While the news that Callum Ilott and Juncos Hollinger Racing agreed to “mutually part ways” came as a shock at first, after some reflection, it wasn’t really a surprise. The tension had been there all season.

At last spring’s open test at IMS Ilott expressed frustration about some issue with the car.

There was the incident at Long Beach where he exited the pits in front of teammate Agustin Canapino. Fans of the Argentinian were outraged and flooded Ilott’s Twitter account with death threats and tasteless comments. The team response to these comments were mild.

JKHR laid off some people midseason, and Ilott’s performance faltered.

At Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, both drivers were contending for high top 10 spots when their cars came together. I thought it was more Canapino’s fault, but Ilott took the brunt f the blame. Again, the death threats and vile comments were hurled Ilott’s way. The series and some drivers issued strong statements of condemnation, but JHR released a rather tepid response, barely a reprimand.

I wondered at the time how Ilott could stay at a team that would not support him.

Iam sure money has something to do with his departure. Canapino had to scrape together a new deal for 2024 since the government of Argentina could not renew their sponsorship.

JHR did Ilott a disservice by releasing him so late. There may be just one quality ride available, which Ilott can’t afford.

Now Ilott joins a pool of five drivers who are vying for maybe four full time seats. There are also some European drivers like Enzo Fittipaldi and Theo Pourchaire who will be testing with Indycar teams soon.

Ilott is a driver with some talent, and I would love to see what he could do with none of top rides. We may not get that chance next year, which would be Indycar’s loss.

Notes

I confirmed Friday that the IMS Museum’s last day before closing for nearly 18 months for renovation is November 5th. The gift shop will move to the white building just south of the museum and will be open beginning November 6th.

Pietro Fittipaldi’s ride in the number 30 car for RLL continues Indycar’s string of Brazilian drivers which was nearing extinction. His brother Enzo will be testing with Dale Coyne Racing soon. I’m not sure Enzo is ready for Indycar, but we have seen drivers make this leap before.