Alfonso Celis Jr. will make his Verizon IndyCar Series debut next month in the KOHLER Grand Prix at Road America driving for Juncos Racing. Celis will pilot the No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet entry after competing with the team at Barber Motorsports Park last month in the Indy Lights Series.
“I’m very excited to be able to make my Verizon IndyCar Series debut,” said Celis Jr. “This is something that I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid and something that we have worked for many years to achieve. I’ve had a lot of experience in Europe with high downforce and high horsepower cars, both in my testing duties in Formula 1 and in my seasons at World Series V8 3.5, so I feel ready to take on this new challenge. The competition in IndyCar is very high and I know it will be hard work, but we will work with the Juncos team so that we can catch up as quickly as possible. I’m really looking forward to Road America and to the opportunities that this will open.”
Celis piloted the No. 7 Juncos Racing entry at Barber last month. His best finish in those two events came in the first race where he finished seventh.
“Although this comes as a surprise for our Indy Lights team, this is another step forward with our IndyCar program,” said team owner Ricardo Juncos. “Alfonso [Celis Jr.] has proved he is ready to make this move from the success he has previously had in Formula 1 and I look forward to working with him in the IndyCar Series. In the meantime, we will continue to search for a replacement in the Indy Lights car, and maybe even a driver for our third car. We have had a lot of success in the Indy Lights series and I would like to continue that by running at least a two-car team.”
Officials from the organization confirmed that Victor Franzoni will continue to run the No. 23 entry for the team in the Indy Lights Series for the remainder of 2018. Franzoni earned his first career podium finish last month at Barber after finishing second.
His favorite tracks on the circuit include Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway, Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, and Bristol Motor Speedway.
During the season, Christian also spends time as a photographer with multiple other outlets shooting Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Minor League & Major League Baseball, and NCAA Football.