IndyCar Driver Agustin Canapino Ditched After Tumultuous Two-Year Stint

The Agustin Canapino era in IndyCar has come to an early end… well, at least with Juncos Hollinger Racing.

JHR announced that the Argentinian driver will not continue with the team when the IndyCar Series resumes at World Wide Technology Raceway on August 17. According to the team, this was a mutual decision between the two sides.

Canapino spent all of last season and 11 of 12 races this season behind the wheel of the team's No. 78 Chevrolet.

"We would like to express our sincere thanks to Agustín for making the jump to one of the fastest and most competitive categories in the world, trusting in JHR and everything this series represents," a JHR statement reads. "Both Agustín and the team have worked hard to learn, grow and achieve success during their time with JHR, and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved together. We wish him the best in his racing career and hope to meet again in future projects."

Canapino is currently 23rd in the IndyCar standings and during his almost two seasons in IndyCar, he failed to register a top 10, with a 12th place-finish during his rookie campaign being best best.

However, Canapino is a very good driver and immensely popular in his home country of Argentina, which caused headaches at times for the team.

Canapino butted heads with his 2023 teammate Callum Ilott on track which in turn led to some of his fans harassing Ilott via social media. This occurred more than once during the 2023 season.

Agustin Canapino is a solid driver, but his tenure in IndyCar caused his team some headaches. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

Canapino's Fans Cost Juncos Hollinger Racing An Important Business Deal Earlier This Season

A similar situation happened a few months ago after Canapino had an incident with then-Arrow McLaren driver Theo Pourchaire in Detroit. The Frenchman received death threats from Canapino's fans. 

This cost the team in a big way as it led to the end of JHR's commercial alliance with Arrow McLaren which saw some sponsors that McLaren couldn't place on their cars going on JHR's rides.

Around that time, Canapino sat out for one race to let things cool down, but it looks like things were just untenable for both parties.

Like I said, he's a solid driver, but the headaches that came with him being in one of the cars might scare off any other team in IndyCar from giving him a chance.

Juncos Hollinger Racing has not announced who will serve as Canapino's replacement at World Wide Technology Raceway alongside the team's other driver Romain Grosjean, who is behind the wheel of the No. 77 Chevrolet and sits 16th in the standings.