The 2020 Indy Pro 2000 field gets the green flag in front of the Cooper Tires tower at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
2020 season basics
- Number of races: 17
- Total laps: 485
- Total miles: 930.543
- Total cautions: 12
- Average cautions per race: 0.7
- Caution free races: nine
- Total caution laps: 25
- Average caution laps per race: 1.5
- Total DNFs: 31
- DNFs per race: 1.8
- The average margin of victory: 3.166 seconds
- The closest margin of victory: Danial Frost finished Race #1 at Road America 0.0556 seconds ahead of Devlin DeFrancesco.
- Largest margin of victory: Manuel Sulaiman finished Race #3 at New Jersey Motorsports Park 10.7528 seconds ahead of Colin Kaminsky.
Danial Frost (Turn 3 Motorsport) crosses the start/finish line 0.0556 seconds ahead of Devlin DeFrancesco (Andretti Steinbrenner Racing) at Road America – the closest finish of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Sting Ray Robb led all drivers with seven wins and was one of four drivers that had multiple wins.
The eight different winners are the most in Indy Pro 2000 history.
How do Robb’s seven wins compare historically? The average number of wins for the Star Mazda/Pro Mazda/Indy Pro 2000 champion since 1999 is 5.3.
An emotional Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Racing) in victory lane after scoring his first Indy Pro 2000 win at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July. (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Driver wins
| RANK | DRIVER | WINS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sting Ray Robb | 7 | |
| 2T | Artem Petrov | 2 | |
| 2T | Manuel Sulaiman | 2 | |
| 2T | Devlin DeFrancesco | 2 | |
| 5T | Braden Eves | 1 | |
| 5T | Kody Swanson | 1 | |
| 5T | Danial Frost | 1 | |
| 5T | Hunter McElrea | 1 |
Juncos Racing led all teams with nine wins, with six different teams visiting victory lane.
Team wins
| RANK | TEAM | WINS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juncos Racing | 9 | |
| 2T | DEForce Racing | 2 | |
| 2T | Andretti Steinbrenner Racing | 2 | |
| 4T | Pabst Racing | 1 | |
| 4T | Turn 3 Motorsport | 1 | |
| 4T | Exclusive Autosport | 1 | |
| 4T | Legacy Autosport | 1 |
The great Juan Manuel Fangio, a five-time Formula One champion, once said, “To finish first, you must first finish.” So, not surprisingly, the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires champion Sting Ray Robb was the only driver to complete all 485 laps this season.
% of laps completed
| RANK | DRIVER | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sting Ray Robb | 100.0% | |
| 2 | Artem Petrov | 99.0% | |
| 3 | Danial Frost | 97.1% | |
| 4 | Hunter McElrea | 96.5% | |
| 5 | Colin Kaminsky | 94.8% | |
| 6 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 90.7% | |
| 7 | Manuel Sulaiman | 87.6% | |
| 8 | Antoine Comeau | 87.2% | |
| 9 | Parker Thompson | 85.8% | |
| 10 | Kory Enders | 74.8% | |
| 11 | Moisés de la Vara | 68.2% | |
| 12 | Jacob Abel | 54.8% | |
| 13 | Braden Eves | 54.6% | |
| 14 | Charles Finelli | 48.9% | |
| 15 | Nate Aranda | 44.5% | |
| 16 | Bob Kaminsky | 40.4% | |
| 17 | Kody Swanson | 29.7% | |
| 18 | Jacob Loomis | 23.5% | |
| 19 | Sabre Cook | 19.4% | |
| 20 | Rasmus Lindh | 10.3% | |
| 21 | Tristan Charpentier | 5.4% |
The Firehouse/Goodheart Animal Health Centers sponsored No. 2 driven by Sting Ray Robb and prepared by Juncos Racing, was the only entry to complete all 485 laps during the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires season (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Juncos Racing’s Sting Ray Robb didn’t win his first pole until the ninth race of the season but ended up starting on the inside of the front row in five of the last nine races.
Driver poles
| RANK | DRIVER | POLES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sting Ray Robb | 5 | |
| 2T | Manuel Sulaiman | 3 | |
| 2T | Devlin DeFrancesco | 3 | |
| 4 | Braden Eves | 2 | |
| 5T | Jacob Loomis | 1 | |
| 5T | Artem Petrov | 1 | |
| 5T | Danial Frost | 1 | |
| 5T | Colin Kaminsky | 1 |
A total of 11 different drivers ended the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 season with at least one visit to the podium. Not surprisingly, champion Sting Ray Robb led the way with 11 podiums, leaving the Idahoan with a podium percentage of 61%.
Juncos Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb (center) and Artem Petrov (right) ended the 2020 season with the most and second most podiums. This podium at New Jersey Motorsports Park, was one of the six that they shared in 2020 (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Driver podiums
| RANK | DRIVER | PODIUMS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sting Ray Robb | 11 | |
| 2 | Artem Petrov | 7 | |
| 3T | Devlin DeFrancesco | 6 | |
| 3T | Hunter McElrea | 6 | |
| 3T | Danial Frost | 6 | |
| 6T | Parker Thompson | 4 | |
| 6T | Manuel Sulaiman | 4 | |
| 8 | Colin Kaminsky | 3 | |
| 9 | Braden Eves | 2 | |
| 10T | Kody Swanson | 1 | |
| 10T | Jacob Abel | 1 |
It took until the last race of the 2020 season for USF2000 stalwarts, but Indy Pro 2000 newcomers, Pabst Racing, scored their first win of the season, but a double podium in the final race of the year vaulted them into second place on the team podiums table.
Team Podiums
| RANK | TEAM | PODIUMS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juncos Racing | 18 | |
| 2 | Pabst Racing | 9 | |
| 3 | DEForce Racing | 8 | |
| 4 | Andretti Steinbrenner Racing | 6 | |
| 5 | Turn 3 Motorsport | 6 | |
| 6 | Exclusive Autosport | 2 | |
| 7 | Abel Motorsports | 1 | |
| 8 | Legacy Autosport | 1 |
The Pabst Racing rookie duo of Colin Kaminsky (left) and Hunter McElrea (right) share an Indy Pro 2000 podium in the final race of the 2020 season. The duo combined for nine podiums, the second most of any team (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Ten different drivers during the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 season led laps, with champion Sting Ray Robb leading the most races (eight) and laps (152).
Laps Led
| RANK | DRIVER | LAPS LED | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sting Ray Robb | 152 | |
| 2 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 94 | |
| 3 | Manuel Sulaiman | 72 | |
| 4 | Kody Swanson | 50 | |
| 5 | Artem Petrov | 38 | |
| 6 | Braden Eves | 31 | |
| 7 | Hunter McElrea | 21 | |
| 8 | Colin Kaminsky | 14 | |
| 9 | Parker Thompson | 11 | |
| 10 | Danial Frost | 2 |
Andretti Steinbrenner Racing rookie Devlin DeFrancesco led all 55 laps on the way to a dominant win on the World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway oval. (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
The average finishing position of the driver with the quickest race lap in the 17 Indy Pro 2000 races in 2020 was 5.3, and the fastest driver won only six races. That provides proof that being the quickest during the race doesn’t equate to victory.
However and conversely, having a strong race pace is almost always a requirement for winning. Only once in 17 race was the winner, not one of the three quickest drivers.
Confused?
Simply put, race pace, especially in the junior formulas, provides us with a look at potential.
Fastest Race Lap Average
| RANK | DRIVER | AVG. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sting Ray Robb | 3.4 | |
| 2 | Braden Eves | 4.4 | |
| 3 | Danial Frost | 4.5 | |
| 4 | Hunter McElrea | 5.0 | |
| 5 | Manuel Sulaiman | 5.2 | |
| 6 | Artem Petrov | 5.6 | |
| 7 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 6.7 | |
| 8 | Colin Kaminsky | 7.0 | |
| 9 | Rasmus Lindh | 7.0 | |
| 10 | Parker Thompson | 7.1 | |
| 11 | Kody Swanson | 7.5 | |
| 12 | Jacob Loomis | 7.6 | |
| 13 | Jacob Abel | 9.3 | |
| 14 | Kory Enders | 9.7 | |
| 15 | Antoine Comeau | 9.9 | |
| 16 | Moisés de la Vara | 10.6 | |
| 17 | Tristan Charpentier | 11.0 | |
| 18 | Nate Aranda | 12.2 | |
| 19 | Sabre Cook | 13.8 | |
| 20 | Bob Kaminsky | 14.0 | |
| 21 | Charles Finelli | 14.5 |
Number of races with the fastest race lap
| RANK | DRIVER | RACES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sting Ray Robb | 5 | |
| 2 | Manuel Sulaiman | 4 | |
| 3 | Braden Eves | 2 | |
| 4 | Hunter McElrea | 2 | |
| 5 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 1 | |
| 6 | Colin Kaminsky | 1 | |
| 7 | Kody Swanson | 1 | |
| 8 | Jacob Loomis | 1 | |
| 9 | Danial Frost | 1 |
Number of races with one of the five fastest race laps
| RANK | DRIVER | RACES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunter McElrea | 13 | |
| 2 | Sting Ray Robb | 12 | |
| 3 | Manuel Sulaiman | 10 | |
| 4 | Danial Frost | 10 | |
| 5 | Artem Petrov | 9 | |
| 6 | Parker Thompson | 7 | |
| 7 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 6 | |
| 8 | Colin Kaminsky | 6 | |
| 9 | Braden Eves | 5 | |
| 10 | Kory Enders | 3 | |
| 11 | Kody Swanson | 1 | |
| 12 | Jacob Loomis | 1 |
The driver who gained the most positions relative to where they started in 2020 was Abel Motorsports sophomore, who earned 24 spots over where he qualified while only contesting seven races.
Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports) fends off Artem Petrov (Juncos Racing) at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Abel started 13th and finished 3rd in that race, gaining an impressive 10 positions (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)
Antoine Comeau, who gained positions in 10 races, won the Tilton Hard Charger Award.
Juncos Racing rookie Nate Aranda finished at or above where he qualified in all nine races that he contested.
Positions gained or lost relative to starting position.
| RANK | DRIVER | GAIN/LOSS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Abel | 24 | |
| 2 | Nate Aranda | 22 | |
| 3 | Antoine Comeau | 20 | |
| 4 | Bob Kaminsky | 20 | |
| 5 | Charles Finelli | 18 | |
| 6 | Sabre Cook | 11 | |
| 7 | Moisés de la Vara | 9 | |
| 8 | Rasmus Lindh | 3 | |
| 9 | Kody Swanson | 3 | |
| 10 | Sting Ray Robb | 2 | |
| 11 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 0 | |
| 12 | Tristan Charpentier | 0 | |
| 13 | Kory Enders | -2 | |
| 14 | Jacob Loomis | -3 | |
| 15 | Danial Frost | -8 | |
| 16 | Braden Eves | -9 | |
| 17 | Artem Petrov | -10 | |
| 18 | Hunter McElrea | -11 | |
| 19 | Manuel Sulaiman | -18 | |
| 20 | Colin Kaminsky | -24 | |
| 21 | Parker Thompson | -28 |
Track Records set in 2020
Qualifying
- New Jersey Motorsports Park – Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Racing) 72.3962 seconds
- St. Petersburg Street Circuit – Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Racing) 67.6015 seconds
Race
- New Jersey Motorsports Park – Colin Kaminsky (Pabst Racing) – 72.8344 seconds
- St. Petersburg Street Circuit – Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Racing) 68.1141 seconds
Pabst Racing rookie Colin Kaminsky set the Indy Pro 2000 track record at New Jersey Motorsports Park (Photo Courtesy Of Andersen Promotions)