We are getting into the nitty-gritty of the IndyCar offseason. It is unclear when the postseason becomes the offseason and when the offseason becomes the preseason. It feels safe to say we are in that last phase. Only 19 days remain until the first race of the season.
Juncos Hollinger Racing will be looking for improved results, and it will be doing it with an entirely new lineup. Two drivers in, two drivers out from how the team looked on this day one year ago. From a Trans-Atlantic partnership to an All-American duo, results aren't the only change the JHR operation will be looking for. It should be a little less controversial off the track as well.
At First Glance... It looks good on the outside, but performance is what counts
In come Sting Ray Robb and Conor Daly. Daly was already there, an interim solution at the end of the 2024 season that has turned into a permanent role. Daly got the #78 Chevrolet into the Leader Circle fund over the final five races of the season. It was enough to pass the audition. Robb is moving to his third team in three years. He brings a cushion of cash to comfort the program.
On the outside, it is a safe lineup. Daly is the mouth of IndyCar, constantly running and hard to ignore. Robb brings a smile. They are a safe combination for a team. One will continuously sing praise about IndyCar. The other will be welcoming even on the worst days. It is a small thing but a mammoth change for the JHR group.
For two seasons, it not only had to fight on the racetrack but had to deal with raging fires off the track due to the social media conduct surrounding one of its drivers. Twice it involved a teammate. Then it involved a partner and cost JHR a beneficial cooperative. Neither Daly nor Robb should pose those problem, but it is 2025 and the world is a tinderbox. Sneezing the wrong way could set the place ablaze.
JHR will win over fanfare from its drivers for their personalities, but what determines how successful you are as a team is what is done on the racetrack. You can sign all the autographs and take all the photographs in the world but that doesn't really pays the bills in motorsports. At some point, you must succeed to warrant the interest from sponsors and investors. In its first three seasons as a full-time IndyCar team, success has been rare for this team.
There have been glorious moments that show how competitive IndyCar can be where JHR has a car fighting in the final round of qualifying for pole position or finds itself in the top five late in a race. The problem is that is one or twice in a 17-race season. Most of the time, JHR goes unnoticed, and that isn't mentioning the two or three times it is noticed for a bad thing.
It is year four and JHR has an experienced lineup. Though he hasn't been full-time even majority of the time, Daly has been in IndyCar for over a decade and has worked with a multitude of teams. He has gotten good results with less than perfect equipment. He has been in far worse situations. It is time to see a little more.
We saw a little more in 2024, but not really enough. We must see even more than that in 2025. It isn't going to be consistent race victories and podium finishes, but JHR must make a step further into the middle. It has been living on the edge of the bottom third, which isn't the bottom but not a great place to be. It must put more daylight between it and last. This is the time to make up some ground.
2024 Juncos Hollinger Racing Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 3rd (Milwaukee I)
Poles: 0
Best Start: 5th (St. Petersburg, Toronto)
Championship Finishes: 17th (Romain Grosjean), 26th (Conor Daly), 27th (AgustÃn Canapino)
Sting Ray Robb - #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Numbers to Remember:
22.176: Average finish in 2023
19.176: Average finish in 2024
17.235: Average finish of Juncos Hollinger Racing entries over the last two seasons
What does a championship season look like for him?
Do you remember what I wrote for Devlin DeFrancesco?
That! All that!
Except Robb has improved and Juncos Hollinger Racing has made strides to take it ahead of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Chevrolet power proves to give Robb an advantage and plays a crucial role in deciding the oval races. With Robb finishing best in five of those six events, he can get away with another three victories in the road and street course events to eek out a championship that most ignore.
What does a realistic season look like for him?
Considering that entering the 2025 season moving from A.J. Foyt Racing to Juncos Hollinger Racing would be considered a slight step down, it is hard to imagine how Robb will do better than last year, but then again, JHR's team average finish over the last two seasons is almost 3.5 positions better than Robb's career average finish, this isn't a massive leap back for the Idahoan.
We have seen glimpses of speed with Juncos Hollinger Racing since it became a full-time IndyCar operation in 2022, but those glimpses have been rare, and they have come at the hands of some pretty skilled driver. Robb is not associated in the same class of drivers as Callum Ilott, Romain Grosjean and Conor Daly, and Daly is barely in the same class as the first two.
JHR has been good, and Robb showed on the Road to Indy he improves with time. Every season he spent in the junior system was better than the previous one. That trend has stuck through his first two IndyCar seasons. Eventually, all things end.
Robb might have been 20th in the drivers' championship, but the #41 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet was 24th and did not finish inside the Leader Circle positions. A few drivers benefitted in the standings last season due to the number of cars that rotated entries midseason. Robb did pick up his first career top ten, but he still had seven finishes outside the top twenty and 14 finishes outside the top fifteen.
The big change from 2023 to 2024 was Robb didn't have any finishes outside the top 25 last year after having four in 2023, including a 31st in Indianapolis, and he went from one top fifteen finish to three. Those incremental gains show up in an average finish improving three positions, but it is in average finish going from outside the top twenty to barely inside the top twenty.
Those incremental gains could continue at JHR for Robb, or he will plateau. The latter is highly likely.
Conor Daly - #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
Numbers to Remember:
11: Teams in his IndyCar career
8: Daly has finished in the top ten for eight of those 11 teams
4: Of those teams he has finished in the top five with
What does a championship season look like for him?
Juncos Hollinger Racing being at its best at every round.
It is producing a car that can make it out of the first round of qualifying on road and street courses in every race and pushing to make it to the final round majority of the time. With those advantageous starting positions, Daly is able to run regularly in the top ten.
In that spot, when the JHR crew is on it, Daly is able to go forward, taking an eighth spot in the grid and turn it into a top five finish. Or taking a fifth grid spot and turning it into a podium run. With those kind of runs, Daly is further up the championship order than anyone would imagine from the start.
Ovals are where Daly makes his money. On those days, Daly is a contender. He isn't working his way to get to the font, he is at the front and engaging in the chess game from the very beginning to maintain track position until the final stint. Based on his ability, Daly is able to over maneuver the competition and take victories. It all starts at Indianapolis.
Daly's oval form is what carries him and complements his exceptional road and street course performances. Days where he is off and slips to ninth or out of the top ten are made up for with podium finishes on the ovals. Avoiding all trouble, Daly is able to put together the most unlikely of championship finishes.
What does a realistic season look like for him?
Daly is a driver who has never finished better than 17th in the championship when he has competed full-time joining a team who has had an average finish of slightly worse than 17th over the last two seasons.
They are perfect for one another! Oh, and let's not forget to mention JHR finished 17th in the championship last year with Romain Grosjean. Again, perfect.
It can be better. Daly has done a good job getting more out of bad equipment, except at Ed Carpenter Racing. Results will require a little help from the strategist, something we have not seen JHR excel at. If Daly can get the car into a good position and the crew can formulate a strategy that can get that little extra, both Daly and JHR could improve.
JHR had eight top ten finishes last season. Daly was responsible for two of them. The team can get some results. The problem is Daly has never had more than five top ten finishes in the season, and that was his rookie year.
The team had a top ten finish in four of the final five oval races last year, which bodes well for Daly. It doesn't mean the batting average will be exactly where he wants it, but he should have some good results, and that will be the start. Three or four top ten finishes on ovals will set up well. If the road and street course form can come close to matching, Daly could be on the verge of breaking into the top fifteen.
Grosjean had six top ten finishes, one of which was a fourth at Laguna Seca, and he was still 37 points outside the top fifteen. Daly will need least two or three top five finishes and eight to ten top ten finishes on his own. That is a big ask. It will not be without a lack of effort.
The 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 2 with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Fox's coverage of the season opener will begin at noon Eastern Time.
