| September 26, 2019 Staff Report IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The white, green and orange Cadillac is returning to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the first time since a heavy crash near the end of July’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix Presented by Acura at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with Victor Franzoni at the wheel. The team’s driver lineup for the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans season finale on Oct. 12 will include Will Owen, who has driven the No. 50 in all of its previous races, as well as Austrian driver Rene Binder and full-time IndyCar racer Spencer Pigot. Pigot won Indy Pro 2000 and Indy Lights titles with Juncos Racing and also competed in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 with the team. He finished on the podium last year at Motul Petit Le Mans with Mazda Team Joest. “I am thrilled to add such a talented driver like Spencer Pigot to our No. 50 entry for the final IMSA event,” said team owner Ricardo Juncos. “He had a long, successful run with us and brings great experience to our IMSA driver lineup. Spencer will be the second driver to run in all four of our series that we compete in, which shows the relationship and commitment we make with our drivers to our program and their futures.” Pigot is equally thrilled to rejoin the team. “I’m looking forward to joining Juncos Racing again, this time for Petit Le Mans,” he said. “We’ve had success together in different championships, and I hope we can continue that in IMSA. It will be my first time driving a Cadillac DPi-V.R, so there will be a lot to get used to in a short amount of time, but I’m confident the team and my teammates will help that transition. “Petit Le Mans is one of my favorite events of the year and a great way to finish off the season. I’d like to thank Ricardo Juncos and everyone at Juncos Racing for the opportunity to be a part of the team again.” Owen has made seven starts in the No. 50 Cadillac this season, with a best result of seventh in the BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach in April. Binder has been part of the team’s driver lineup for the previous three IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events this season at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen. “Will Owen and Rene Binder have also run with our team in our other series we compete in,” said Juncos. “I am looking forward to seeing all three drivers work together with our team to find success for the final event of the season.” It’s been a trying year for the Juncos team. The crash at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park followed two accidents for the IndyCar team at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May. However, the team has persevered and is ready to end the 2019 season on a high note. “We have been faced with one of our most challenging years as a team,” said Juncos. “There have been many ups and downs during our most expansive year running in four different series. The year started off strong for us in IMSA at Daytona when we proved to be one of the fastest Cadillac DPi-V.R cars and made it to the very end of our first-ever 24-hour event. “At Long Beach, we were able to lead laps, strong laps on old tires and we pulled away from the pack who had new tires. We were faced with a terrible incident in July, which totaled our Cadillac DPi-V.R. However, we have been working very hard to regroup and rebuild our IMSA program. I want to thank everyone at IMSA and Cadillac who have been there to support us during these past few difficult months. I cannot thank all of the crew enough for all of their hard work and dedication to this program throughout this incredibly busy year for the team.” Live television coverage of the 22nd annual Motul Petit Le Mans begins at 12 p.m. ET on Oct. 12 on the NBC network, with continuing coverage on NBCSN, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. IMSA Radio also will have live coverage throughout the race week on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com, with a live race broadcast airing on SiriusXM Radio. Tickets are still available now at RoadAtlanta.com. IMSA TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOKFollow on Twitter @imsa, use the hashtag #IMSA, follow on Instagram @imsa_racing and ‘like’ IMSA on Facebook –www.facebook.com/imsa. For further information logon to www.imsa.com. |
