LEXINGTON, Ohio — Sting Ray Robb had a bad-fast No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet today on America’s 250th birthday (July 4, 2026), speed that was produced thanks in part to testing conducted by JHR ahead of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Despite much different conditions between Friday’s swelteringly hot practice and a much cooler Saturday qualifying after heavy afternoon showers, Robb stayed consistent with his speed and entered today’s session confident in his speed.
Another hurdle Robb had to clear was a spin in practice that threatened potential damage to the floor of his car.
“The spin came on a black tire set,” Robb told Frontstretch. “They were just [degraded]. It was just looking for that little extra juice to move it up in the lineup, and we’re pushing it in practice.”
Through the heat, humidity, hazard of damage and the long weather hold on qualifying, Robb persevered and showed his strength in Group 2 of the first qualifying round.
Unfortunately, as Robb completed his final run, he only climbed to seventh in the group, falling .008 seconds short of advancing to his first career Fast 12 to AJ Foyt Enterprises’ rising star and 11th-place starter Caio Collet.
“It’s definitely the best road course car I’ve been in,” Robb said. “We should have got the top 12 there. That’s really frustrating. You look at anything, and we’re in the Fast 12.”
Unfortunately for Robb, it only gets worse.
The Payette, Idaho native exceeded his season maximum for engines and will have to serve a six-place grid penalty, relegating the 24-year-old to 20th for Sunday’s race.
“You can’t look at that,” Robb said. “That’s outside of our control. It’s a feature of the weekend unfortunately, but for us, we’re trying to get the best performance out of the car that we can. We’re heading in the right direction.”
The strength was shared with his JHR teammate Rinus VeeKay, who made his first Firestone Fast Six with the team and will roll off the grid in sixth. VeeKay acknowledged that both cars are showing their strength this weekend at Mid-Ohio.
“Sting Ray’s been trying hard,” VeeKay told Frontstretch. “It’s good for him to have a result like this, even though he missed out on the Fast 12, being that close. We’re showing the pace as a team.”
While the hard work won’t necessarily show when Robb rolls off in 20th, the stat sheet will spell out that Robb was close to putting together a monster result in challenging conditions.
“It’s promising,” Robb said. “I wish we would have found this [speed] this time last year. I think when you’re going to have consistency, you get to work on the details, and that’s how you get to run to the front of the field. For us, we’ve been taking big swings for so long that we haven’t had an opportunity to fine tune. Now, we can. We did today, and we had a good car. Just missed out.”
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
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