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Juncos Racing confirms its arrival into IndyCar, Indy 500

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Ricardo Juncos’ near-15-year dream to make it to the Verizon IndyCar Series with his team, Juncos Racing, is now officially a reality.

The team has grown from karting, progressed into a championship-winning outfit in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires and will now make its debut in IndyCar this season, having confirmed an entry into the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

Driver and manufacturer announcements are expected at a later date. Kyle Kaiser and Nico Dapero have already been confirmed for Juncos’ full season in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires.

In December, the team relocated and opened a new 40,000-square foot building in Speedway, Ind., right in the shadows of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A plan to move into IndyCar has been percolating and developing for a bit of time, and is now formalized.

“I am so happy to officially announce our participation in the Verizon IndyCar Series,” Juncos said in a release. “This is a dream come true for me and my team. It’s been only two months since our grand opening of the new Juncos Technical Center, which was a huge moment for us. Now we are becoming a new team in the Verizon IndyCar Series and will run in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ the Indianapolis 500. This is definitely one of the biggest moments in my life.

“It’s always hard to identify the right moment and right time to make a big move and make big decisions in motor racing, but I am confident the timing is right and that we will succeed as we did in the Mazda Road to Indy ladder series. I want to thank Mark Miles (Hulman & Co. CEO) and Jay Frye (INDYCAR president of competition and operations) from the Verizon IndyCar Series for all of their help and confidence they have had in me and my team.

“I also want to thank Mr. Kevin Kalkhoven from KV Racing Technology. He has been extremely helpful during this transition and, with his continued support and help with all of his experience in racing, we are confident going into this next level. Thank you to my family and my team for giving me massive support throughout the years, and to all of the fans, thank you!”

Both Jay Frye, INDYCAR president of competition and operations, and Kevin Kalkhoven, co-owner of the now defunct KV Racing Technology, have helped instrumentally in the process and welcome Juncos with open arms.

“INDYCAR has been fortunate to have many drivers graduate from the Mazda Road to Indy program to the Verizon IndyCar Series, and those drivers have done a phenomenal job over the years,” Frye said. “Another goal of the Mazda Road to Indy program is to graduate teams and INDYCAR is working hard to help create opportunities for those teams to move up to the Verizon IndyCar Series. Ricardo and Juncos Racing have a great history of success, and we are proud to have them become a part of the Verizon IndyCar Series.”

“We are delighted Ricardo is developing a program to progress to the Indy 500 and beyond,” Kalkhoven added. “We are committed to helping him and his team with our experience, equipment and data to best ensure a successful entry.”

An introductory video to Ricardo Juncos and the team is linked below (main page at Juncos Racing website, linked here).

https://player.vimeo.com/video/200194613?title=0&byline=1

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