Agustin Canapino will fly his country’s flag at the Indianapolis 500 with a special Argentina-inspired livery on his Juncos Hollinger Racing IndyCar.
The IndyCar rookie, who has a best result of 12th at the only other oval race at Texas Motor Speedway, will celebrate Argentina’s historic 2022 FIFA World Cup win by turning his car white and light blue, the same colours as the national team’s home shirt.
Lionel Messi-led Argentina beat France on penalties in Qatar after a pulsating 3-3 draw in the final and Canapino hopes to bring more silverware to his proud nation.
The 33-year-old is the only Argentinian in the Indy 500 having moved to the open-wheel series from touring cars in his homeland.
Qualify first
Canapino will be well aware that he is not yet guaranteed to race his patriotic light blue and white Chevrolet-powered IndyCar at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Only 33 cars can start the 200-lap bonanza at the Brickyard but there are 34 cars entered which means one will have to end their attempts after qualifying.
In previous years, some very big names have been bumped out of the show before it even got going, none more so than in 2019 when Kyle Kaiser bumped Fernando Alonso and McLaren out with Juncos Hollinger Racing, Canapino’s team for the season.
James Hinchcliffe also missed the 500 when racing full-time in 2018, just two years after he claimed pole and three years after he nearly died in a vicious crash at the speedway.
