Star Mazda - Juncos Racing Places All Four Cars In Top-Ten Positions At Lucas Oil Raceway

Indianapolis, May 29, 2011: After a two-hour rain delay, Round Three of the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear got underway at the .686-mile track of Lucas Oil Raceway. 2010 Championship-winning team Juncos Racing placed all four of its cars in the top-ten finishing positions in the shortened race, and unusually (but gladly), no one saw any yellow flags during the 85-lap event. J.V. Horto brought his #7 car home in fifth, followed by teammates Martin Scuncio in the #60 car in sixth, Gustavo Menezes in the #28 car in ninth and Tatiana Calderon in the #10 car in ninth.

J.V. Horto was flying from the start and made his way up to fifth position shortly after the green flag fell. There, he challenged the #5 car of Tristan Vautier for the remainder of the race, just missing a fourth place finish. Teammate Martin Scuncio followed suit, zipping ahead and catching Horto to take sixth place overall and finish the race as the last car on the lead lap.

J.V. Horto: "The race was very exciting, and I had a great car. It's a really hard track to pass on because it's so small and tight, and the car gets a lot of understeer on the draft, but we were fast, and I think the team had the best car out there. We just have to work on qualifying for these next two ovals. Fifth is a good place to finish; now I need to work on getting more points in the championship because that's really the most important thing. Thank you to Juncos Racing for the great car and all of their support. We will get them next time!"

Martin Scuncio: "It was a great race. It was our first time racing on an oval track this year, and it was tough physically, but I was okay and got better as the race went on. It was a really fun race, and I had a really fast car. I didn't want to push too hard, though, because I really wanted to finish the race without crashing. I want to thank Juncos Racing for doing a great job. I just want to get in the racecar again as soon as possible now!"

Gustavo Menezes drove a gutsy and exciting race, especially for his first experience on an oval. He was able to stay on the lead lap and hold off the leader, the #11 car of Connor De Phillippi, up until 10 laps to go, and impressed everyone as a rookie in the series in his first oval race. Teammate Tatiana Calderon started the race from her best career qualifying position of fourth. Though she fell back a few positions, she was determined to finish the race, something she had trouble doing a year ago, and ended the day in ninth position.

Gustavo Menezes: It was an awesome race. It was exciting, there was a lot of action, and the car was amazing the whole race. I was playing with the sway bar throughout the race, and the car just kept getting better and better. It took me a while to match the pace, but I became more and more comfortable as the race went on. When I saw cars coming to pass me, I really stepped it up and started passing cars myself instead. I also had fun trying to hold off (Connor) De Phillippi at the end. I was really happy with my result for my first oval race; it's a good place to be for the first one, and we still have two more to go!"

Tatiana Calderon: "I started the race all right, but then it starting getting really physical and my lap times were not good enough to stay up there with the leaders. The best thing about the race this year is that last year I didn't finish the race, and this year I did. There were also no yellow flags which made it more difficult physically. I think Milwaukee and Iowa Speedway should be better physically, so I'm looking forward to Milwaukee next."

Team Owner, Ricardo Juncos: "It was a solid finish for the whole team. All four cars showed what they are capable of and were faster than the leader at different moments. It was tough that we couldn't practice enough on ovals before going into the weekend, but we gained a lot of experience and showed that we have four cars that are all ready to win. This is only the third race of the season, so there is a long way to go for the championship. We are going to keep gaining experience and working hard. Thank you to every team member of Juncos Racing. I'm so happy with all of the crew, drivers, and everyone."