IndyCar: Alfonso Celis Jr. to return to Juncos Racing at Portland

Alfonso Celis Jr. is set to make his second career IndyCar start for Juncos Racing in the race at Portland International Raceway next month.

Former Sahara Force India reserve driver Alfonso Celis Jr., 21, made his IndyCar debut in late June in the 10th race of the 17-race 2018 season, the Kohler Grand Prix, at Road America.

Celis Jr. finished the 55-lap race around the 14-turn, 4.048-mile (6.515-kilometer) road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in 20th place out of 23 drivers. He finished as the second driver one lap behind the leader.

Celis Jr. made his IndyCar debut as the driver of the #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet, and he is set to return to IndyCar driving the #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet in the Grand Prix of Portland, which is scheduled to be held on Sunday, September 2.

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IndyCar has not raced at the 12-turn, 1.967-mile (3.166-kilometer) Portland International Raceway road course in Portland, Oregon since the 2007 season, and the race at the track that season was a CART race, so Celis Jr. will be in the same boat as a number of other drivers heading into the race weekend having never raced at the track, which replaced Watkins Glen International on this year’s schedule.

Here is what Celis Jr. had to say about the opportunity to driver in his second career IndyCar race this season, according to IndyCar.com.

"“I’m very happy to be able to make my dream come true again and return to my second Indy car race. This is a great way to continue building a project that I think has a lot of future and that I’m extremely excited about.“I’m very motivated about racing in Portland. We have worked together on developing the setup of the car both on track and in the (racing simulator), and I feel very proud to be able to do all this work together with Juncos Racing. Before my debut in Road America, I had been out of the car for a while and it was also my first time in an Indy car, so this second time around should be even better. I’ve been training as hard as I can and I feel ready for this challenge.“I’m very grateful with Juncos Racing for giving me this opportunity and putting their trust in me, and for all the people that have helped make this happen. The Verizon IndyCar Series has the best racing and the best drivers in the world, and this is where I want to be. There has been huge following of the series in Mexico over the years and I want to do everything I can to help revive that love for the sport in my country.”"

Here is what Juncos Racing team owner Ricardo Juncos had to say about it, according to IndyCar.

"“We had a great weekend overall with him back at Road America. His knowledge and feedback of the car provided our team with very valuable and important data. I am confident he will put on another great weekend and we look forward to getting him back in the car later this month.”"

Celis Jr. had not driven in any American open-wheel racing series before this season, so the fact that he has the chance to drive in the second IndyCar race of his career this year is a major positive.

The 21-year-old Mexican, who test drove for Force India in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, made his debut in American open-wheel racing earlier this season driving for Juncos Racing in Indy Lights. He finished in seventh and eighth place in the two races at Barber Motorsports Park, another road course, in Birmingham, Alabama.

Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 2 for the live broadcast of the Grand Prix of Portland from Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon to see Alfonso Celis Jr. make his second career IndyCar start.