If the split between Juncos Hollinger Racing and Callum Ilott was treated like a divorce, the paperwork filed by both sides would cite “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the dissolution of their marriage.
The change in relationship status wouldn’t have been necessary if more care had been taken — more empathy shown — during a tumultuous season, but nonetheless, I’m convinced the termination of this relationship is what’s best for all involved.
How we got here and how they move forward requires a lot of unpacking. Having monitored the situation all season, the twists and turns that led to this unfortunate outcome were never necessary, but before we venture down that road, let’s start with the more immediate question of whether Ilott has a realistic chance of racing next season.
I called around to the IndyCar teams with known vacancies and struggled to find anything for Ilott that would be considered an upgrade from JHR. Andretti Global, which has yet to declare its intentions for its fourth entry, said it doesn’t have any openings. A.J. Foyt Racing could be a destination for Ilott, who would seemingly hold a lot of value on the Penske side of the new Penske-Foyt relationship, but the Foyts need funding to be attached to anyone who might drive its cars in 2024, and Ilott is a paid professional, not someone who brings money to a team.
The only hope I can summon for Ilott next season is with Dale Coyne Racing, and even that comes with caveats. Coyne is by no means lacking in driver options, and in the case of at least three prospective pilots, they have significant budgets to bring to the team. Ilott is tons better than any of those on Coyne’s short list, so Coyne faces a question of how competitive or how well paid he wants to be next year.
If it isn’t Coyne or Foyt, it might be IMSA, WEC, or SRO in a bridge year for Ilott, who turns 25 next week.
If only Juncos and Ilott split soon after the contentious September 10 season finale. As one team principal told me, “The timing is really unfortunate because if [Ilott] was free to have a month ago, he’d have been taken.”
And if that timing was back in summer, we might be referring to him as Andretti’s Ilott or Arrow McLaren’s Ilott or Ganassi’s Ilott. Even if the end came in early October, I’d bet Ilott would be strapping into the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy as Rinus VeeKay’s new stablemate. Instead, he’s entering an IndyCar driver market that’s almost barren.
If nothing materializes next season, Ilott should have better options in 2025, but that’s a long way off and a lot of things could change in the meantime.
And who will replace Ilott? I’ve been convinced for the better part of two months that Romain Grosjean is headed to JHR, and I won’t be surprised if he’s confirmed as the new driver of the No. 77 Chevy.
I first had Grosjean replacing Agustin Canapino in the No. 78, but sponsors were recently found to keep the Argentinian in the seat. Still, I continue to hear the Swiss-born Frenchman is inbound at JHR. We’ll know on Thursday, and if it isn’t Grosjean, who is represented by the same manager as Ilott, I have no idea whose name will be on the car.
The combination of Ilott and JHR held immense promise as the team made a surprise return to IndyCar after a two-year hiatus. From 2017-19, Juncos Racing generated a headline or two, but never threatened the top teams and had to rely on paying drivers at most rounds.
To ensure their new venture was unlike the last, Ricardo Juncos and new partner Brad Hollinger went searching for a driver to lead the team on its return to IndyCar in 2021 who could bring something fresh and exciting to the renamed program.
The single-car team, which struggled to attract championship-caliber staff in every area of the building, was fortunate to acquire Formula 2 star and Ferrari Formula 1 test driver Ilott, who was signed to run three late races as a precursor to embarking on a full-season campaign in 2022.
New to the car, tracks, and oval racing, llott was as good as advertised, especially with such a daunting learning curve to overcome. Across 16 races, he produced eight finishes between eighth and 15th for the small outfit on the way to placing 20th in the championship.
JHR expanded to two full-time entries in 2023 with 15-time Argentinian touring car champion Canapino as Ilott’s teammate. Ilott’s road racing expertise was complemented by a major rise in oval prowess where a fighting run to ninth at Texas and a 12th at the Indianapolis 500 were signs of his year-to-year growth. While Ilott didn’t love ovals as a rookie, that changed in his second season as he found his groove and was always one to watch.
Boosted by an opening charge to fifth to start the year on the streets of St. Petersburg, and another fifth to close the season on the Laguna Seca road course, Ilott improved to 16th in the standings with the No. 77 Chevy, one spot behind Graham Rahal and one ahead of new Arrow McLaren driver David Malukas.
Canapino also impressed as the open-wheel and oval rookie finished 21st in the championship in the No. 78 Chevy, and as a tandem, the JHR drivers ensured their entries would receive $915,000 Leaders Circle contracts from IndyCar for placing inside the top 22 in entrants’ points. Those are the positives to chronicle from the 2023 season.
The parting of ways, as I understand it, was in motion for weeks and mostly stems from the fallout of the social media attacks Ilott received from some of Canapino’s fans, which made for two of IndyCar’s ugliest moments of the year.
And for the sake of absolute clarity, Ilott bore no responsibility for the social media attacks.
The first, at the conclusion of April’s race at Long Beach, came when he was blamed for impeding Canapino and was also attached to the cause for his teammate’s crash, which came after Canapino briefly led the race when he inherited the lead as most of the field pitted and resumed behind his No. 78 entry. The blame for the latter came despite being uninvolved in his teammate’s meeting with the wall.
The furor raised towards Ilott, which he largely attributed to a hysterical commentator on the Latin American IndyCar feed, inspired all manner of online threats from an element of Canapino’s fan base towards the No. 77 driver and his family.
In response — more than 24 hours later — IndyCar posted a message that rebuked the aggressive online behavior. Ilott’s team followed suit with a message of its own on April 18. The race took place on April 16.
To say Ilott felt exposed and inadequately supported by his team throughout the inflamed affair would be a gross understatement, and that feeling returned a few more times before the season was over.
Being bombarded for days by his teammate’s fans on social media was troubling for the 24-year-old; JHR could have rushed to Ilott’s defense while at Long Beach, but chose to take its time, weighing in on Tuesday. It had the look of pouring a bottle of water on a house that had already burned to the ground. JHR’s bizarre handling of the situation generated more questions than answers, which undermined the strong relationship it had with its lead driver.
When it happened again, in September at Laguna Seca, JHR took the lead on trying to calm the storm, but once more, the response was late — more than 24 hours after the checkered flag — and by then, the motivation to fight for Ilott in its messaging was gone. In a half-hearted post, the team tipped its hand.