win of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)

  • Six poles – five by Robb and one from Petrov – doubled the poles on the next closest teams.
  • Juncos Racing also doubled the next closest team in total podiums, with 18 trips to the podium – Robb had 11, and Petrov had seven.
  • Laps led, yep, once again a category led by Juncos Racing, with Robb (152) and Petrov (38) combining to lead 190 laps, more than double their closest competition.

Robb will be moving up the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper Tires ladder to Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires in 2021. But, Juncos Racing has already begun the reloading processes, adding multiple Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship race winner to the stable for next season.