Indy 500 qualifying: Juncos, Callum Ilott opt for last

Oct 27, 2023

INDIANAPOLIS -- After limping through an afternoon Indianapolis 500 Open Test session where he couldn't safely muster speeds he used to pass his Rookie Orientation Program a year ago, Callum Ilott and Juncos Hollinger Racing spent the next four weeks – well into the 500's Fast Friday – mulling a switch to a new chassis. More than halfway into Friday's 500 practice with nearly 100 extra horsepower on-hand, ahead of qualifying weekend, JHR team co-owner Ricardo Juncos finally decided to perform the exorcism of sorts and swap chassis on Ilott's the demonic car that they’d swapped everything else off of in recent weeks and days.

The decision, which Ilott told media he was pushing for Wednesday evening after the first six-hour day of practice for the 500 this week, could put the team in jeopardy of missing Day 1 of 500 qualifying Saturday, should they be unable to swap everything over to the new chassis in roughly 24 hours. Whenever he hits the track next, Ilott will be attempting to make his second appearance in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing in his rookie teammate Agustin Canapino's test chassis that he used in April before sliding into his purpose-built one Wednesday.

"To be honest, I have more confidence going into that (chassis) than I do right now with what we have," Ilott told select media steps away from his team garage as his crew moved frantically to begin the rebuild that eerily mirrored Juncos Racing's Fast Friday practice from 2019 when driver Kyle Kaiser crashed early in the day.

Lucky for Ilott, Kaiser and Juncos, who at the time didn't have any sponsors on the plain white Dallara car, bumped their way into the race, sending McLaren and Fernando Alonso home.

"I wasn't comfortable with (the old car) on Wednesday, and we worked the whole day to get it into a window where I was comfortable, but not fast. And then we got it into an okay window (Thursday), but again, still not fast, and today is just like, to be able to make it fast, it just doesn't feel safe," the young British driver continued. "I know what the car should feel like, and it doesn't feel like that. I wasn't happy to continue working with it, but I was working with it.

"I think we were going to be in the bottom-four (which will fight Sunday for the last three spots in the 33-car field), and whether people want to hear that or not, it's realistic. If that's where we end up, I’ll fight to the end to make sure we’re not that last car (that won't make the race)."

Juncos told media around the garages just after the replacement chassis was wheeled into the No. 77 Chevy team's garage bay that the final straw was hearing Ilott hint at "safety" issues.

"He said that to me, and as soon as he did, I knew that wasn't right. At this stage, we need to do something that's 100% safe and certain and that we have no doubt about," the Argentine team owner said. "We considered this at (the beginning of the week) but with the rain, we couldn't afford to lose another day, so you keep trying things, and it seemed to be better. And then, all a sudden, here we are Friday, and it's no good

"Unfortunately, I think we’re doing the right thing, but I’m not happy. We should’ve done this earlier, but it's a brand-new car that we put together after we crashed (in last year's 500). It's lighter, stiffer and the good things you have with a new car, but clearly something is not right."

During April, for what turned into a single-day Open Test, Ilott finished 18th (220.911 mph) among the 25 veteran drivers who turned laps. Later that afternoon, though, he couldn't hit 213 mph and ran all of 10 laps when some drivers turned as many as 120. After Tuesday's wash out this week, the 24-year-old ex-F2 driver started Wednesday seeming to deal with many of the same issues, failing to break 216 mph over a lap at the three-hour mark, far-and-away the slowest in the field and nearly 5 mph slower than his teammate, Canapino (who was still second-slowest at the time). By the end of the day, he’d worked his way up to a lap of 223.409 mph, but was still at the bottom of the timing charts.

Thursday, Ilott neared 225 mph near the start of his session (Lap 4, 224.727 mph) but would go no faster through the rest of the day and finished 32nd. With the Fast Friday boost, Ilott only managed to turn a lap of 228.942 mph early in the day – nearly two miles-an-hour slower than the next fastest car.

"I think the frustrating thing is trying to convey something you’re feeling that you’re not seeing in the data, and that's a hard thing to do and keep doing. Maybe some take it as complaining, but at the end of the day, you’re doing 230 mph, and if it doesn't feel right and you’re not comfortable they tell you to (pit)," Ilott said. "Well, I haven't been comfortable ever. I end up doing two corners, coming in, then two corners, coming in. We tried pretty hard to make it work, but the problem is, we’re a small team. We’re a bit limited in what we have.

"When things settle down, I will try and go help. Half of them are British, so I need to go make some tea. I’ll be here with them tonight and maybe go and get some food for them. I want to support and be a good guy. I’ve been stressed the last couple days because it's not been good, but this has kinda been a bit of a relief to start from scratch again. I’m not here panicking."