IndyCar: Will Indy 500 heroes Juncos Racing be back in 2020?

Juncos Racing want to be back in IndyCar for at least the 2020 Indianapolis 500. Will they return after Kyle Kaiser’s heroic Indy 500 effort in 2019?

Juncos Racing have competed part-time in IndyCar since the 2017 season. They made their debut with two entries in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and they returned with one car in the 2018 season, but they competed in 12 races with three drivers.

For the 2019 season, their initial plan was to run two cars. They ended up competing in only two races with just one car.

What do their 2020 plans hold?

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Over the offseason, the Ricardo Juncos-owned team have vowed to make their IndyCar program “bigger and better than ever” for the 2020 season.

Whether this means more races, more cars, both, additional support, etc., nobody knows for sure. But we do know that the team do want to be back for the 104th running of the Indy 500 this May.

And it stands to reason, given how their month of May turned out in 2019 with 2017 Indy Lights champion Kyle Kaiser behind the wheel of the #32 Chevrolet.

In the final qualifying run of Bump Day, Kaiser took to the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Brickyard in Speedway, Indiana needing to knock out two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso and McLaren for the 33rd and final spot on the starting grid just to compete in the 200-lap main event the following week.

Kaiser, who had crashed had earlier in the week and left the team reeling just to get a car together, did exactly that, and he did it in epic fashion.

The 23-year-old Santa Clara, California native posted four laps that were all quicker than any laps he had recorded throughout the month leading up to that point. He had completed 175 laps before making this run.

Kaiser finished a grand total of 0.0129 seconds (158.3311 seconds to 158.3440 seconds) ahead of Alonso over the course of their respective four-lap, 10-mile qualifying attempts. That equates to 51.618249 inches, and at over 227 miles per hour.

He ended up crashing in the race the following week, and Juncos Racing haven’t competed in America’s premier open-wheel racing series since.

But Juncos has his eyes set on this May.

Here is what he had to say about the matter last month, according to Autoweek.

"“My intention today is to try to close a deal for the 500. At the moment, just be at the 500 because that’s where I think we should be after what happened last year. So that’s my main focus at the moment.”"

Would it be Kaiser behind the wheel if they are able to piece together a deal?

"“Kyle is one of the drivers. In fact, if I had to choose, I would choose him because of what we did. … So, I think we’ve got to do it again and see if we’re going to be good.”"

While the Indy 500 is the primary goal, Juncos wouldn’t rule out fielding a car in multiple races like he did in 2018, when Kaiser drove in four races, Rene Binder drove in six and Alfonso Celis Jr. drove in two.

"“I mean, like, what happened in ’18, we only had Kyle for three races and…we did 12 races with three different drivers. I don’t know, it all depends. … Obviously, all the teams, IndyCar is going through a good moment. You see how many drivers and cars and teams there are, so it’s good and that probably leaves us as the only option open that will probably be asked, so to speak. Other than the 500, maybe we can flip the car for some races. But at this point, I don’t know.”"

He confirmed earlier this week that their plan is still to compete in the Indy 500, but that nothing is official. Here is what he had to say, according to RACER.

"“We’re still hoping to find the way to be in Indy 500, which was my goal from the beginning. I knew that going to the full season is difficult. … I don’t want to miss the opportunity for the Indy 500, which is the most important [race] for us at the moment.”"

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Will the David of the 2019 IndyCar season’s David vs. Goliath story return to the series in 2020? It certainly looks like the Indianapolis 500 is on the agenda, although there is nothing that has been confirmed. There are currently 32 confirmed cars with 30 confirmed drivers for this race, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 24.