On Wednesday, Juncos Hollinger Racing announced it will field a second car for the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season. Callum Ilott will continue to drive the No. 77 JHR Chevrolet, while a drive will be named later for the No. 78 JHR Chevrolet.
This season, Callum Ilott is in 20th place in the points standings with two top-ten finishes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course (8th) and at Portland International Raceway (9th). His highest qualifying position is seventh, twice in Indianapolis Road Course and Toronto.
To be able to announce this today and make this a reality is incredible,” said JHR Co-owner and Team Principal Ricardo Juncos. “We have stood by our words from the beginning that we would continue to grow and expand, and that is what we are doing. For us expanding to a two-car team is very exciting to announce but was also our plan for the past year since we joined the NTT IndyCar Series full time.”
“We wanted to start this year with one car, to start the protocols and procedures for the team,” continued Juncos. “Our philosophy that we work with is a little bit different than the standards, so we wanted to make sure we implanted our plan the right way by focusing on one car before we expanded. We are doing exactly as we planned and will continue with our two-car team for the foreseeable future, starting in 2023. We are going to keep building this team the way Brad and I planned from the beginning and to do what is the best in terms of development, technical, marketing, and everything else.”
Juncos Racing were in the NTT IndyCar Series for two seasons (2017-19) before taking the year off in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2021, Brad Hollinger became a co-owner, and the team was rebranded at Juncos Hollinger Racing.
We are very excited to be entering the next season with our second entry,” said Co-owner Brad Hollinger. “Ricardo, Callum, and the entire team have done an exceptional job this year by exceeding the objectives we set for ourselves for the first full year of running in the NTT IndyCar Series. Now, we are scheduled to expand the team, which will give us a significant competitive boost for the 2023 campaign. Having a second car enables the team to meaningfully enhance our data analytics, as well as test varying track set-ups and race strategies. The advantages of a multiple car team are immense.”
“Callum is an exceptional young driver who has exceeded all expectations in only his first year of the NTT IndyCar Series. By pairing him with an accomplished teammate will serve to advance his performance even further. Our goal is straightforward, to be at the point of the arrow. Clearly, Ricardo has demonstrated his ability to assemble a winning team. This past weekend Juncos Hollinger Racing won the Indy Pro 2000 team championship for the sixth time, and the team has also won in the Indy Lights Series in the past as well. Our 2023 game plan is a great step forward towards our ultimate goal of winning NTT IndyCar Series team and driver’s title.”
