Sting Ray Born to Drive

Episode 286

October 20, 2019

Sting Ray

Sometimes you get messages on Facebook or other social media that grabs your attention. The name of this young racer from Payette, Idaho was one such example. Sting Ray Robb??? After further investigation and contacting the young man, I confirmed that Sting Ray is his actual legal name.

With a name like Sting Ray, Robb believes he was born to race. One of his earliest cars was this toy Corvette. (Team SR2 photo)

Beyond the unique name, as a retired agriculture instructor/FFA Advisor (38 years), I noticed that Sting Ray was a member of the Payette High School FFA (the student organization of agriculture education) and served as a chapter officer.

Sting Ray Robb in row two second from left with fellow Payette High School FFA Chapter members. ( Team SR2 photo)

Also noted was his one of his sponsors, The Famous Idaho Potato Tour. Having lived in potato country all my life, Idaho has been a rival producer though they dwarf production in the County now. I have kidded Sting Ray about this rivalry. It also made me wonder if the Maine Potato Board would sponsor Austin Theriault in NASCAR. Hmmmmm.

Sting Ray Robb with Famous Idaho Potato Tour mascot. The Idaho potato group is one of his sponsors. I first saw the tour truck at the National FFA Convention at Indianapolis, Indiana in 2012. ( Team SR2 photo)

 Sting Ray’s dad Larry was a drag racer and his mom, Kimmie was an autocross racer.  Neither raced anything other than at local level but both enjoyed racing and fast cars!  Obviously Corvette’s were amongst their favorites as they named their only child, Sting Ray.

 Larry has 4 children from a previous marriage which are Sting Ray’s 1/2 siblings.  None of them race – they are older.

Sting Ray graduated from Payette High School a year early. He skipped his Junior year and went from Sophomore to Senior, graduating in May of 2019.  He graduated with a 4.3 GPA

With Sting Ray as your name, it is obvious that his car of choice for prom would be a Sting Ray Corvette. (Team SR2 photo)

 Robb served as a representative for the local FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes), also was member of church youth group.  Now that he’s graduated from high school he is serving as a mentor to the youth in the elementary and junior high age groups.  He also participates in mission trips when he can.  He went to Mexico 2 years ago and helped construct a new home for a family in need. 

Sting Ray Robb #21 played wing and point guard for his high school team the Pirates. (Team SR2 photo)

The path to racing before the Cooper Tires Indy Pro 2000 Series in 2017

In answer to my questions to his mom-manager, Kimmie Serrano, this bio was referenced from his webpage:

“Since he was three, Sting Ray has aspired to be a racecar driver. At the ripe old age of seventeen, this American driver has already enjoyed a “fantastic dream” driving career and is set to compete against the world’s best.

Sting Ray in his Top Kart at 5 years old racing at Star Speedway in Idaho. This is the same kart class offered by the Northern Maine Karting Association (NMKA) at Spud Speedway, Caribou, Maine. (Team SR2 photo)

Yes – Sting Ray is his real name – he believes he was born to drive! As soon as he was able to walk and talk, he asked for a racecar and so began his career in a little pedal red Corvette. When he was just 11 years old, the media named Sting Ray Robb the “#1 Rotax Driver in America”.

In 2015 Sting Ray’s success reached a new level, winning The Triple Crown of International Championships with coast-to-coast championship wins beginning at the Florida Winter Tour series to the west coast Challenge of the Americas and on to the Can-Am Series run in Canada / US, with many honors, trophies, and podiums along the way.

Sting Ray Robb in his race kart. (Team SR2 photo)

In 2016, 14-year-old Sting Ray began the transition from the USA and European karting to cars. At his first experience driving cars, he won vice-champion of the Skip Barber Karts to Cars Shoot Out even though he was the youngest contestant. He was also awarded the prestigious Bryan Herta Career Advancement Scholarship, allowing him the opportunity to drive in the Skip Barber Winter Series. He won the vice-championship in that series and was very honored to be presented with the Rookie of the Year award.

Having just turned 18, Sting Ray’s racing resume is already thick with multiple victories, poles, fast laps, and successes too numerous to list – some of which have not been achieved by anyone in recent memory. Sting Ray’s accomplishments in the classroom match those on the race track. He is, as many of the experts in the motorsports industry have stated, “The Whole Package”.

Sting Ray had the privilege to race the Formula Speed 2.0 with the World Speed Team at the 2016 September GoPro Grand Prix Final of the Verizon IndyCar series in Sonoma, CA. His thrilling victory in front of thousands of fans coupled with the fabulous Sunoco podium award ceremony gave the racing world a taste of just what young Sting Ray Robb’s racing future looks like.

During the 2017 season, Sting Ray raced in the only ladder system series that leads to IndyCar. He drove the Pro Mazda (skipping the lower rung on the ladder) in the Mazda Road to Indy Series alongside the IndyCar series at each race. As the youngest driver in the series and the only true rookie, he finished the season with a strong 6th place standing in the overall Pro Mazda Championship.

Juncos Racing

In 1997 Ricardo Juncos established a racing business in Buenos Aires, Argentina. With opportunities to race in his native Argentina limited due in a large part to a failing economy, Juncos moved to Miami, Florida with $400 in his pocket to begin again his pursuit of a racing business.

He offered full service for kart racers and their machines establishing Juncos as one of the premier prep shops in the United States.  Open wheel racers who want to make it to IndyCars typically find the need to be near Indianapolis, the hot bed of that type of racing.

In 2008 Juncos moved to Indianapolis where he established his formula open wheel racing team. In 2009 they entered the Star Mazda series finishing second in the driver’s championship with Peter Dempsey. The team placed third in their rookie season.

In 2012 they fielded cars in both Pro Mazda (formerly Star Mazda) and limited six race schedule in Indy Lights Series. IN 2014 they expanded to four cars in the Pro Mazda Series and two cars in the Indy Light Series.

IN 2015 team owner Ricardo Juncos announced the building of a new 41,000 square foot race shop in Speedway, Indiana a short distance from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Juncos made their IndyCar  debut in 2017 with Spencer Pigot and Sebastian Saavedra from Bogotá, Colombia as their drivers.

The 2019 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona saw the team make their IMSA Daytona Prototype international (DPi) Series with a Cadillac. A devastating track incident at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in July caused the rookie team to miss two races. In the season finale they ran third for a time until power steering issues caused them to lose 40 laps for repairs.

Sting Ray races with Juncos Racing

“Today was one of Sting Ray’s best performances in Indy Pro”, said Pieter Rossi, father of current IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi and also Sting Ray’s Manager. “He drove with commitment and like a champion, pushing for the win from a P7 starting position! There is no doubt the wins are coming. He’s in a great car and had the confidence to work all the way to the front today and will do it again tomorrow.” Race two’s action got started before the green flag was waving with a front row incident that had a domino effect through the lineup including a rear-ender. The crash severely damaged Sting Ray’s rear diffuser, resulting in reduced downforce and rear grip. Sting Ray knew the damage was significant, but was encouraged by the team to battle through and drive the best the car would allow. “The car looks to be mostly okay,” said Sting Ray’s engineer over the radio. Despite the damage and to the thrill of the fans watching, Sting Ray showed off his racecraft and drove his way to a third-place position. With 7 laps remaining, an incident at the tail of the field brought out a full-course yellow, allowing all the cars to line up in tight formation for a restart. From that P3 position, Sting Ray got a great jump-start on Thompson and made a daring dive into Turn 1 to take over the second-place spot. He was able to hold that position for the remaining 5 laps

Broken diffuser on the right of Sting Ray Robb’s Road to Indy Pro 2000 race car. It is supposed to look like the left side. The lack of downforce required extraordinary effort to push the pace and finish the race. (Team SR2 photo)

Sting Ray has now focused his sights on the path to become America’s next IndyCar or Formula 1 Champion and lead the motorsports industry into a new era in either of those respective series. His plans for 2020 are somewhat up in the air with current goal to win the Indy Pro 2000 Driver’s Championship. If the right opportunity comes along which would allow him to contest the Indy Lights title that could alter his plans. Sting Ray will be one of the drivers UpNorth Motorsports will be keeping an eye on in 2020.

At Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg, Indiana Robb placed second. He finished the season drivers championship in 4th. Sting Ray had two poles, six podium finishes, two-track records and was “Star of the Race” three times during the 16 race schedule. His sponsor/partners were Go Out Local, Big Idaho Potato, Intervention.com, Trademark Dental, Idaho Bone Collection, Fairly Reliable Bob’s, Monks Family Dental, and Treasure Valley Windshield. (Team SR2 photo)

The Idaho racer values integrity, a belief in God, and hard work as mentioned in his personal creed:

“I will do my best to do my duty at school, on the track,
with teammates & crew, and to follow the path of
selflessness, energy, and excellence.
I will trust and respect the team and crew; keeping
myself physically strong, mentally prepared and
morally straight to insure peak performance.
I will represent myself, my Maker, my teammates,
crew, my family, investors and
partners at the highest level.
I will be trustworthy and accountable for my actions.
I will be an example for those who come after me.
And yea, as I drive through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil, for He is with me.
I will do my best to follow the path ever northward, but
in the meantime, let’s race!”

Racing Governor visits Vermont Sports Cars

The nation’s only stock car racer, Governor Phil Scott from Vermont, was one of the celebrities to be a part of Vermont Sports Cars open house at their new facility in Milton, Vermont October 12. The race shop is in my opinion the most modern in the northeast. (Matthew Stryker photo for Vermont Sports Cars)

Run What Ya Brung

Hudson International Speedway, Hudson, New Hampshire revived the “Run What Ya Brung” Hudson Hugger 50 today. The cars had to have V8 engines with self starter and full roll cages. The purse was $15,000 with $3,000 to the winner and $300 just to start.

The winner was John Burke, Derry, New Hampshire, in his small block Super Modified, with second place going to Geoff Rollins, Groton, Massachusetts, in an open wheel type modified. Third place was taken by Barry Raymond, Sandown, New Hampshire, with his Outlaw race with a huge sailboard on the driver’s side.

Does any track in New England or the northeast have “Run What Ya Brung” races? lf you know of such a track would you contact me on Facebook or email at thale@reagan.com please?

Let’s go racing,

Tom Hale

Soli Deo Gloria (Matthew 5:16)

 

 

Tom Hale

About Tom Hale

Tom wrote 14 years as freelancer for the Bangor Daily Sports covering motorsports in Maine. Now blogging and concentrating on human interest stories about people and places in racing. He races Champ Karts and owns HTF Motorsports in remote Westmanland, Maine