IndyCar Wrap-Up: Juncos Hollinger Racing's 2023 Season

The third 2023 IndyCar Wrap-Up looks at a pleasantly exciting team from the 2022 season, Juncos Hollinger Racing, and JHR had more to be excited about this season. The team expanded to two cars for 2023, keeping Callum Ilott after a notable rookie season, but it brought in a new driver from a pathway that has no history of producing any IndyCar drivers. One of the biggest question marks of the season turned out to be another exciting outcome for JHR, but pace was still lacking.

Callum Ilott

After flashes of speed last season, Ilott returned for a sophomore season looking to make more headway to the front of the grid and translating good qualifying results into good finishes. The flashes were non-existent in 2023, but Ilott still drew respectable results for one of the smallest and newest teams on the grid.

What objectively was his best rottace?
In the St. Petersburg season opener, Ilott started 22nd, but he avoided the mess and climbed his way to a top five finish, the first of his career. That is how Ilott started his season. 

How did he finish his season? He was fifth at Laguna Seca in a race where he missed the mess and he was the mess, spinning on his own entering the pit lane and having some contact with others, and he still finished fifth! 

What subjectively was his best race?

The Indianapolis 500 was in question for Ilott for most of practice and into qualifying. Juncos Hollinger Racing could not quite get the car dialed in and it looked like Ilott would be in danger of missing the race. The team proactively changed to the backup car, and it was the right move, as Ilott ended up qualifying 27th, which had more speed than his primary car had shown throughout the entire practice week.

During the race, Ilott kept moving forward, and he benefitted from some of the late accidents, but Ilott ended up finishing 12th, completing all 200 laps.

What objectively was his worst race?
Ilott ran into the back of Kyle Kirkwood at the start of the Detroit race and his race was over after one lap, placing him 27th, but Detroit wasn't his only 27th-place finish of the season. Ilott was 27th at Gateway after a brushing the wall. It felt like Ilott was going to finish in the top fifteen and had an outside shot of slipping into the top ten.

What subjectively was his worst race?

It does not get much worse than Detroit, but besides that one incident, Ilott's biggest issue, and JHR's issue in general, was the team's general lack of pace. Unlike 2022, where JHR had a few breakout weekends, JHR did not have that. Ilott was starting toward the rear of the field on a regular basis. He made up positions in most races, but he was not breaking into the top ten. It was good to be gaining seven to nine positions a race, but that was just getting him into the top fifteen.

Callum Ilott's 2023 Statistics

Championship Position: 16th (266 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 3
Laps Led: 5
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 1
Average Start: 19
Average Finish: 15.294

Agustín Canapino

A veteran driver from the domestic Argentina motorsports scene, everyone had an eye on Canapino wondering how he would adapt and expecting him to be a liability. He was far from that, holding his own in his first real open-wheel experience against drivers who have spent their entire racing careers in single-seater cars. It wasn't a great season but it was better than almost anyone imagined.

What objectively was his best race?
Canapino had three finishes of 12th, including two in the first two races at St. Petersburg and Texas. The next one was at Detroit. 

What subjectively was his best race?

All three of those races were worthy of being mentioned. St. Petersburg was his first IndyCar race and only the second weekend in an open-wheel race. Expectations were low and he was on pace, keeping the car out of the barriers. But Texas was his first oval race and he was in his element despite such an unordinary setting. He made it to the checkered flag and never put a wheel wrong. 

The Indianapolis 500 should be mentioned because Canapino was the top running rookie for a good portion of the race and looked set to potentially take Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors before he ran into the back of Simon Pagenaud while the field was slowing for the Patricio O'Ward accident. This ended Canapino's race.

What objectively was his worst race?
Along with 26th at Indianapolis, he was 26th at Barber Motorsports Park, in the second Iowa race and Portland. He did finish on the lead lap at Barber, but he brushed the barrier in the Iowa race and ended up 14 laps down. A mechanical failure spin Canapino off course at Portland and ended his day. 

What subjectively was his worst race?

Indianapolis was a missed opportunity. It is really Canapino's only major mistake this season. The entire end of the "500" was messy and incoherent, but a slight lapse of concentration took him out of the race and ended what was a great day otherwise.

Agustín Canapino's 2023 Statistics

Championship Position: 21st (180 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 0
Laps Led: 3
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 22.235
Average Finish: 19.706

An Early Look Ahead

For all the excitement behind this team, next month's Argentine general election will be the most important Argentine general election in IndyCar history. 

Questions loom over whether the Argentine tourism money will continue with the team for next year. This also factors into whether or not IndyCar has a race in Argentina, which has been rumored for the last year. One domino falling in Buenos Aires will set off a reaction in Indianapolis. 

As much praise as Canapino earned for his rookie season in IndyCar, we must remember he scored only 180 points from 17 starts, about 10.588 points per start. His average finish was 22.235. He did well for a driver who never raced full-time in an single-seater car prior and was moving to a new series in a new country at 33 years old, but Canapino is far from being a top ten contender. I don't know if IndyCar is the best way to draw tourists to Argentina, but it would be an easy expense to pull the plug on.

If that is the case, where does it leave JHR? 

The team sounds set with Ilott for another season, but that Argentina money was helping the team across the board. The Brit should be safe, but the second seat will remain in question, and if the Argentina money does not return, Ilott may also be in jeopardy. It is difficult to see Canapino raising the funds to remain if Argentina pulls out. Ricardo Juncos was fond of bringing his fellow Argentine to America. If Canapino is out of a ride, will Juncos decide it is best for the team to turn its focus to one car or will he try and keep two cars on the grid.

Two cars did not yield substantially better results. Qualifying results did take a dip. One car might still be the right number for JHR. 

Ilott is likely heading into his final year with JHR. He has done well with the organization, but thinking he is going to stick around for a fourth season in 2025 is difficult to fathom. His stock didn't fall after the 2023 season, but it was high after 2022 and with the likes of Chip Ganassi Racing expanding to five cars with three drivers 24 years or younger, David Malukas moving to Arrow McLaren, Andretti Autosport possibly downsizing to three cars and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing possibly set with Christian Lundgaard, Graham Rahal and Jüri Vips as the clubhouse leader for the #30 entry, Ilott might have missed an opportunity for a promotion to a top tier team. 

Unanswered questions are always present for a small team, but the ones facing JHR entering 2024 are uncomfortable to answer, and they may become an even greater challenge as we get deeper into the offseason.