IndyCar: Interview with Ricardo Juncos before Argentina Exhibition
Juncos Hollinger Racing is taking their NTT INDYCAR Series No 77 entry to Argentina for an Exhibition from November 4th through the 9th. It has been 51 years since the American Series visited Argentina in 1971 for a race at the Autodromo for the USAC Rafaela Indy 300 race, won by Al Unser.
Ricardo Juncos once owned an auto repair shop in Argentina. During the economic downturn in his country, Juncos moved his family to Miami in early 2002 with only $400 in his pocket. Today he has a race shop in Speedway, Indiana and has entries competing in the NTT INDYCAR Series, Indy Pro 2000, Indy Lights, and IMSA.
AR1 spoke with co-owner Ricard Juncos before he jetted off to his native country for this exciting event. We asked what his reasons were for making the trip home and running his car at the two tracks.
“I think this is huge for my country. I am dealing with the main sponsors. I am the only team in the history of the country being here in IndyCar. And it has been 51 years since there was an INDYCAR race there.”
“I think it would be a dream to have a race INDYCAR in my country. The thing is the passion of motor racing fans is huge. I don’t see anywhere else on the planet where it is something like Argentineans’ passion.”
“My intention with the exhibition as well is to show the INDYCAR and Americans how passionate we are over there about racing. There are many good race tracks, and street courses. And I don’t think you will believe how many people will come out to see our car run ten laps.”
“So it’s an exhibition to promote INDYCAR, promote my team and try to, you know, activate some sponsors if I can make that happen.”
Juncos is running Agustin Canapino as his driver for this exhibition. The Argentinean raced in two races for the Juncos IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship team back in 2019.
AR1 asked what the relationship with Canapino is since the team is looking to add an entry for the 2023 season and is looking for that second driver.
“Agustin has always raced in Argentina in the top three classes. He is a multi-time champion, actually on the road course. He has already passed some of the top drivers. He is 32 years old and still making records. I think he is going to be a legend for sure. He is already on highest numbers and the most popular driver in Argentina, by far as well.”
“We tested him last week in the car and his performance was really good. First time in an open-wheel car. But if you are talented, you are talented.”
“Kinda like Scott McLaughlin coming to Penske with no open wheel experience and look how good he’s doing. McLaughlin is just two years younger than Agustin, but if you are good, you are good.”
AR1 asked about the relationship with Agustin’s father, Alberto.
“Alberto was one of the most famous Argentinean constructor guys, with chassis, like an engineer. So he has the majority of record with all the drivers over the years with championships.”
“Alberto was a genius on developing and designing race cars. He designed race cars and suspensions. He was a professor as well.”
“We became close friends when he came to Daytona in 2019. My conversation with him was I was looking for someone here in the states to lead my technical department on the Road to Indy side. “
“I think he would have been perfect for the job and that’s something else that he wanted to do. Unfortunately what happened is COVID took him away at the age of 54 years old in February of 2019.”
AR1 asked if Canapino is in the running for the second seat at JHR.
“We have six drivers on the list for next year potentially. Agustin is one of those. We really don’t know who’s gonna be the second driver at the moment.”
“We do need to first find money to compete properly. If the money does not come from the sponsor, then it has to come from the driver. Once we get the money, then we try to get the best potential driver.”
Looking forward to seeing a good exhibition in Argentina.
Lucille Dust reporting for AR1