LONG BEACH, Calif. — Sting Ray Robb earned a ninth-place finish in the NTT IndyCar Series season on Sunday (April 13) at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
With the second top-10 result of his IndyCar career, the Idaho native now sits 20th in the points, one spot ahead of his Juncos Hollinger Racing teammate Conor Daly.
“I am so happy,” Robb told Frontstretch. “It’s been a long 3 years at this point. I don’t think this is the floodgates opening. I don’t think this is our max potential yet, but my faith was challenged two of the last three years. To say the least, it’s been a roller coaster, and that’s kind of why we love IndyCar. We love it because of the challenge, the passion that goes into it. I can’t thank everyone here at Juncos [Hollinger] Racing enough.”
What a race👏👏👏👏👏👏#JHR #INDYCAR #AGPLB pic.twitter.com/W7zlCBjEY4
— Juncos Hollinger Racing (@juncoshollinger) April 13, 2025
Starting 19th, Robb was one of six drivers who chose a unique strategy, starting the race on the black sidewall Primary tires. While out of sequence with the conventional strategy, Robb ran inside the top five throughout the day.
During his first pit stop sequence of the caution-free race, Robb strayed further from the rest of the pack’s strategy by taking another fresh set of Primary tires and, at one point led 12 of the 90 laps which made up the 50th running of Long Beach.
Robb’s fastest laps came in the second cycle of his race. At one point toward the end of the run, Robb clocked laps quicker than the eventual winner Kyle Kirkwood.
Robb would take the softer, green sidewall Firestone Primary tires on lap 53 and run them 11 laps before making his final pit stop and ultimately finishing ninth, matching his career-best IndyCar result set last season with A. J. Foyt Racing at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
“With a full green race, those black tires were the way to go,” Robb said. “I’m thinking back to Will Power in 2022 where he put the green tires on his last stint at Belle Isle, Detroit. He did a good enough job to win that race. We had that in the back of our heads of what the track’s going to do later on. It just so happened that our balance was amazing on the green tires, and we held on super, super well.”
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattWRacing