Juncos Hollinger Racing announced shortly before the beginning of the first practice session that Nolan Siegel would be driving the #78 entry for this weekend’s IndyCar race at Road America.
Siegel is taking over for Agustin Canapino, who has been involved in an undesirable situation over the past week involving fans of his threatening Theo Pourchaire.
The handling of that situation was a focal point the past few days, which included Canapino liking social media posts that appeared to fan the flames and making a post of his own that all but dismissed the idea of his fans threatening his fellow drivers.
Arrow McLaren took issue with the situation, and terminated a commercial relationship with JHR just a couple days ago.
Now with Canapino being taken out of the car just an hour before the start of practice, the consequences are mounting ever higher.
“Nolan Siegel will be running the No. 78 entry in place of Agustin Canapino, who will be taking a leave of absence for this weekend’s Xpel Grand Prix,” read JHR’s statement.
“The growth of online abuse and harassment resulting from the events of this week have led to a very difficult experience for Agustin, the team and the entire IndyCar fan base, and the safety of Agustin and the rest of the competitors has to be considered first and foremost.
“Abuse, hatred, and harassment in any form is a detriment to this sport, and we must prioritize the mental and physical wellbeing of both our drivers and our competition.
“Juncos Hollinger Racing is working directly with IndyCar to create a better community for our fans, drivers and team members, uniting to make IndyCar a welcome sport for all.”
Also included was a statement from JHR co-owner Brad Hollinger, who said, “Online abuse is unacceptable, and we need to ensure that our drivers are prepared both mentally and physically when they get in the car. We are saddened by the events that led to this scenario.”
There had been no statements from Brad Hollinger or Ricardo Juncos in the past week, with a quote only being attributed to them with this latest move.
Canapino is at the track this weekend, and was seen filming promotional videos and signing autographs in the paddock earlier in the day on Friday, and was apparently planning to race up until Friday afternoon.
Siegel started his weekend taking part in the IndyNXT practice, and rushed over to the JHR garage as soon as he climbed from his other machine.
It is not known at this time if Siegel will run both the IndyNXT race and the IndyCar race this Sunday, although it is believed he will compete in both.
